Dead Air: Billy Joel invoked a live-performance version of this trope during the 1994 Grammy Award Show.Cool Shades: In the video for "Tell Her About It".King-flavored title track, The Four Seasons-esque "Uptown Girl", the Marley-influenced "Keeping The Faith", the Motown-style "Tell Her About It", and the a cappella doowop "For The Longest Time".
Catholic School Girls Rule: "Only The Good Die Young".Calling Your Attacks: In the song "A Room of Our Own" off The Nylon Curtain, following the second chorus, Billy calls out "Bridge!" just before the bridge begins.Call-and-Response Song: "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me.".Brutal Honesty/ "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Big Shot" and "Pressure".Briefer Than They Think: Joel has been in the music business for nearly 50 years, yet has produced only 12 studio albums as a solo artist.Not to be confused with Billie Joe or Billy Idol. References to his songs come up in pop culture quite a bit: among them a second season episode of American Idol had the contestants singing songs from his catalog, he's been the musical guest on four episodes of Saturday Night Live, an entire episode of Freaks and Geeks was dedicated to his music (and surprisingly, kept all of it for the DVD), and a classic Sesame Street skit has him serenading Oscar the Grouch along with Marlee Matlin. Joel has mostly retired from pop songwriting and recording, but he still tours occasionally, sometimes with close friend Elton John. He is also known for voicing Dodger in the Disney animated film Oliver and Company. Said range contributed to the formation of Movin' Out, one of the first and best known examples of the Jukebox Musical.
His discography has a wide range of styles include schmaltzy soft-rock love songs that perhaps reveal Too Much Information about his relationships (especially that with ex-wife Christie Brinkley), tributes to 1950s artists and stylings, attempts at working class rock comparable to Bruce Springsteen, jazzy ruminations on fame, religion, substance abuse (something he has experience in), or his hometown of New York City, bluesy piano numbers, and pure classical compositions. As his 1973 breakout hit "Piano Man" implies, he is a quite skilled piano player, and many of his most famous songs have strong keyboard elements. He is the third best-selling solo artist in the United States with thirty-three top forty hits and six Grammy Awards to his name. William Martin Joel, better known as Billy Joel or "Billy", is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and classical composer.