William Martin Joel, AKA “Billy Joel” was born in the Bronx in May 9th of the year 1949. He’s a singer, songwriter and also a proficient pianist. He has succeeded to achieve more than 40 music hits since 1973 ‘til his retirement in 1993.
Billy Joel’s interest for music started at the young age of 4 years old, he was into classical music and he started to take piano lessons. His success began with his second album “Piano man” released in 1972 under the Columbia Records company.
In 1983 the album “An innocent man” was released with great hits like ‘Uptown girl’ which was a tribute to Frankie Valli and the song “The longest night” was a tribute for The four seasons, both in the woo-dop style, that was very popular in the 50s. This musical form comes from the mixture between rhythm and blues and gospel; it is characterized by being merely vocal. Check out his official YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyVomykHKyWCWo8lSKHHmzA
Doo-wop came from the streets of Afro-American communities from industrial cities like New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, it spread in the decade of the 40s and it became popular in the 50s and 60s. At its beginning it was meant for an adult Afro-American audience, but it managed to spread to the teen and multiracial market.
Anyone could tell that Billy Joel really has a strong influence of Doo-wop because of his backgrounds, growing up in the Bronx, a place full of many cultures and constantly exposed to Afro-American culture. He has said that his music must meant something during the time in which he lived, this would explain a thing or two about this influence because of the context he grew up in.
Joel tried at first to make it as a rock start, but then he decided to stay true to himself and his roots and do what he always wanted to do, so he started writing about his very own experiences and that when his career took off. This resulted on the solid career he had and it can be appreciated in the quality of the content of his music, his lyrics and performances.
