William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, he has had a successful music career as a solo artist throughout the 1970s and '80s. From 1971 to 1993, he released twelve studio albums that spanned pop and rock, as well as one album of classical music compositions in 2001. He is one of the best-selling music artists, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.
