In December, Billy Joel performed six songs at the 12.12.12 benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy victims at Madison Square Garden, and it was kind of a big deal. At the height of his pop-star fame in the '70s and '80s -- when a string of hit albums secured him access to the figureheads of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue's gilded age (including Elle Macpherson and future ex-wife Christie Brinkley) and widespread admiration for his bold and possibly crazy pro–"riding motorcycles in the rain" stance -- Joel could regularly be seen playing for arenas full of people.

Billy Joel’s first album as a solo artist, Cold Spring Harbor, came out in 1971. Over the course of six years, several subsequent albums, lineup changes, botched tours and other promotional misfires, he struggled to find his voice as an artist or achieve any real commercial success. Even with classic songs like "Piano Man" and “Say Goodbye To Hollywood” in his pocket, Joel received little airplay and no real chart success.

Then in 1977 he teamed with producer Phil Ramone and released The Stranger. Words have been written around the world for 30 years about this album and its legacy, but all you really need to know is that it contains no less than seven all-time, hall-of-fame classic recordings.

Billy Joel is returning to the road this month to play a few festival gigs after a three-year absence. "I'm putting my toe back into the water to see how performing feels," he tells Rolling Stone. "That doesn't mean I'm going to walk away right after if I don't like how they go, but if I do like how they go, I'll probably end up booking some more gigs. I don't know if I'll go an extended tour like Bruce Springsteen, hammering away for two years, though."

I first met Phil Ramone when I played Carnegie Hall in 1976. It was my first time headlining there. There used to be an Italian restaurant across the street called Fontana di Trevi where a lot of the classical musicians and opera stars from Carnegie Hall would dine. I had dinner with Phil there, and it really was the inspiration for "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant."

Monday night's episode of "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS featured the character Ted imagining future versions of himself while coping with being alone and deciding whether to go to a Legendary Robots vs Wrestlers fight. The episode ends with Ted admitting he would have rather gone to meet his future wife.