This album became Columbia's bestselling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning several hit singles, including " Just the Way You Are", " Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", " Only the Good Die Young", and " She's Always a Woman" the album also contains the popular album tracks " Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", Joel's favorite of his own songs which has become a firm staple of his live shows, and " Vienna", also one of Joel's personal favorites and nowadays one of his most streamed songs on the internet. After Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles in 19 respectively, Joel released his critical and commercial breakthrough album, The Stranger, in 1977. In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of the song " Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company and release his second album, Piano Man, in 1973. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, The Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and starting off a solo career in 1971 with his first release Cold Spring Harbor. Growing up, he took piano lessons at his mother's insistence. īorn in New York City, in the Bronx, Joel grew up on Long Island. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the United States. He is one of the best-selling music artists, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. From 1971 to 1993, he released twelve studio albums that spanned pop and rock, as well as one album of classical music compositions in 2001. Commonly nicknamed the " Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, he has had a successful music career as a solo artist throughout the 1970s and '80s. “We were walking in the city and I remember seeing an old lady sweeping the street and I said, ‘Dad it’s kind of sad that that poor old woman has to do that kind of work.’ He said, ‘No, she has a job, she feels useful, she has a place in our society,’” Joel recalls.William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. Soon after, during a walk around the city with him, Joel was struck with the inspiration for his song of the same name. Upon hearing this news, Joel went to visit his estranged father in Vienna. When I did my first tour of Europe, I was in my early 20s, and I was looking for him… I got word that my father was working in an office in Vienna, Austria. “He went back to Europe and I pretty much never heard from the guy again,” Joel said in a 2008 interview. When Joel was a child, his father and mother split with Helmut, returning to Europe-Vienna, Austria to be specific. In this song, Joel’s perspective on getting older almost entirely stems from hearing his father’s take on aging. His father, born Helmut Joel in Germany (he later adopted the name Howard), was a pianist and businessman who felt out of place in the United States.
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