title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: To address the inherent flight instability of a flying wing aircraft, the B-2 uses a complex quadruplex computer-controlled fly-by-wire flight control system that can automatically manipulate flight surfaces and settings without direct pilot inputs to maintain aircraft stability. The flight computer receives information on external conditions such as the aircraft's current air speed and angle of attack via pitot-static sensing plates, as opposed to traditional pitot tubes which would impair the aircraft's stealth capabilities. The flight actuation system incorporates both hydraulic and electrical servoactuated components, and it was designed with a high level of redundancy and fault-diagnostic capabilities.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: Northrop had investigated several means of applying directional control that would infringe on the aircraft's radar profile as little as possible, eventually settling on a combination of split brake-rudders and differential thrust. Engine thrust became a key element of the B-2's aerodynamic design process early on; thrust not only affects drag and lift but pitching and rolling motions as well. Four pairs of control surfaces are located along the wing's trailing edge; while most surfaces are used throughout the aircraft's flight envelope, the inner elevons are normally only in use at slow speeds, such as landing. To avoid potential contact damage during takeoff and to provide a nose-down pitching attitude, all of the elevons remain drooped during takeoff until a high enough airspeed has been attained.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The B-2's low-observable, or "stealth", characteristics enable the undetected penetration of sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses and to attack even heavily defended targets. This stealth comes from a combination of reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures (multi-spectral camouflage) to evade the various detection systems that could be used to detect and be used to direct attacks against an aircraft. The B-2's stealth enables the reduction of supporting aircraft that are required to provide air cover, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses and electronic countermeasures, making the bomber a "force multiplier". , there have been no instances of a missile being launched at a B-2.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: To reduce optical visibility during daylight flights, the B-2 is painted in an anti-reflective paint. The undersides are dark because it flies at high altitudes (), and at that altitude a dark grey painting blends well into the sky. It is speculated to have an upward-facing light sensor which alerts the pilot to increase or reduce altitude to match the changing illuminance of the sky. The original design had tanks for a contrail-inhibiting chemical, but this was replaced in production aircraft by a contrail sensor that alerts the crew when they should change altitude. The B-2 is vulnerable to visual interception at ranges of or less. The B-2 is stored in a $5 million specialised air-conditioned hangar to maintain its stealth coating. Every seven years, this coating is carefully removed by being washed off with crystallised wheat starch so that the B-2's surfaces can be inspected for any dents or scratches.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: Reportedly, the B-2 has a radar cross-section (RCS) of about . The bomber does not always fly stealthily; when nearing air defenses pilots "stealth up" the B-2, a maneuver whose details are secret. The aircraft is stealthy, except briefly when the bomb bay opens. The B-2's clean, low-drag flying wing configuration not only provides exceptional range but is also beneficial to reducing its radar profile. The flying wing design most closely resembles a so-called infinite flat plate (as vertical control surfaces dramatically increase RCS), the perfect stealth shape, as it would lack angles to reflect back radar waves (initially, the shape of the Northrop ATB concept was flatter; it gradually increased in volume according to specific military requirements). Without vertical surfaces to reflect radar laterally, side aspect radar cross section is also reduced. Radars operating at a lower frequency band (S or L band) are able to detect and track certain stealth aircraft that have multiple control surfaces, like canards or vertical stabilizers, where the frequency wavelength can exceed a certain threshold and cause a resonant effect.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: RCS reduction as a result of shape had already been observed on the Royal Air Force's Avro Vulcan strategic bomber, and the USAF's F-117 Nighthawk. The F-117 used flat surfaces (faceting technique) for controlling radar returns as during its development (see Lockheed Have Blue) in the early 1970s, technology only allowed for the simulation of radar reflections on simple, flat surfaces; computing advances in the 1980s made it possible to simulate radar returns on more complex curved surfaces. The B-2 is composed of many curved and rounded surfaces across its exposed airframe to deflect radar beams. This technique, known as "continuous curvature", was made possible by advances in computational fluid dynamics, and first tested on the Northrop Tacit Blue.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: Some analysts claim infra-red search and track systems (IRSTs) can be deployed against stealth aircraft, because any aircraft surface heats up due to air friction and with a two channel IRST is a (4.3 µm absorption maxima) detection possible, through difference comparing between the low and high channel.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: Burying engines deep inside the fuselage also minimizes the thermal visibility or infrared signature of the exhaust. At the engine intake, cold air from the boundary layer below the main inlet enters the fuselage (boundary layer suction, first tested on the Northrop X-21) and is mixed with hot exhaust air just before the nozzles (similar to the Ryan AQM-91 Firefly). According to the Stefan–Boltzmann law, this results in less energy (thermal radiation in the infrared spectrum) being released and thus a reduced heat signature. The resulting cooler air is conducted over a surface composed of heat resistant carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer and titanium alloy elements, which disperse the air laterally, to accelerate its cooling. The B-2 lacks afterburners as the hot exhaust would increase the infrared signature; breaking the sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boom as well as aerodynamic heating of the aircraft skin which would also increase the infrared signature.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: According to the Huygens–Fresnel principle, even a very flat plate would still reflect radar waves, though much less than when a signal is bouncing at a right angle. Additional reduction in its radar signature was achieved by the use of various radar-absorbent materials (RAM) to absorb and neutralize radar beams. The majority of the B-2 is made out of a carbon-graphite composite material that is stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, and absorbs a significant amount of radar energy.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The B-2 is assembled with unusually tight engineering tolerances to avoid leaks as they could increase its radar signature. Innovations such as alternate high frequency material (AHFM) and automated material application methods were also incorporated to improve the aircraft's radar-absorbent properties and reduce maintenance requirements. In early 2004, Northrop Grumman began applying a newly developed AHFM to operational B-2s. To protect the operational integrity of its sophisticated radar absorbent material and coatings, each B-2 is kept inside a climate-controlled hangar (Extra Large Deployable Aircraft Hangar System) large enough to accommodate its wingspan.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: B-2s are supported by portable, environmentally-controlled hangars called B-2 Shelter Systems (B2SS). The hangars are built by American Spaceframe Fabricators Inc. and cost approximately US$5 million apiece. The need for specialized hangars arose in 1998 when it was found that B-2s passing through Andersen Air Force Base did not have the climate-controlled environment maintenance operations required. In 2003, the B2SS program was managed by the Combat Support System Program Office at Eglin Air Force Base. B2SS hangars are known to have been deployed to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The first operational aircraft, christened "Spirit of Missouri", was delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, where the fleet is based, on 17 December 1993. The B-2 reached initial operational capability (IOC) on 1 January 1997. Depot maintenance for the B-2 is accomplished by USAF contractor support and managed at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base. Originally designed to deliver nuclear weapons, modern usage has shifted towards a flexible role with conventional and nuclear capability.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The B-2's combat debut was in 1999, during the Kosovo War. It was responsible for destroying 33% of selected Serbian bombing targets in the first eight weeks of U.S. involvement in the War. During this war, six B-2s flew non-stop to Yugoslavia from their home base in Missouri and back, totaling 30 hours. Although the bombers accounted 50 sorties out of a total of 34,000 NATO sorties, they dropped 11 percent of all bombs. The B-2 was the first aircraft to deploy GPS satellite-guided JDAM "smart bombs" in combat use in Kosovo. The use of JDAMs and precision-guided munitions effectively replaced the controversial tactic of carpet-bombing, which had been harshly criticized due to it causing indiscriminate civilian casualties in prior conflicts, such as the 1991 Gulf War. On 7 May 1999, a B-2 dropped five JDAMs on the Chinese Embassy, killing several staff. By then, the B-2 had dropped 500 bombs in Yugoslavia.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The B-2 saw service in Afghanistan, striking ground targets in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. With aerial refueling support, the B-2 flew one of its longest missions to date from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Afghanistan and back. B-2s would be stationed in the Middle East as a part of a US military buildup in the region from 2003.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: The B-2's combat use preceded a USAF declaration of "full operational capability" in December 2003. The Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report noted that the B-2's serviceability for Fiscal Year 2003 was still inadequate, mainly due to the maintainability of the B-2's low observable coatings. The evaluation also noted that the Defensive Avionics suite had shortcomings with "pop-up threats".


