Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joelis an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States. His compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 is one of the best-selling albums in the US...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth9 May 1949
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
dream song writing
I never stopped writing music, I just stopped writing songs. I've been writing music continually ever since the last album of original tunes, "River Of Dreams" in '93.
moving california first-impression
Move to California - my first impression of the Wild West.
song couple writing
I would say the songs that have different lyrics. I always write the music first, and there's a couple of songs on this box set that have different lyrics from what ended up on the final recording.
first-love giving maps
I always wrote the music first, and the music gave me the mood and the lyrics were pretty much put in to give you a map, where that mood came from and where it's going. But my first love was really the music itself, and I guess I've gone back to that.
song believe years
I look at some of the songs I wrote years ago and I can't believe I wrote such crap.
jobs mistake missing
When I first started I didn't know a lot about the job, so I kinda had to figure it out by wire, ya know? It was hit and miss, I made mistakes, and fortunately I was able to recover from most of 'em. But I promised myself if I ever get to a point where I can help somebody that's trying to learn how to do this, that I would try to do that.
teacher crazy school
Most people you'd tell "I'm gonna be a musician," they'd say, "you're crazy, you're gonna starve, you're gonna be poor, a drug addict, go to jail, you'll never make it, there's too much competition, it's a terrible business," etc. But my chorus teacher in high school said, "you've got what it takes to be a really good professional musician, you should consider it." That was an epiphany for me. So I thought, well, maybe I can help somebody, too.
teacher school self
I didn't graduate high school, so I never got a teacher's education, I'm mostly self-read, self-taught. I always loved music, so I would probably either be in a band with another group of people, or an arranger, a producer, a musicologist, a music history guy, something to do with music. Either that, or I would probably be in jail. Or dead.
writing hymns singing
Some of the stuff I'm writing is almost like hymns, some of my first singing and choral experiences were in church, the Church of Christ in Hicksville.
edification stuff bunch
I've written a bunch of stuff that no one's ever heard, and I don't know if they ever will. I'm just doing it for my own edification.
sex play ems
I've always said about 50% of what happens at a concert has to do with the audience. If you play for a dead audience you're gonna stink. If we play for a great crowd we're much better. You want 'em to make noise. It's kinda like sex, if they don't make noise, you ain't doin' it right.
artists best certain damn gets good issues obligation save taken themselves
There are certain artists who have taken it upon themselves to save the world, and I find that gets tiresome. I think the artist's first obligation is to the art, not to the issues . . . I think if I have something to say the best way to do that is just to tell a damn good story.
drank learned life russian serve vodka
Went off to school, and learned to serve the state.Followed the rules, and drank his vodka straight.The only way to live was 'drown the hate'.The Russian life was very sad, and such was life in Leningrad.
accurate artists life official poets popular seem version
Artists - musicians, painters, writers, poets - always seem to have had the most accurate perception of what is really going on around them, not the official version or the popular perception of contemporary life.