Billy Joel

Long before he became a household name, Billy Joel was grinding through the early 70s bar scene, cutting his teeth in bands like the Hassles and Attila before going solo. A classically trained pianist from Hickpoint, Long Island, Joel built his entire sound around the keyboard at a time when guitar was king, and somehow made it work for rock audiences who would have laughed that idea out of the room a decade earlier. His blend of piano-driven rock, pop sensibility, and genuinely sharp songwriting carved out a lane that nobody else was really occupying.

The albums that cemented his reputation are pretty hard to argue with. The Stranger from 1977 is the obvious landmark, a record that somehow managed to be simultaneously radio-friendly and emotionally sophisticated. Glass Houses leaned harder into a rawer rock sound, while The Nylon Curtain showed a more serious, Beatle-influenced side that critics respected even when casual listeners preferred his poppier material. Songs in the Attic captured his live energy perfectly.

Joel's cultural footprint is massive and a little underappreciated in rock circles because he gets lumped in with adult contemporary crowds. But tracks like Big Shot, You May Be Right, and Pressure hit with a legitimate rock punch. His Piano Man remains one of the most recognizable songs in American music, and his ability to capture working-class frustration and urban longing gave his best work a timeless weight that holds up decades later.