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: During the Iraq War, B-2s operated from Diego Garcia and an undisclosed "forward operating location". Other sorties in Iraq have launched from Whiteman AFB. the longest combat mission has been 44.3 hours. "Forward operating locations" have been previously designated as Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, where new climate controlled hangars have been constructed. B-2s have conducted 27 sorties from Whiteman AFB and 22 sorties from a forward operating location, releasing more than of munitions, including 583 JDAM "smart bombs" in 2003.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: In response to organizational issues and high-profile mistakes made within the USAF, all of the B-2s, along with the nuclear-capable B-52s and the USAF's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), were transferred to the newly formed Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 February 2010.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: In March 2011, B-2s were the first U.S. aircraft into action in Operation Odyssey Dawn, the UN mandated enforcement of the Libyan no-fly zone. Three B-2s dropped 40 bombs on a Libyan airfield in support of the UN no-fly zone. The B-2s flew directly from the U.S. mainland across the Atlantic Ocean to Libya; a B-2 was refueled by allied tanker aircraft four times during each round trip mission.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: In August 2011, "The New Yorker" reported that prior to the May 2011 U.S. Special Operations raid into Abbottabad, Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials had considered an airstrike by one or more B-2s as an alternative; the use of a bunker busting bomb was rejected due to potential damage to nearby civilian buildings. There were also concerns an airstrike would make it difficult to positively identify Bin Laden's remains, making it hard to confirm his death.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: On 28 March 2013, two B-2s flew a round trip of from Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri to South Korea, dropping dummy ordnance on the Jik Do target range. The mission, part of the annual South Korean–United States military exercises, was the first time that B-2s overflew the Korean peninsula. Tensions between the Koreas were high; North Korea protested against the B-2's participation and made threats of retaliatory nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: On 18 January 2017, two B-2s attacked an ISIS training camp southwest of Sirte, Libya, killing around 85 militants. The B-2s together dropped 108 precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs. These strikes were followed by an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle firing Hellfire missiles. Each B-2 flew a 33-hour, round-trip mission from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri with four or five (accounts differ) refuelings during the trip.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: On 23 February 2008, B-2 "AV-12" "Spirit of Kansas" crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. "Spirit of Kansas" had been operated by the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and had logged 5,176 flight hours. The two-person crew ejected safely from the aircraft. The aircraft was destroyed, a hull loss valued at US$1.4 billion. After the accident, the USAF took the B-2 fleet off operational status for 53 days, returning on 15 April 2008. The cause of the crash was later determined to be moisture in the aircraft's Port Transducer Units during air data calibration, which distorted the information being sent to the bomber's air data system. As a result, the flight control computers calculated an inaccurate airspeed, and a negative angle of attack, causing the aircraft to pitch upward 30 degrees during takeoff. This was the first crash of a B-2 and the only loss .


