Copyrigh © 2014 by Fred Schruers All righs reserved. Published in he Unied Saes by Crown Archepe, an impri n o he Crown Publishing Group, a division o Ra ndom House LLC, a Penguin Random R andom House Company, New York. York. ww w.crownpubl w.crownpublishi ishi ng.com ����� ��������� and colophon is a regisered rademark o Random House LLC. Phoography credis can Phoography ca n be ound on page 365. Graeul acknowledgemen is made o Newsday LLC or permission permi ssion o reprin excerps fom “Look Wha Grew on Our Lawns” by Har vey Aronson (Ocober (Oco ber 28, 1967), copyrigh © 1967 Newsday LLC, and “Joel, Wie Spliting Up” by Glenn Gamboa Ga mboa (June 18, 2009), copyrigh © 2009 Newsday LLC. All Al l righs reserved. Reprined by permission o Newsday LLC. Library o Congress Caaloging-inCaaloging- in-Publicaion Publicaion Daa Schruers, Fred. Billy Joel / Fred Schruers. — Firs ediion. Includes bibliographical reerences and index. 1. Joel, Billy. Bil ly. 2. Rock musicians—Unied Saes—Biography. Saes—Biography. I. Tile. ML420.J72S34 2014 782.42166092—dc23 [B] 2014034084 ISBN 978-0978-0-80418041-40194019-5 5 eBook ISBN 978-0978-0-80418041-40204020-11 ������� �� ��� ���� �� ������ ������ �� �������
Boo desgn by Elzabeth Rendfleich Jacet desgn by Mchael Mcha el Nagn Jacet por trat by Mar Hanauer Bac jacet photograph: Blly Joel Archve Author photograph: Kate Rock 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Firs Ediion
PROLOGUE
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’s fiv o’clock ’s o’clock on a Monday, Monday, and h rgular rgu lar crowd shuffls in . . . o h chilly, unpopulad gra hall o Madison Squar Gardn, whr a crw is sill slapping down chairs chai rs on h big slabs o dcking dcking ha h a covr covr h hocky hocky rink. rin k. oing guiars, drumsicks, horns, and arpics, Billy Jol’s band arrays isl or a sound chck, and now up a mal saircas coms h man himsl. You could say h’s shuffling as wll; boh hips wr rplacd in mid-201 mid-2010, 0, and now now,, January Janua ry 27 27,, 2014, h’s h’s ul ully ly mndd—bu mndd—bu no likly o b doing h backflips off h piano ha, h’ll occasionally spcula, ld o ha opraion. As h prchs on his compac sool, chcking sings on h hybrid acousic/synhsi acousic/ synhsizd zd piano h uss, h band looks look s up xpcanly. xpca nly. H’ H’s nooriously bord by sound chcks, which mans hr’ll b pln o japs abou his ag, crain band pccadillos, or h world siuaion, all dlivrd wih rady wi. Bu a h sam im, all hands had br b “on h on” on” whn h dlivrs a casual insrucion in srucion,, bcaus h mssag won’ com ic. won’ From im o im, as in an opn-airopn-air-arna arna sound chck in Prh in Dcmbr 2008, h’ll g a wild hair and lad h band hrough
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by Cram—a Cram—a las unil h consabls pu a sop o i afr a volly o nois complains om h nighborhood. Billy, warmd by a plain black wach cap and a wool spors coa, plinks plin ks ou a w xploraory xploraory nos as h ohrs u un n up around him. hi m. H gazs abou—“I don’ don’ har h h room as wll wl l I usd o har i.” onigh will b his or-svnh or-svnh show a wha’s prt much h mos sorid concr vnu in h world. You g hr jus h way you g o Carngi Hall—“Pracic”— Hall—“Pracic”—bu bu i rally hlps i you sll ns o millions o albums. In his cas h figur figu r is 110 million or so, and ha’s ha’s par o h rason h’s playing his inaugural gig o kick off an opnndd “rsidncy, “rsidncy,” a sris o monhly monh ly Gardn das ha will wi ll coninu, coni nu, as h said sai d in a rcn prss conrnc, “as long as hr’ hr’ss dmand. dmand .” A bloggr or Forbes compud ha, basd on rapid sllous, h srngh o h Jol caalog, and wha dmographrs migh call his h is normous local and worldwid an bas, somhing somhi ng approachin approachingg or shows migh mach ha dmand. No on’s xpcing him o do ha many, o cours, bu you nvr know. Billy’s sill yballing h arna’s disan rachs, somwha obscurd by nw carpd caalks lading o bunkrlik luxury suis. H’s wondring why h sound wavs sem mud: “Eihr I’m going da or h room is diffrn. Is hr a big spong up hr?” H wais a ba, as h band, knowing his iming, rmains a parad rs—“Ah, rs— “Ah, I guss i’s h hair in my ars.” A six-our, six-our, h’s allowd o kvch a bi. Tre hours om now, a w songs ino his s, whn h packd hous has alrady marchd in plac o h pic swep o “Miami 2017,” bouncd in rhyhm (h Gardn is on massiv, ma ssiv, pulsaing pulsai ng springs) spring s) o o “Prssur,” “Prssur,” croond along o h nchaning soliloquy ha is “Summr, Highland Falls,” and ditboppd and doo- woppd woppd o o “T Longs im,” im,” h pauss: “Good vning, Nw York Ci . . .” A roar lik a gu punch braks ovr h sag.
