Billy Joel Net Worth: What Is The Net Worth of Billy Joel Net Worth?

Billy Joel Net Worth

The American singer and songwriter Billy Joel has a career that has earned him a net worth of $225 million. He has over 150 million records sold all over the world, making him one of the most successful musicians in the history of recorded music.

Billy Joel Early Life

On May 9, 1949, William Martin Joel was born in the Bronx, which is located in New York City. His German-born father was a successful businessman as well as a classical pianist. His family was able to escape the Nazis by travelling through Switzerland and Cuba on their way to the United States. The family of Joel’s mother originally came from Kent, England.

His parents first connected in the late 1930s while attending a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan at the City College of New York. When he was still a young child, his family made the move to Hicksville, which is located on Long Island. There, he spent his childhood years alongside his younger sister, Judy.

In 1957, his parents got a divorce, and his father moved back to Europe, where he eventually settled down and got remarried in Austria. Alexander Joel, who is Joel’s half-brother on his father’s side, also pursued a career in music and served as the chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from the years 2001 to 2014.

Joel’s mother insisted that he start taking piano lessons when he was only 4 years old, and he complied. After that, he grew to have a passion for, as well as an appreciation for, classical music, both of which he maintains to this day. His passion for music in all its forms led him to form his first band, The Echoes, when he was just 14 years old.

He enrolled at Hicksville High School but was ultimately unable to complete his high school education there due to a lack of necessary credits. He could have finished school over the summer by taking summer classes, but instead he decided to pursue a career in music full-time.

Billy Joel Career

In 1967, Joel joined the group the Hassles after leaving the band previously known as The Echoes, which had been renamed to the Lost Souls. The Hassles were given a recording contract with United Artists Records, and during their time there, they put out a number of singles and albums; however, none of these releases was particularly successful.

In 1969, Joel and Jon Small, who was the band’s drummer, parted ways with the band and went on to form the duo Attila. Their self-titled album was issued in July of 1970, but their collaboration did not endure for very long due to the fact that Joel had an affair with Elizabeth, who was married to Small.

In 1971, Joel signed a contract with the record label Family Productions and released “Cold Spring Harbor,” his first album as a solo artist. This marked the beginning of Joel’s solo career (1971). Even though the album did not become a commercial success, he was still able to catch the attention of Columbia Records, and the label signed him in 1972.

After releasing the albums “Piano Man” (1973), “Streetlife Serenade” (1974), and “Turnstiles” (1976) with Columbia, he did not achieve a breakthrough into mainstream popularity until the release of his fourth solo album, “The Stranger,” in 1977. Hit singles such as “Just the Way You Are,” “Only the Good Die Young,” and “She’s Always a Woman” were all taken from the album “The Stranger,” which had sales of more than 10 million copies.

“52nd Street” (1978), “Glass Houses” (1980), “The Nylon Curtain” (1982), “An Innocent Man” (1983), “The Bridge” (1986), “Storm Front” (1989), and “River of Dreams” are some of his subsequent albums (1993).

Due to the fact that Billy Joel’s record sales have surpassed 150 million around the world, he is now recognised as one of the all-time best-selling artists. In addition to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he is a recipient of a total of 23 nominations for the Grammy Award and a winner of six of those awards.

In 1993, Joel decided to step away from the recording studio permanently. In spite of this, he did issue an album under the title “Fantasies & Delusions” in the year 2001. Classical piano pieces, which are performed on the album by his longtime friend and fellow pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo, are a departure from his typical style and subject matter, both of which are featured on his other albums.

Since then, Joel has embarked on sporadic solo tours as well as tours alongside other artists such as Elton John. In addition, he performs a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden. This residency began in 2014 and will continue until January 2020; on January 25, 2020, he will perform the 72nd consecutive monthly show at this venue.

Because of how popular Joel is, his greatest hits compilation album, “Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2,” which was released in 1985, became one of the best-selling albums in the United States. In 2013, he was awarded the Kennedy Centre Honours for his work.

Billy Joel Financial Problems

In 1989, Billy filed a lawsuit against his former manager Frank Weber, seeking $90 million in damages. The lawsuit claimed that Weber mismanaged $30 million of the singer’s money and sought $60 million in damages.

Weber was his former brother-in-law. After that, Weber submitted a petition for bankruptcy. After bringing a lawsuit against his accountants and lawyers, Billy was awarded an allegedly eight million dollar settlement.

Billy Joel Other Projects

In 2011, Joel published his autobiography titled “The Book of Joel: A Memoir,” which he wrote with the assistance of Fred Schuers. In addition to this, he was the owner of the Long Island Boat Company and a shop in Oyster Bay, Long Island, that specialised in the construction of custom motorcycles with a vintage aesthetic.

Billy Joel Personal Life

Elizabeth Weber Small was Joel Small’s first wife. [Note: In spite of the fact that she was still married to Jon Small, one of Joel’s musical collaborators, the two of them began their relationship by having an affair.

In the end, Joel and Small tied the knot in 1973, and they were officially divorced in 1982. When Billy finally ended his marriage, he was on the verge of financial ruin as a result of the roughly $30 million in mismanaged funds that had been caused by Elizabeth’s brother Frank, in addition to the multi-million dollar divorce settlement.

When he was about to enter his second marriage to the American model Christie Brinkley, he was in a very precarious financial situation. He was constantly on the road in order to bring in money. That led to a major rift in the relationship, as well as accusations of infidelity.

They shared a daughter together, who goes by the name Alexa Ray Joel, and were married from 1985 until 1994. In his third marriage, which lasted from 2004 until 2009, he wed the chef Katie Lee. Alexis Roderick is Joel’s fourth wife after two previous marriages.

Even though they didn’t get married until 2015, he and Roderick had been an item since 2009. They have two daughters together, and their names are Della Rose Joel and Remy Anne Joel.

Due to the fact that he did not have the required number of credits to graduate high school in 1967, Joel did not and never did receive his diploma. Instead, he waited 25 years and then presented essays to the school board of Hicksville High School to make up for the credits he had previously failed to earn. As a result, he was presented with his high school diploma during the graduation ceremony held by the school in 1992.

In addition to this, he holds a number of honorary doctorates, some of which were bestowed upon him by educational establishments such as Fairfield University, Berklee College of Music, Syracuse University, the Manhattan School of Music, and Stony Brook University.