Billy Joel's Real Name: William Martin Joel

Quick answer: Billy Joel's real name is William Martin Joel. He was born on May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York, and grew up in Hicksville on Long Island. He is the singer, pianist, and songwriter behind "Piano Man," "Just the Way You Are," "Uptown Girl," and "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica's quick facts give "In full: William Martin Joel," born May 9, 1949, in the Bronx. The Library of Congress files him as "Joel, Billy," with the variant "Joel, William Martin." One LOC citation reads "Joel, Billy [William] (Martin); born May 9, 1949, Bronx, NY" and adds that his family moved to Hicksville in the early 1950s. A second citation names Hicksville as his birthplace, but Britannica gives the Bronx.

Britannica says his parents, Helmut ("Howard") Joel and Rosalind (Nyman) Joel, were Jewish immigrants. His father was born in Germany and his mother came from England. They steered him toward classical music, and he began piano lessons at 4. At 14, drawn to the British Invasion and soul music, he started playing in bands. He recorded two albums in the late 1960s with the Hassles and then joined the heavy metal duo Attila.

Career highlights

His 1971 solo debut, Cold Spring Harbor, was poorly produced and came with a long-term contract that Britannica calls exploitative. He moved to Los Angeles and played a piano bar under a pseudonym. A live recording of "Captain Jack" got Columbia Records interested, and the label freed him from the deal. Piano Man (1973) gave him his signature song, drawn from those piano-bar nights.

The Stranger (1977) sold five million copies and became Columbia's best-selling album at the time. Its "Just the Way You Are" won Grammys for song and record of the year. 52nd Street (1979) won album of the year. Glass Houses (1980) and The Nylon Curtain (1982) followed, the second with "Allentown" and "Goodnight Saigon." He married supermodel Christie Brinkley, the second of his four marriages. An Innocent Man (1983) brought "Uptown Girl," and Storm Front (1989) brought "We Didn't Start the Fire."

Later projects included the classical album Fantasies and Delusions (2001) and the Twyla Tharp musical Movin' Out (2002). His Madison Square Garden residency ran from 2014 to 2024 and set the venue's record for most lifetime performances. In May 2025 he announced a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus and canceled his remaining shows. He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2013 and the Gershwin Prize in 2014.

Name notes for searchers

Billy is a nickname for William, his legal first name. Martin is his middle name.