Editing Billy Joel (section)

== Early life, family and education ==
Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949, in [[the Bronx]]. When he was one year old, his family moved to [[Hicksville, New York|Hicksville]] in the town of [[Oyster Bay (town), New York|Oyster Bay, New York]] on [[Long Island]]. He and his cousin Judy, whom his parents adopted,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A long-lost Billy Joel song surfaces on 'This Is Us' |url=https://987theriver.iheart.com/content/2017-10-11-a-long-lost-billy-joel-song-surfaces-on-this-is-us/ |access-date= October 15, 2022 |website= 987theriver.iheart.com | publisher= 98.7 The River |language=en| archive-date= August 16, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816183512/https://987theriver.iheart.com/content/2017-10-11-a-long-lost-billy-joel-song-surfaces-on-this-is-us/ | url-status=dead}}</ref> were raised in a section of [[Levitt & Sons|Levitt]] homes.<ref name="htt1">{{cite web| url= http://www.wnyc.org/shows/heresthething/2012/jul/30/transcript|title=Billy Joel|date= July 30, 2012|access-date=August 3, 2012|work= Here's The Thing | publisher= [[WNYC]] |format= transcript |quote= I grew up on the Island, in the Levittown section of Hicksville. We had a Levitt house, Cape Cod, on the quarter acre. ... My father was a classically trained pianist. He grew up in Nuremberg, Germany, and he also went to school in Switzerland. His father was quite well off. They had a mail-order textile business, Joel Macht Fabrik ... |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120804181324/http://www.wnyc.org/shows/heresthething/2012/jul/30/transcript/ |archive-date=August 4, 2012 }}</ref>

His mother, Rosalind (1922–2014),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/billy-joel-s-mother-rosalind-nyman-joel-dead-at-92-1.8799868|title=Billy Joel's mom dies at 92| website=Newsday|access-date= October 3, 2020|archive-date= September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922235322/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/billy-joel-s-mother-rosalind-nyman-joel-dead-at-92-1.8799868|url-status=live}}</ref> was born in [[Brooklyn]] to Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca Nyman, who emigrated from England.<ref>{{cite book| title= Billy Joel: The Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/billyjoelbiograp00bego|url-access= registration| first= Mark |last= Bego| year= 2007 |page= [https://archive.org/details/billyjoelbiograp00bego/page/13 13]|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|isbn= 9781560259893}}</ref> Billy's father, Howard (born Helmut) Joel (1923–2011), an accomplished amateur classical pianist<ref name= CRose /><ref name="htt1" /> and businessman, was born in [[Nuremberg|Nuremberg, Germany]]<ref name="htt1" /> to a Jewish family, the son of merchant and manufacturer [[Karl Amson Joel]], and educated in [[Switzerland]]. Billy's grandfather, Karl Amson Joel, had created a highly successful mail-order textile business, Joel Macht Fabrik. Escaping the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi regime]], Karl, his wife and young son emigrated to Switzerland. Billy's grandfather was forced to sell his business at a fraction of its value in order to emigrate. The family reached the United States via [[Cuba]], because immigration quotas for [[German Jews]] prevented direct immigration at the time.<ref name="htt1"/> In the United States, Howard became an engineer but always loved music.

Billy Joel's parents met in the late 1930s at [[City College of New York]] at a [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] performance.<ref name= CRose /> He has said that neither of his parents talked much about [[World War II]], which were such dark years; it was not until later that Joel learned more about his father's family. After Rosalind and Howard Joel divorced in 1957, Howard returned to Europe, as he had never liked the US: he considered the people uneducated and materialistic.<ref name="htt1"/> He settled in [[Vienna]], Austria, and later remarried. Joel has a half-brother, [[Alexander Joel (conductor)|Alexander Joel]], born to his father in Europe, who became a classical conductor there and was the chief musical director of the [[Staatstheater Braunschweig]] from 2001 to 2014.<ref name=Villager>{{cite news| last= Tallmer| first= Jerry |date= July 22, 2003| url= http://www.thevillager.com/villager_12/billyjoel.html |title= Billy Joel grapples with the past| work= [[The Villager (Manhattan)|The Villager]]| volume= 73| number= 11| access-date= December 7, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110612095056/http://www.thevillager.com/villager_12/billyjoel.html |archive-date= June 12, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.alexanderjoel.com/biography| title= Biography| website= alexanderjoel.com| publisher= Alexander Joel| access-date= May 29, 2015| archive-date= March 21, 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150321111037/http://www.alexanderjoel.com/biography| url-status= live}}</ref>