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: In February 2010, another serious incident involving a B-2 occurred at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The aircraft involved was AV-11 "Spirit of Washington". The aircraft was severely damaged by fire while on the ground and underwent 18 months of repairs to enable it to fly back to the mainland U.S. for more comprehensive repairs. "Spirit of Washington" was repaired and returned to service in December 2013. At the time of the accident the USAF had no training to deal with tailpipe fires on the B-2s.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: On the night of 13–14 September 2021, the B-2 "Spirit of Georgia" made an emergency landing at Whiteman AFB. The aircraft landed and went off the runway into the grass and came to rest on its left side. The cause was later determined to be faulty landing gear springs and "microcracking" in hydraulic connections on the aircraft. The lock link springs in the left landing gear had likely not been replaced in at least a decade, and produced about 11% less tension than specified. The "microcracking" reduced hydraulic support to the landing gear. These problems allowed the landing gear to fold upon landing. The accident resulted in a minimum of $10.1 million in repair damages, but the final repair cost was still being determined in March 2022.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: On 10 December 2022, an in-flight malfunction aboard a B-2A bomber forced an emergency landing at Whiteman AFB. No personnel, including the flight crew, sustained injuries during the incident; there was a post-crash fire that was quickly put out. As of mid-December 2022 there are no reports of what caused the malfunction, or the cost of the damage, but the incident is being investigated.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: No operational B-2s have been retired by the Air Force to be put on display. B-2s have made occasional appearances on ground display at various air shows.


title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

text: B-2 test article (s/n AT-1000), the second of two built without engines or instruments and used for static testing, was placed on display in 2004 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. The test article passed all structural testing requirements before the airframe failed. The museum's restoration team spent over a year reassembling the fractured airframe. The display airframe is marked to resemble "Spirit of Ohio" (S/N 82-1070), the B-2 used to test the design's ability to withstand extreme heat and cold. The exhibit features "Spirit of Ohio"s nose wheel door, with its "Fire and Ice" artwork, which was painted and signed by the technicians who performed the temperature testing. The restored test aircraft is on display in the museum's "Cold War Gallery".


title: Billy Joel

text: William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 pop and rock studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album of classical compositions in 2001.


title: Billy Joel

text: He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, "Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2", is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.


title: Billy Joel

text: Born in The Bronx, Joel grew up on Long Island, where both places influenced his music. Growing up, he took piano lessons at his mother's insistence. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, The Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and starting off a solo career in 1971 with his first release "Cold Spring Harbor". In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of the song "Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company and release his second album, "Piano Man", in 1973. After "Streetlife Serenade" and "Turnstiles" in 1974 and 1976 respectively, Joel released his critical and commercial breakthrough album, "The Stranger", in 1977. This album became Columbia's best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning several hit singles, including "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Only the Good Die Young", and "She's Always a Woman"; another song on this album, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", is Joel's favorite of his own songs and has become a staple of his live shows.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's next album, "52nd Street", was released in 1978 and it soon became his first album to peak at No.1 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. Joel released his seventh studio album, "Glass Houses", in 1980 in an attempt to further establish himself as a rock artist; this release featured "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Joel's first single to top the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart), "You May Be Right", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". His next album, "The Nylon Curtain", was released in 1982, and stemmed from a desire to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. "An Innocent Man", released in 1983, served as an homage to genres of music which Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; this release featured "Tell Her About It", "Uptown Girl" and "The Longest Time", three of his best-known songs. After "The Bridge" and "Storm Front" in 1986 and 1989 respectively, Joel released his twelfth studio album, "River of Dreams", in 1993. He went on to release "Fantasies and Delusions", a 2001 album featuring classical compositions composed by Joel and performed by British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Joel provided voiceover work in 1988 for the Disney animated film "Oliver & Company", in which he played the character Dodger with his song, "Why Should I Worry?", and contributed to the soundtracks to several different films, including "Easy Money", "Ruthless People", and "Honeymoon in Vegas".


