Editing Billy Joel (section)

===1988–1993: ''Storm Front'' and ''River of Dreams'' ===
The animated film ''[[Oliver & Company]]'' (1988) features Joel in a rare [[voice acting]] role as Dodger, a sarcastic [[Jack Russell Terrier|Jack Russell]] based on [[Dickens]]'s [[Artful Dodger]]. The character's design is based on Joel's image at the time, including his trademark Wayfarer sunglasses. Joel also sang his character's song "Why Should I Worry?".

The recording of ''[[Storm Front (album)|Storm Front]]'', which commenced in 1988, coincided with major changes in Joel's career and inaugurated a period of serious upheaval in his business affairs. In August 1989, just before the album was released, Joel dismissed his manager (and former brother-in-law) Frank Weber after an audit revealed major discrepancies in Weber's accounting. Joel subsequently sued Weber for US$90&nbsp;million, claiming fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and in January 1990, Joel was awarded US$2&nbsp;million in a partial judgment against Weber; in April, the court dismissed a US$30&nbsp;million countersuit filed by Weber.<ref>{{cite web |author=Pore-Lee-Dunn Productions |url=http://www.classicbands.com/joel.html |title=Billy Joel |publisher=Classicbands.com |date=February 4, 2007 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918190851/http://classicbands.com/joel.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The first single for the album, "[[We Didn't Start the Fire]]", was released in September 1989 and it became Joel's third—and most recent—US number-one hit, spending two weeks at the top. ''Storm Front'' was released in October, and it eventually became Joel's first number-one album since ''Glass Houses'', nine years earlier. ''Storm Front'' was Joel's first album since ''Turnstiles'' to be recorded without Phil Ramone as producer. For this album, he wanted a new sound, and worked with [[Mick Jones (Foreigner)|Mick Jones]] of [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]]. Joel is also credited as one of the keyboard players on Jones's 1988 self-titled solo album, and is featured in the official video for Jones's single "Just Wanna Hold"; Joel can be seen playing the piano while his then-wife Christie Brinkley joins him and kisses him. Joel also revamped his backing band, dismissing everyone but drummer [[Liberty DeVitto]], guitarist David Brown, and saxophone player [[Mark Rivera]], and bringing in new faces, including multi-instrumentalist [[Crystal Taliefero]].

''Storm Front''{{'s}} second single, "[[I Go to Extremes]]" reached No. 6 in early 1990. The album was also notable for its song "[[Leningrad (song)|Leningrad]]", written after Joel met a clown in the Soviet city of that name during his tour in 1987, and "[[The Downeaster Alexa]]", written to underscore the plight of fishermen on Long Island who are barely able to make ends meet. Another well-known single from the album is the ballad "[[And So It Goes]]" (No. 37 in late 1990). The song was originally written in 1983, around the time Joel was writing songs for ''An Innocent Man''; but "And So It Goes" did not fit that album's retro theme, so it was held back until ''Storm Front''. Joel said in a 1996 Masterclass session in Pittsburgh that ''Storm Front'' was a turbulent album and that "And So It Goes", as the last song on the album, portrayed the calm and tranquility that often follows a violent thunderstorm.

In the summer of 1992, Joel filed a US$90&nbsp;million lawsuit against his former lawyer Allen Grubman, alleging a wide range of offenses including fraud, breach of fiduciary responsibility, malpractice and breach of contract.<ref>{{cite news |first=Geraldine |last=Fabrikant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/business/billy-joel-takes-his-lawyers-to-court.html |title=Billy Joel takes his lawyers to court |work=The New York Times |date=September 24, 1992 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |archive-date=November 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128114750/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/business/billy-joel-takes-his-lawyers-to-court.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The case was settled out of court in the fall of 1993 for US$3&nbsp;million paid to Joel by third party [[Sony Corporation of America|Sony America]], to protect its subsidiary [[Sony Music]]'s interests, as it had several other artists also using Grubman's law firm.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cityfile.com/profiles/billy-joel |title=Profiles&nbsp;– Billy Joel |publisher=CityFile.com |access-date=August 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724010023/http://cityfile.com/profiles/billy-joel |archive-date=July 24, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first=Geraldine |last=Fabrikant|title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; A Tangled Tale of a Suit, A Lawyer and Billy Joel|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/03/business/the-media-business-a-tangled-tale-of-a-suit-a-lawyer-and-billy-joel.html|work=The New York Times |date=May 3, 1995 |access-date=April 17, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140103105348/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/03/business/the-media-business-a-tangled-tale-of-a-suit-a-lawyer-and-billy-joel.html|archive-date= January 3, 2014}}</ref>

In 1992, Joel inducted the R&B duo [[Sam & Dave]] into the [[Rock & Roll Hall of Fame]]. That year, Joel also started work on ''[[River of Dreams]]'', finishing the album in early 1993. Its cover art was a colorful painting by [[Christie Brinkley]] that was a series of scenes from each of the songs on the album. The [[The River of Dreams|eponymous first single]] was the last top 10 hit Joel has penned to date, reaching No. 3 on ''Billboard''{{'s}} Hot 100 and ranking at No. 21 on the 1993 year-end chart. In addition to the title track, the album includes the hits "[[All About Soul]]" (with [[Color Me Badd]] on backing vocals) and "[[Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)]]", written for his daughter, [[Alexa Ray Joel|Alexa]]. A radio remix version of "All About Soul" can be found on ''[[The Essential Billy Joel]]'' (2001), and a demo version appears on ''My Lives'' (2005).

The song "The Great Wall of China" was written about his ex-manager Frank Weber and was a regular in the setlist for Joel's 2006 tour. "2000 Years" was prominent in the millennium concert at [[Madison Square Garden]], December 31, 1999, and "Famous Last Words" closed the book on Joel's pop songwriting for more than a decade.