BILLY JOEL
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abov, swivl around h room as h aks a sip o war. T guys in h crowd giv hir das a knowing look— You thnk t’s really water? “Tiss yar is my fifih yar in show businss.” A subl rsling o his “Ti spin—as spin— as in, We’re practcng our trade here . Anohr ba. “Wha was I hinking?” Now h urns o per a h imag o his had and orso, many ims li-siz. li-siz. “I didn’ hink I was gonna nd up looking lik ha in 1964.” T big banks o spakrs ar puing ou hir crisp, almos subliminal xhalaions as h crowd nois modulas down—h down—h ans ar hinking wha fify yars mans o Billy, and o hm. Ty’r hoping o har “Movin’ Ou (Anhony’s Song),” “Nw York Sa o Mind,” and “Rivr o Drams,” which ar all bu a crain, as wll as “Piano Man,” which i a crain, and h s lis sis hav hind hy’ll b sn ou ino h nigh afr a our-song our- song ncor cappd by a ubhumping, horn- washd washd ak o “Only h h Good Di Young.” Young.” Tr’s im nough or h ky anhms, and im, oo, or som “dep cus” lik “Whr’s “Whr’s h Orchsra?” Bu firs Billy’s Bi lly’s go on mor obsrvaion abou h doo- wop doo- wop momn: “I sounds sound s br in i n h mn’ mn’ss room,” as h and his bandmas dmonsrad, bouncing “T Longs im” off dingy ils in h song’s 1984 vido. “W usd o snak ou a nigh and sing i on h sre cornr—and cornr— and popl would hrow shi a us!” Wll, clarly ha was hn. And onigh, whn h’s six-our, six- our, hy sill ned him, oo, o borrow a phras om a song. Mik DlGuidic, nw uili playr in h band, cnrpic o his own Jol ribu band calld Big Sho, and mayb h numbr on an in h room, will sum i up lar in h bar whr h band gahrs. “H’s jus h guy. Ta is the guy. H’s mor lovd han anyon on h plan, musically.” Mik has jus com down om h hol room h hurrid o afr h gig o ak a amily phon call. Whn h sa on h bd and sard o hink abou having jus playd opning nigh alongsid Billy Bil ly in h Gardn, h
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ighen housand aihul ans, gos agains h seps o odds. I a harbormasr in Havana hadn’ l his ahr’s amily dismbark o find rug om h Nazis; i his mom hadn’ ound ha piano achr; i h hadn’ drilld ino his own alinaion o wri his saga as ha piano man; and i som labl bosss hadn’ suck by him afr his firs o albums ankd, h migh b siing down o h kys a a vry diffrn spo on h map. Tr’s a paricular momn in almos vry on o his shows whn, a song or o in, whil lisning o ha odd sonic umul o roaring approval, hollrd song ils, and propriary propriar y shoushou- ous o his firs nam, h lans lf and orward or ward on his piano pia no sool and sarchs h acs o o h crowd in his priphry. Tr’ Tr’ss usually usua lly a naiv grin, gri n, bu hr’s hr’s also a jiggr o uncrain—and uncrain—and hror vulnrabili—ha vulnrabili—ha sops shor o nedinss bu is sill somhow in ouch wih i. onigh i will com bor “Summr, Highland Falls,” wih is lling lyric: “And as w sand upon h ldgs o our livs li vs / Wih our rspciv simila sim ilariis riis / I’s I’s ihr sadnss or uphoria.” On a diffrn day, day, in a diffrn di ffrn ci ci,, in wha his inimas i nimas sill sil l hink hi nk o as h bad, sad old days o 2009, h grw rflciv on a hol balcony: “Obviously I hav pln o rgrs. Whnvr I hur sombody, whhr i was inadvrnly or rashly rashl y, I sill sil l rgr ha o his day d ay.. I’v nvr wand o vr hur anybody, and hos ar rgrs I’ll ak wih m o h grav. Bu I don’ hink you’v livd unlss you hav rgrs. I don’ hink you’v had ha xprinc wihou hm, whr you can say honsly, whn you’r rady o kick, hy, I lved . Good Lord, man, wha a li I’v livd. “I hink I’m going o do ha. Ta may ak som o h sing ou o dying—o dying— o say, say, I did d id i all.” a ll.”