title: Billy Joel

text: Across the 20 years of his solo career, Joel produced 33 self-penned Top 40 hits in the U.S., three of which ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", "Tell Her About It", and "We Didn't Start the Fire") reached the top of the "Billboard" Hot 100 charts. Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards, winning 6 of them, including Album of the Year for "52nd Street". Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006). In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors for influencing American culture through the arts. Since the advent of his solo career, Joel has had a successful touring career, holding live performances across the globe. In 1987, he became one of the first artists to hold a rock tour in the Soviet Union following the country's alleviation of the ban on rock music. Despite largely retiring from writing and releasing pop music following the release of "River of Dreams", he continues to tour; he frequently performs at Madison Square Garden.


title: Billy Joel

text: William Martin Joel was born in the Bronx, New York on May 9, 1949. When he was one year old, his family moved to the Long Island suburb Hicksville, in the town of Oyster Bay, where he and his cousin Judy, whom his parents adopted, were raised in a section of Levitt homes.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's father, Howard (born Helmut) Joel (1923–2011), a classical pianist and businessman, was born in Nuremberg, Germany, to a Jewish family, the son of merchant and manufacturer Karl Amson Joel. Howard was educated in Switzerland. His father had created a highly successful mail order textile business, Joel Macht Fabrik. To escape the Nazi regime, Howard's family emigrated to Switzerland. His father sold his business at a fraction of its value to emigrate. The family reached the United States via Cuba, because immigration quotas for German Jews prevented direct immigration at the time. In the United States, Howard became an engineer but always loved music. Joel's mother, Rosalind (1922–2014), was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca Nyman, who emigrated from England.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's parents met in the late-1930s at City College of New York at a Gilbert and Sullivan performance. He has said that neither of his parents had talked much about World War II, which were such dark years; it was not until later that he 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 United States, considering the people uneducated and materialistic. He settled in Vienna, Austria and later remarried. Joel has a half-brother, Alexander Joel, born to his father in Europe, who became a classical conductor there. Alexander Joel was the chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 2001 to 2014.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel reluctantly began piano lessons at age four at his mother's insistence. His teachers included the noted American pianist Morton Estrin and musician Timothy Ford. Joel says that he is a better organist than pianist. As a teenager, Joel took up boxing so he could defend himself. 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 boxing match.


title: Billy Joel

text: Although Joel's parents were Jewish, he was not raised in that religion. He attended a Roman Catholic church with friends. At age 11, he was baptized in a Church of Christ in Hicksville. He now identifies as an atheist.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel attended Hicksville High School until 1967, but did not graduate with his class. 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 at a piano bar the evening before. 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 career in music: "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'." 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.


title: Billy Joel

text: Influenced by early rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists, including groups such as The Beatles, The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, Joel favored tightly structured pop melodies and down-to-earth songwriting. After seeing The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show", Joel decided to pursue a career in music. In an interview he said of the group's effect on him:


title: Billy Joel

text: At age 16, Joel joined the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes began recording in 1965. Joel played piano on several records released through Kama Sutra Productions and on recordings produced by Shadow Morton. Joel played on a demo version of "Leader of the Pack", which became a major hit for the Shangri-Las. Joel states that in 1964 he played on a recording of the Shangri-Las' "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" but he is unaware of whether he played on the demo or master version. The released single included a co-producer credit for Artie Ripp, who later was the first to sign and produce Joel as a solo artist after Michael Lang, who had given Joel a monetary advance, passed Joel along to Ripp to focus his attentions elsewhere.


title: Billy Joel

text: In late 1965, the Echoes changed their name to the Emeralds, and then to the Lost Souls. Joel left the band in 1967 to join the Hassles, a Long Island group that had signed with United Artists Records. Over the next year and a half, they released four singles and two albums ("The Hassles" and "Hour of the Wolf"). All were commercial failures. Joel and drummer Jon Small left the Hassles in 1969 to form the duo Attila, releasing an eponymous debut album in July 1970. The duo disbanded the following October when Joel began an affair with Small's wife, Elizabeth. The pair later married.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel signed a contract with the record company Family Productions, with which he recorded his first solo album, "Cold Spring Harbor", a reference to Cold Spring Harbor, a hamlet on Long Island. Ripp states that he spent US$450,000 developing Joel; nevertheless, the album was mastered at too high a speed and as a result, the album was a technical and commercial disappointment.