Joel reluctantly began taking piano lessons at age four at his mother's insistence.<ref name= CRose /> His teachers included the noted American pianist [[Morton Estrin]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van |date=April 27, 1986 |title=Long Islanders; A Pianist Finds 88 Keys to Happiness |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/27/nyregion/long-islanders-a-painist-finds-88-keys-to-happiness.html |access-date= December 20, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 30, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180630190132/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/27/nyregion/long-islanders-a-painist-finds-88-keys-to-happiness.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and musician Timothy Ford. Joel says that he is a better organist than a pianist.<ref>{{cite book| last= Bordowitz| first= Hank| title= Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man| url= https://archive.org/details/billyjoellifetim00bord| url-access= registration| year= 2006| page= [https://archive.org/details/billyjoellifetim00bord/page/26 26]| publisher= Billboard Books| isbn= 9780823082506}}</ref> As a teenager, Joel took up [[boxing]] so he could defend himself.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/12/17/kennedy-center-honors-billy-joel-the-piano-man-in-a-new-york-state-of-mind |title= Billy Joel: The Piano Man In A New York State Of Mind |publisher= [[KCBS-TV]] |date= December 17, 2013 |access-date= March 19, 2014 |archive-date= March 19, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140319060300/http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/12/17/kennedy-center-honors-billy-joel-the-piano-man-in-a-new-york-state-of-mind/ |url-status= live }}</ref> He boxed successfully on the amateur [[Golden Gloves]] circuit for a short time, winning 22 bouts, but abandoned the sport shortly after his nose was broken in his 24th match.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classicbands.com/joel.html |title=Billy Joel |year=2007 |website=classicbands.com |access-date=October 6, 2008 |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918190851/http://classicbands.com/joel.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although Joel's parents were Jewish, he did not grow up in the religion. "I was not brought up Jewish in any religious way. My circumcision was as Jewish as they got."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://jweekly.com/2007/08/23/billy-joel-biography-shows-the-ugly-side-of-music-legend/ | title=Billy Joel biography shows the ugly side of music legend | newspaper=J | date=August 23, 2007 | access-date=March 27, 2023 | archive-date=March 27, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327105545/https://jweekly.com/2007/08/23/billy-joel-biography-shows-the-ugly-side-of-music-legend/ | url-status= live }}</ref> He attended [[Catholic Church|a Roman Catholic church]] with friends. At age 11, he was baptized in a [[Churches of Christ|Church of Christ]] in [[Hicksville, New York|Hicksville]]. He now identifies as an [[atheist Jew]].<ref>{{cite magazine| last1= Paumgarten| first1=Nick| title=Thirty-Three-Hit Wonder| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/27/thirty-three-hit-wonder| magazine=The New Yorker| access-date=May 22, 2015| date=October 27, 2014| archive-date=April 26, 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150426205937/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/27/thirty-three-hit-wonder| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Billy Joel |url= http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Billy_Joel |work= celebatheists.com | publisher= Celebrity Atheists List |access-date= May 22, 2015| archive-date=May 24, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524233059/http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Billy_Joel| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/25/living/gallery/atheists/?hpt=hp_c4| publisher= [[CNN]]| title=Photos: Famous atheists and their beliefs| access-date=May 27, 2013| archive-date=June 8, 2013| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130608220324/http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/25/living/gallery/atheists/?hpt=hp_c4| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.blender.com/guide/66688/dear-superstar-billy-joel.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090822225600/http://www.blender.com/guide/66688/dear-superstar-billy-joel.html |archive-date=August 22, 2009 |title=Dear Superstar: Billy Joel|work= [[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]|date=July 15, 2001|first=Rob| last=Tannenbaum |access-date= November 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.newsweek.com/atheist-day-2018-billy-joel-stephen-hawking-and-more-why-god-may-not-exist-868074| magazine=[[Newsweek]]| title='Atheist Day' 2018: Billy Joel, Emma Thompson and More On Why God May Not Exist| first=Anna| last=Menta| date=April 1, 2018| access-date=July 11, 2020| archive-date=July 26, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726234337/https://www.newsweek.com/atheist-day-2018-billy-joel-stephen-hawking-and-more-why-god-may-not-exist-868074| url-status=live}}</ref>

Joel attended [[Hicksville High School (New York)|Hicksville High School]] in Hicksville until 1967 but did not graduate with his class.<ref name= CRose>{{cite interview| first= Billy| last= Joel| title= Billy Joel Interview| work= [[The Charlie Rose Show]]| interviewer= [[Charlie Rose]]| publisher= [[PBS]]| year= 1993| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdTQeghB158| via= YouTube| access-date= January 9, 2020| archive-date= March 13, 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200313005749/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdTQeghB158&gl=US&hl=en| url-status= live}}</ref> He was playing at a piano bar to help support himself, his mother and sister, and missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig the evening before.<ref name= CRose /> Although Joel was a comparatively strong student, at the end of his senior year, he did not have enough credits to graduate. Rather than attend summer school to earn his diploma, Joel decided to begin a music career: "I told them, 'To hell with it. If I'm not going to [[Columbia University]], I'm going to [[Columbia Records]], and you don't need a high school diploma over there'."<ref>{{cite book | last= Bordowitz| first= Hank| title= Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man| year = 2006| page= 22| publisher= Billboard Books| isbn = 9780823082483 }}</ref> In 1992, he submitted essays to the school board in lieu of the missed exam. They were accepted, and he was awarded his diploma at Hicksville High's annual graduation ceremony 25 years after leaving.<ref name= Chronicle1992>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/26/style/chronicle-419092.html |title= Chronicle |work= The New York Times |date= June 26, 1992 |access-date= August 19, 2011 |first= Nadine |last= Brozan |archive-date= May 14, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130514150120/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/26/style/chronicle-419092.html |url-status= live }}</ref>