"The Piano Man" Still Going Strong





Billy Joel today

According to USAtoday, Billy Joel had received two new awards for his music last year. At the age of 65, he had stated his sincere gratitude towards the rewards, but in a joking way, saying, "I'm starting to suspect that I have some kind of terminal disease. They keep giving me all these awards, and I'm thinking, 'Are you trying to tell me something I don't know?' I mean, I'm 65 — I'm supposed to be irrelevant. I keep trying to have a dignified exit, and getting pulled back in." The rewards he received were the ASCAP Centennial Award from New York's Waldorf Astoria and the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize in Washington D.C.'s DAR Constitutional Hall. Of course, Mr. Joel does know he is getting up in age, however. He admits "[He] was a lot better when [he] was younger," but he will continue to perform "as long as there is a demand" and if he personally believes he is good. However, "The Piano Man" did have his fair share of mistakes throughout his career. As many famous and rich celebrities do, Joel had found himself performing substance abuse. After crashing his vehicle, he had decided to receive help from a rehabilitation center for substance abuse as a Father's Day gift to his daughter, Alexa, who was 16-years-old at the time. After a 10-day stay at the center, he had left the facility. Gladly, Billy Joel did not seem to stay on the path to self-destruction with drugs or alcohol and therefore we get to receive great music from an amazing artist that can actually make me enjoy the piano in a rock song.

Billy Joel's younger years