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Historical event

Billy Joel · 1977

Billy Joel

Historical music event in the Radio Music History database.

October 8, 1977Chart⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description

Billy Joel's breakthrough album The Stranger entered the Billboard album chart and later reached the Top 10. It contained four U.S. Top 30 singles: “Just the Way You Are” at No. 3, “Movin' Out” at No. 17, “Only the Good Die Young” at No. 24, and “She's Always a Woman” at No. 17. It was also his first album to enter the British album chart, where it reached No. 24.

Related events

  1. Billy JoelOctober 3, 1981
    Album⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel released Songs in the Attic, the first live album recorded using digital technology. It contained songs he had recorded before his major breakthrough with “Just The Way You Are.”
  2. Billy JoelOctober 1, 1982
    Release⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
    The first compact disc was released in the United States; it was a German-made reissue of Billy Joel’s 1978 album “52nd Street”.
  3. Billy JoelAugust 8, 1983
    Album⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel released his ninth studio album "An Innocent Man". The album reached No. 4 in the U.S. and contained three Billboard Top 10 singles: "Tell Her About It" at No. 1, "Uptown Girl" at No. 3 and "An Innocent Man" at No. 10. It was later certified eight-times platinum.
  4. Billy JoelAugust 30, 1989
    Legal⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel fired his manager and former brother-in-law Frank Weber after an audit uncovered serious financial irregularities, substantial depletion of his accounts and a $5 million debt to the US Internal Revenue Service. The following September, he sued Weber for $90 million, accusing him of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and extortion under federal law. A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Weber declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect his remaining assets. The legal dispute eventually ended in an out-of-court settlement, and Joel recovered only part of the lost funds, approximately $8 million. Frank Weber was never criminally prosecuted or imprisoned.
  5. Billy JoelAugust 29, 1992
    Chart⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel's version of Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" reached No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song came from the soundtrack to the film "Honeymoon in Vegas" and became the lowest-charting single of his career.
  6. Billy JoelAugust 30, 1992
    Chart⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel’s version of Elvis’s song “All Shook Up” reached No. 92 on the US singles chart. The song came from the soundtrack to the film “Honeymoon in Vegas”.
  7. Billy JoelAugust 10, 1993
    Album⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel released “River of Dreams,” his final album of pop songs.
  8. Billy JoelAugust 28, 1993
    Album⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with his twelfth studio album “River of Dreams”. Joel said that most of the music for the album came to him in his sleep, inspiring its title. The album eventually sold more than four million copies in the United States. The album cover was painted by his second wife, former model Christie Brinkley, and was later voted the worst album cover of the year.
  9. Billy JoelAugust 30, 1993
    TV⭐⭐⭐⭐
    At the premiere of The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, Billy Joel became the first musical guest. The show was broadcast from the newly renovated Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. Joel performed with Paul Shaffer and the newly named CBS Orchestra, playing “No Man's Land”.
  10. Billy JoelAugust 25, 1994
    Personal⭐⭐⭐⭐
    A New York judge officially ended Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley's nine-year marriage. Despite the separation, they remained lifelong friends, and Joel continued to perform the song “Uptown Girl” in concert, which Brinkley had inspired.
  11. Billy JoelOctober 2, 2004
    Personal⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel, then 55, married 23-year-old culinary student Katie Lee on October 2 at his estate on Centre Island in New York. It was Joel's third marriage. During their marriage, Katie Lee became a writer and television personality. The couple later announced their separation in June 2009, with one record specifying June 17, 2009.
  12. Billy JoelAugust 7, 2014
    Concert⭐⭐⭐
    Billy Joel sang “Uptown Girl” to his former wife Christie Brinkley during a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.