Born in the Bronx, Joel was raised in the Long Island suburb of Hicksville, where he learned to play piano as a child. As he approached his adolescence, Joel started to rebel, joining teenage street gangs and boxing as welterweight. He fought a total of 22 fights as a teenager, and during one of the fights, he broke his nose. For the early years of his adolescence, he divided his time between studying piano and fighting. Upon seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career and set about finding a local Long Island band to join. Eventually, he found the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes became a popular New York attraction, convincing him to quit high school to become a professional musician.

Musik

1971   Cold Spring Harbor

1973   Piano Man

1974   Street Life

1976   Turnstiles

1977   Stranger

1978   52nd Street

1980   Glass Houses

1981   Songs in the Attic

1982   Nylon Curtain

1983   Innocent Man

1986   Bridge

1987   Live in Leningrad

1989   Storm Front

1993   River of Dreams

2000   2000 Years: (The Millennium Consert)

2000   2000 Years: The Millennium Concert (Japan Bonus Track)

2000   Ultimate Collection (Japan Bonus Track)

2001   Fantasies & Delusions

2002   Stranger (Japan CD)

2004   Piano Man (Vinyl Classics)

2006   12 Gardens Live

2006   Live in Madison Square Garden NYC