title: Billy Joel

text: The popular songs "She's Got a Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now" were originally released on this album, but went largely unnoticed until being released as live performances on "Songs in the Attic "(1981). Columbia released a remastered version of "Cold Spring Harbor" in 1983, with certain songs shortened or re-orchestrated.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel began his "Cold Spring Harbor" tour in the fall of 1971, touring with his band, which consisted of Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar, and Larry Russell on bass guitar, throughout the mainland United States and Puerto Rico, opening for groups such as the J. Geils Band, The Beach Boys, Badfinger, and Taj Mahal. Joel's performance at the Puerto Rican Mar y Sol Pop Festival was especially well-received; and although recorded, Joel refused to have it published on the Mar Y Sol compilation album "". Nevertheless, interest in his music grew.


title: Billy Joel

text: During the spring of 1972, the Philadelphia radio station WMMR-FM began playing a concert recording of "Captain Jack", which became an underground hit on the East Coast. Herb Gordon, a Columbia Records executive, heard Joel's music and introduced him to the company. Joel signed a recording contract with Columbia in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles, California; he lived there for the next three years. For six months he worked at The Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard as "Bill Martin". During that time, he composed his signature hit "Piano Man" about the bar's patrons.


title: Billy Joel

text: Despite Joel's new contract, he was legally bound to Family Productions. Artie Ripp sold Joel's first contract to Columbia. Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS/Columbia Records at the time, bought back the rights to Joel's songs in the late 1970s, giving the rights to Joel as a birthday gift. Yetnikoff notes in the documentary film "The Last Play at Shea" that he had to threaten Ripp to close the deal.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's first album with Columbia was "Piano Man", released in 1973. Despite modest sales, "Piano Man"s title track became his signature song, ending nearly every concert. That year Joel's touring band changed. Guitarist Al Hertzberg was replaced by Don Evans, and bassist Larry Russell by Patrick McDonald, himself replaced in late 1974 by Doug Stegmeyer, who stayed with Joel until 1989. Rhys Clark returned as drummer and Tom Whitehorse as banjoist and pedal steel player; Johnny Almond joined as saxophonist and keyboardist. The band toured the U.S. and Canada extensively, appearing on popular music shows. Joel's songwriting began attracting more attention; in 1974 Helen Reddy recorded the "Piano Man" track "You're My Home".


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1974, Joel recorded his second Columbia album in Los Angeles, "Streetlife Serenade". His manager at the time was Jon Troy, an old friend from New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood; Troy was soon replaced by Joel's wife Elizabeth. "Streetlife Serenade" contains references to suburbia and the inner city. It is perhaps best known for "The Entertainer", a No. 34 hit in the U.S. Upset that "Piano Man" had been significantly cut for radio play, Joel wrote "The Entertainer" as a sarcastic response: "If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05." Although "Streetlife Serenade" was viewed unfavorably by critics, it contains the notable songs "Los Angelenos" and "Root Beer Rag", an instrumental that was a staple of his live set in the 1970s.


title: Billy Joel

text: In late 1975, Joel played piano and organ on several tracks on Bo Diddley's "The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll" all-star album.


title: Billy Joel

text: Disenchanted with Los Angeles, Joel returned to New York City in 1975 and recorded "Turnstiles", the first album he recorded with the musicians with whom he toured. Produced by James William Guercio (then Chicago's producer), "Turnstiles" was first recorded at Caribou Ranch with members of Elton John's band. Dissatisfied with the result, Joel re-recorded the songs and produced the album himself.


title: Billy Joel

text: "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" was a minor hit; Ronnie Spector recorded a cover as did Nigel Olsson, then drummer with Elton John. In a 2008 radio interview, Joel said that he no longer performs the song because singing it in its high original key "shreds" his vocal cords; however, he did finally play it live for the first time since 1982 when he sang it at the Hollywood Bowl in May 2014. Although never released as a single, "New York State of Mind" became one of Joel's best-known songs; Barbra Streisand recorded a cover and Tony Bennett performed it as a duet with Joel on "". Other notable songs from the album include "Summer, Highland Falls"; "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"; and "Prelude/Angry Young Man", a concert mainstay.


title: Billy Joel

text: Columbia Records introduced Joel to Phil Ramone, who produced all of Joel's studio albums from "The Stranger "(1977) to "The Bridge" (1986). "The Stranger" was an enormous commercial success, yielding four Top-25 hits on the "Billboard" charts: "Just the Way You Are" (No. 3), "Movin' Out" (No. 17), "Only the Good Die Young" (No. 24), and "She's Always a Woman" (No. 17). Joel's first Top Ten album, "The Stranger "was certified multi-platinum and reached number two on the charts, outselling Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", Columbia's previous best-selling album. "The Stranger" also featured "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", an album-oriented rock classic, which has become one of his best-known songs.


