Photo credit: Kevin Mazur

Billy Joel tops Long Island Newsday’s list of “Songs Every Long Islander Should Know” with “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” voted #1, and five other Joel songs making Newsday’s top 100 list, more than any other artist. Billy spoke with Newsday writer Glenn Gamboa and discussed the story behind each of the six songs, which Newsday readers voted for every week beginning in June. Glenn wrote, “These are the 100 songs every Long Islander should know — songs by people from here, about here, and written and recorded here, that also have changed the world of music. And by here, we go along with the Long Island Hall Of Fame’s definition of Long Island: Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk.”

This week on Here’s The Thing – Alec sits down with fellow Long Islander Billy Joel – at the piano – for a conversation about life and the musical choices he’s made. Listen Here

Billy has launched a new website for 20th Century Cycles, centered around his motorcycle shop in Oyster Bay, NY!

Mark Rivera, sideman to the stars--Billy Joel and Ringo Starr--releases his debut album Common Bond.

With this Q&A, we revisit a Master Class held at the Kelley Theatre at Fairfield University in 1996. Billy returned to the university having been given a Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1991. (Some students refer to Billy as “Dr. Joel.”) Billy was asked about a comment he made during a Face2Face concert at Giants Stadium at the end of July 1994. A local newspaper had made a preposterous charge that Billy and Elton's success was somehow in the way of young artists congregating at the New Music Seminar. Billy offers his rebuttal in the clip below.