​Billy Joel

 - Wikipedia -

May 9, 1949: William Martin Joel was born in the Bronx, New York.  

July 1970: Joel and drummer Jon Small released an eponymous debut album under the duo name "Atilla."

March 12, 1980: Glass Houses, the seventh studio album by Joel was released.

May 12, 1980: The Single "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" b/w "Through The Long Night" was released.

April 15, 1982: Joel was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on Long Island, severely injuring his hands. 

March 1985: Joel married  model Christie Brinkley.

November 18, 1986: An extended version of the song "Big Man on Mulberry Street" was used on a Season 3 episode of Moonlighting. The episode itself was also titled "Big Man on Mulberry Street".

Sept 1989: The first single for the album, "We Didn't Start the Fire", was released. It became Joel's third US number-one hit, spending two weeks at the top.

April 13, 1994: Joel and second wife Christie Brinkley announced that they had separated.

December 31, 1999: Joel performed at New York's ​Madison Square Garden. 

 September 21, 2001: Joel performed "New York State of Mind" live as part of the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert.

​ July 31, 2006: Joel performed a free concert in Rome, with the Colosseum as the backdrop.

September 20, 2004: Joel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his work in the music industry, located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard.

October 2, 2004: Joel married chef Katie Lee, his third wife.

March 2005: Joel checked into the Betty Ford Center, where he spent 30 days for the treatment of alcohol abuse.

October 15, 2006: Joel was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

February 4, 2007:  Joel sang the national anthem for Super Bowl XLI, becoming the first to sing the national anthem twice at a Super Bowl.

April 17, 2007: Joel was honored in Albany, New York for his ninth concert at the Times Union Center. He is now holding the highest box office attendance of any artist to play at the arena.

December 1, 2007: Joel premiered his new song "Christmas in Fallujah." The song was performed by Cass Dillon, a new Long Island based musician, as Joel felt it should be sung by someone in a soldier's age range (though he himself has played the song occasionally in concert.) 

"People who pay for your tickets, I don't think they want to hear who you're going to vote for and how you think they should vote.​"
--Billy Joel

January 26, 2008: Joel performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Academy of Music. Joel performed his classical piece titled, "Waltz No. 2 (Steinway Hall)" from Fantasies and Delusions arranged by Brad Ellis. He also played many of his less well-known pieces, with full orchestral backing arranged by Mr. Ellis, including the rarely performed Nylon Curtain songs "Scandinavian Skies" and "Where's the Orchestra?".

March 10, 2008: Joel inducted his friend John Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

June 19, 2008: Joel played a concert at the grand re-opening of Caesars Windsor (formerly Casino Windsor) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, to an invite-only crowd for Casino VIPs. 

December 11, 2008: Joel recorded his own rendition of "Christmas in Fallujah" during a concert at Acer Arena in Sydney and released it as a live single in Australia only.

May 19, 2009: Joel's former drummer, ​Liberty DeVitto, filed a lawsuit in NYC claiming Joel and Sony Music owed DeVitto over 10 years of royalty payments. DeVitto had never been given songwriting or arranging credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claimed that he helped arrange some of them, including "Only the Good Die Young".

November 2010: Joel opened a shop in Oyster Bay, Long Island, to manufacture custom-made, retro-styled motorcycles and accessories.

December 12, 2011: Joel became the first non-classical musician honored with a portrait in Steinway Hall.

December 12, 2012: Joel performed as part of 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden, a concert held for all the victims of Hurricane Sandy. He changed the lyrics to "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" to make it relate to all the damage caused by Sandy.

December 29, 2013: In Washington, D.C., Joel received Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts.

December 31, 2013: Joel headlined a solo arena concert in New York City for the first time since 2006 when he performed at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

​July 22, 2014: The Library of Congress announced that Joel would be the sixth recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

July 4, 2015: Joel married a fourth time, to Alexis Roderick, an equestrian and former Morgan Stanley executive, at his estate on Long Island. He was 66, she 33. Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo conducted the ceremony.

June 24, 2017: Joel returned to Hicksville High School fifty years after his would-be graduating class received their diplomas, to deliver the honorary commencement address. It was also the 25th anniversary of receiving his own diploma from the same High School.

July 18, 2018: Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed the date to be Billy Joel Day in New York state to mark his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden

Nov 18, 2022: Arrowhead Events, the special events arm of the Kansas City Chiefs, has announced that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musicians Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks will take the stage together for an unforgettable evening of live music at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, August 19, 2023. This show marks the first time either performer has headlined the Home of the Chiefs.

Two Icons, One Night — Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks live at Financial Field on Friday, June 16, 2023! Tickets go on sale Friday, December 16 at 10am!