title: Billy Joel

text: "Just the Way You Are" — written for Joel's first wife, Elizabeth Weber — was inspired by a dream and won Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On tour in Paris, Joel learned the news late one night in a hotel room. "Rolling Stone "ranked "The Stranger" the 70th greatest album of all time.


title: Billy Joel

text: He released "52nd Street" in 1978, naming it after Manhattan's 52nd Street, which, at the time of its release, served as the world headquarters of CBS/ Columbia. The album sold over seven million copies, propelled to number one on the charts by the hits "My Life" (No. 3), "Big Shot" (No. 14), and "Honesty" (No. 24). A cover of "My Life" (sung by Gary Bennett) became the theme song for a new television sitcom, "Bosom Buddies", which featured actor Tom Hanks in one of his earliest roles. "52nd Street" also won Grammy awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male and Album of the Year.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1979, Joel traveled to Havana, Cuba to participate in the historic Havana Jam festival that took place between March 2–4, alongside Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Stills, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars, Billy Swan, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnegan, Weather Report, and an array of Cuban artists such as Irakere, Pacho Alonso, Tata Güines and Orquesta Aragón. His performance is captured in Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary "Havana Jam '79".


title: Billy Joel

text: "52nd Street" was the first commercially released album on the then-new compact disc format, in 1982.


title: Billy Joel

text: The success of his piano-driven ballads like "Just the Way You Are", "She's Always a Woman", and "Honesty" led some critics to label Joel a "balladeer" and "soft rocker". Joel thought these labels were unfair and insulting, and with "Glass Houses", he tried to record an album that proved that he could rock harder than his critics gave him credit for, occasionally imitating and referring to the style of new wave rock music that was starting to become popular at the time. On the front cover of the album, Joel is pictured in a leather jacket, about to throw a rock at a glass house (referring to the adage that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones").


title: Billy Joel

text: "Glass Houses" spent six weeks at No. 1 on the "Billboard" chart and yielded the hits "You May Be Right" (used as the theme song, covered by Southside Johnny, for the CBS mid-1990s sitcom "Dave's World") (No. 7, May 1980); "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", which became Joel's first "Billboard" number-one single (for two weeks) in July 1980; "Don't Ask Me Why" (No. 19, September 1980); and "Sometimes a Fantasy" (No. 36, November 1980). "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was the seventh biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. His five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in 1980 earned him the Garden's Gold Ticket Award for selling more than 100,000 tickets at the venue.


title: Billy Joel

text: "Glass Houses" won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. It also won the American Music Award for Favorite Album, Pop/Rock category. The album's closing song, "Through The Long Night" (B-side of the "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" single), was a lullaby that featured Joel harmonizing with himself in a song he says was inspired by The Beatles' "Yes It Is". In a recorded Masterclass at the University of Pennsylvania, Joel later recollected that he had written to the Beatles asking them how to get started in the music industry. In response, he received a pamphlet about Beatles merchandise. This later led to the idea of Joel conducting Q&A sessions around the world answering questions that people had about the music industry.


title: Billy Joel

text: His next release, "Songs in the Attic", was composed of live performances of lesser-known songs from the beginning of his career. It was recorded at larger US arenas and in intimate night club shows in June and July 1980. This release introduced many fans, who discovered Joel when "The Stranger" became a smash in 1977, to many of his earlier compositions. The album reached No. 8 on the "Billboard" chart and produced two hit singles: "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (No. 17), and "She's Got a Way" (No. 23). It sold over 3 million copies. Although not as successful as some of his previous albums, the album was still considered a success by Joel.


title: Billy Joel

text: The next wave of Joel's career commenced with the recording of his next studio album, "The Nylon Curtain". With it, Joel became more ambitious with his songwriting, trying his hand at writing topical songs like "Allentown" and "Goodnight Saigon". Joel has stated that he wanted the album to communicate his feelings about the American Dream and how changes in American politics during the Reagan years meant that "all of a sudden you weren't going to be able to inherit [the kind of life] your old man had." He also tried to be more ambitious in his use of the recording studio. Joel said that he wanted to "create a sonic masterpiece" on "The Nylon Curtain". So he spent more time in the studio, crafting the sound of the album, than he had on any previous album. Production of "The Nylon Curtain" began in the fall of 1981. However, production was temporarily delayed when Joel was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on Long Island on April 15, 1982, severely injuring his hands. Still, Joel quickly recovered from his injuries, and the album only ended up being delayed by a few months.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1982, he embarked on a brief tour in support of the album. From one of the final shows of the tour, Joel made his first video special, "Live from Long Island", which was recorded at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 30, 1982. It was originally broadcast on HBO in 1983 before it became available on VHS.


title: Billy Joel

text: "The Nylon Curtain" went to No. 7 on the charts, partially due to heavy airplay on MTV for the videos to the singles "Allentown" and "Pressure".


