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Billy Joel

BILLY JOEL

YEAR

1999

INDUCTED BY

Ray Charles

CATEGORY

Performers

Billy Joel gives irrefutable proof that piano is a rock and roll instrument.

After a stint as a lounge pianist, Billy Joel broke into the mainstream with his signature ballads followed up by anthems about everything from a disenchanting music industry to the contentious political climate.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel

HALL OF FAME
ESSAY

By Parke Puterbaugh

Billy Joel comes off as such a determinedly average guy that it’s tempting to undervalue his extraordinary gifts.

A straight-shooting product of suburban Long Island, he’s studiously resisted cultivating a rock-star persona or anything that smacks of showbiz artifice. Instead, he’s hewed to his calling as a songwriter, keyboardist and singer with as straightforward a disposition as someone who’s sold nearly a hundred million records can muster.

As an artist, Joel has exhibited stylistic daring and impeccable musicianship while assembling one of the great catalogs of popular songs in this century.

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Class of 1999
JOEL GIVES IRREFUTABLE PROOF THAT PIANO IS A ROCK & ROLL INSTRUMENT
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