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's next album moved away from the serious themes of "The Nylon Curtain" and struck a much lighter tone. The album "An Innocent Man" was Joel's tribute to R&B and doo wop music of the 1950s and 1960s and resulted in Joel's second "Billboard" number-one hit, "Tell Her About It", which was the first single off the album in the summer of 1983. The album itself reached No. 4 on the charts and No. 2 in UK. It also boasted six top-30 singles, the most of any album in Joel's catalog. The album was well received by critics, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for AllMusic, describing Joel as being "in top form as a craftsman throughout the record, effortlessly spinning out infectious, memorable melodies in a variety of styles."


title: Billy Joel

text: At the time that the album was released, WCBS-FM began playing "Uptown Girl" both in regular rotation and on the "Doo Wop Live". The song became a worldwide hit upon its release. The music video of the song, originally written about then girlfriend Elle MacPherson, featured future wife Christie Brinkley as a high society girl, whose car pulls into the gas station where Joel's character is working. At the end of the video, Joel's "grease monkey" character drives off with his "uptown girl" on the back of a motorcycle. When Brinkley went to visit Joel after being asked to star in the video, the first thing Joel said to her upon opening his door was "I don't dance". Brinkley had to walk him through the basic steps he does in the video. Their work together on this video shoot sparked a relationship between the two which led to their marriage in 1985.


title: Billy Joel

text: In December, the title song, "An Innocent Man", was released as a single and it peaked at No. 10 in the U.S. and No. 8 in the UK, early in 1984. That March, "The Longest Time" was released as a single, peaking at No. 14 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. That summer, "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" was released and it hit No. 27 while "Keeping the Faith" peaked at No. 18 in January 1985. In the video for "Keeping the Faith", Christie Brinkley also plays the "redhead girl in a Chevrolet". "An Innocent Man" was also nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy, but lost to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".


title: Billy Joel

text: Following the success of "An Innocent Man", Joel was asked about releasing an album of his most successful singles. This was not the first time this topic had come up, but Joel had initially considered "Greatest Hits" albums as marking the end of one's career. This time he agreed, and "Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and 2" was released as a four-sided album and two-CD set, with the songs in the order in which they were released. The new songs "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night Is Still Young" were recorded and released as singles to support the album; both reached the top 40, peaking at No. 9 and No. 34, respectively. "Greatest Hits" was highly successful and it has since been certified double diamond by the RIAA, with over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) sold. It is one of the best-selling albums in American music history, according to the RIAA.


title: Billy Joel

text: Coinciding with the "Greatest Hits" album release, Joel released a two-volume "Video Album" that was a compilation of the promotional videos he had recorded from 1977 to the present time. Along with videos for the new singles off the "Greatest Hits" album, Joel also recorded a video for his first hit, "Piano Man", for this project.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's next album, "The Bridge" (1986), did not achieve the level of success of his previous albums, but it yielded the hits "A Matter of Trust" and "Modern Woman" from the film "Ruthless People", a dark comedy from the directors of "Airplane!" (both No. 10). In a departure from his "piano man" persona, Joel is shown in the video playing a Gibson Les Paul. The ballad "This is the Time" also charted, peaking at No. 18.


title: Billy Joel

text: On November 18, 1986, an extended version of the song "Big Man on Mulberry Street" was used on a Season 3 episode of "Moonlighting". The episode itself was also titled "Big Man on Mulberry Street".


title: Billy Joel

text: "The Bridge" was Joel's last album to carry the Family Productions logo, after which he severed his ties with Artie Ripp. Joel has also stated in many interviews, most recently in a 2008 interview in "Performing Songwriter" magazine, that he does not think "The Bridge" is a good album.


title: Billy Joel

text: In October 1986, Joel and his team started planning a trip to the Soviet Union. There were live performances at indoor arenas in Moscow, Leningrad and Tbilisi. Joel, his family (including young daughter Alexa), and his full touring band made the trip in July 1987. The entourage was filmed for television and video to offset the cost of the trip, and the concerts were simulcast on radio around the world. Joel's Russian tour was the first live rock radio broadcast in Soviet history. The tour was later cited frequently as one of the first fully staged pop rock shows to come to the Soviet Union, although in reality other artists had previously toured in the country before Joel, such as Elton John, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt.


title: Billy Joel

text: Most of that audience took a long while to warm up to Joel's energetic show, something that had never happened in other countries he had performed in. According to Joel, each time the fans were hit with the bright lights, anybody who seemed to be enjoying themselves froze. In addition, people who were "overreacting" were removed by security. During this concert Joel, enraged by the bright lights, flipped his electric piano and snapped a microphone stand while continuing to sing. He later apologized for the incident.


title: Billy Joel

text: The album "КОНЦЕРТ" (Russian for "Concert") was released in October 1987. Singer Pete Hewlett was brought in to hit the high notes on his most vocally challenging songs, like "An Innocent Man". Joel also did versions of The Beatles' classic "Back in the U.S.S.R." and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin". It has been estimated that Joel lost more than US$1 million of his own money on the trip and concerts, but he has said the goodwill he was shown there was well worth it.


title: Billy Joel

text: The Disney animated children's film, "Oliver & Company", released in November 1988, features Joel in a rare voice acting role, as the character Dodger, a sarcastic Jack Russell based on the 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?".


title: Billy Joel

text: The recording of the 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 million, claiming fraud and breach of fiduciary duty and in January 1990 he was awarded US$2 million in a partial judgment against Weber; in April, the court dismissed a US$30 million countersuit filed by Weber.


title: Billy Joel

text: 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 of Foreigner. Joel is also credited as one of the keyboard players on Jones' 1988 self-titled solo album, and is featured in the official video for Jones' 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.


title: Billy Joel

text: "Storm Front" second single, "I Go to Extremes" reached No. 6 in early 1990. The album was also notable for its 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.


title: Billy Joel

text: In the summer of 1992, Joel filed another US$90 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 but the case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.


title: Billy Joel

text: 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 eponymous first single was the last top 10 hit Joel has penned to date, reaching No. 3 on "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and ranking at No. 21 on the 1993 year-end Hot 100 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. 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).


title: Billy Joel

text: 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.


title: Billy Joel

text: Beginning in 1994, Joel toured extensively with Elton John on a series of "Face to Face" tours, making them the longest running and most successful concert tandem in pop music history. During these shows, the two played their own songs, covered each other's songs, and performed duets. They grossed over US$46 million in just 24 dates in their sold out 2003 tour. Joel and John resumed their Face to Face tour in March 2009 and it continued until March 2010, where it ended in Albany, New York, at the Times Union Center. In February 2010, Joel denied rumors in the trade press that he canceled a summer 2010 leg of the tour, claiming there were never any dates booked and that he intended to take the year off. Joel told "Rolling Stone" magazine: "We'll probably pick it up again. It's always fun playing with him."


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel and second wife Christie Brinkley announced on April 13, 1994, that they had separated, and their divorce was finalized in August 1994. The two remained friends.


title: Billy Joel

text: 1997's "To Make You Feel My Love" and "Hey Girl" both charted from Joel's "Greatest Hits Volume III" album. Joel wrote and recorded the song "Shameless" that was later covered by Garth Brooks and reached No. 1 on "Billboard" country charts. Joel performed with Brooks during his Central Park concert in 1997. To add onto his achievements Joel was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Ray Charles made the induction speech and mentioned the duet Joel wrote for the two of them, "Baby Grand" (a track on Joel's album "The Bridge" released in 1986).


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 31, 1999, Joel performed at New York's Madison Square Garden. At the time, Joel said that it would be his last tour and possibly his last concert. Two of his performances from that night, "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" were filmed and featured that night as part of ABC's special New Year's Y2K coverage. The concert (dubbed The Night of the 2000 Years) ran for close to four hours and was later released as "".


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2001, Joel released "Fantasies & Delusions", a collection of classical piano pieces. All were composed by Joel and performed by Hyung-ki Joo. Joel often uses bits of these songs as interludes in live performances, and some of them are part of the score for the hit show "Movin' Out". The album topped the classical charts at No. 1. Joel performed "New York State of Mind" live on September 21, 2001, as part of the benefit concert, and on October 20, 2001, along with "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)", at the Concert for New York City in Madison Square Garden. That night, he also performed "Your Song" with Elton John.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2003, Joel inducted The Righteous Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting that his song "Until the Night" from the album "52nd Street" was a tribute to the duo.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2005, Columbia released a box set, "My Lives", which is largely a compilation of demos, b-sides, live/alternative versions and even a few Top 40 hits. The compilation also includes the Umixit software, in which people can remix "Zanzibar" and a live version of "I Go to Extremes" with their PC. Also, a DVD of a show from the "River of Dreams" tour is included.


title: Billy Joel

text: On January 7, 2006, Joel began a tour across the U.S. Having not written, or at least released, any new songs in 13 years, he featured a sampling of songs from throughout his career, including major hits as well as obscure tunes like "Zanzibar" and "All for Leyna". His tour included an unprecedented 12 sold-out concerts over several months at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The singer's stint of 12 shows at Madison Square Garden broke a previous record set by New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen, who played 10 sold-out shows at the same arena. The record earned Joel the first retired number (12) in the arena owned by a non-athlete. This honor has also been given to Joel at the Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia) (formerly the Wachovia Center) in Philadelphia where a banner in the colors of the Philadelphia Flyers is hung honoring Joel's 48 Philadelphia sold-out shows. He also had a banner raised in his honor for being the highest grossing act in the history of the Times Union Center (formerly the Knickerbocker Arena and Pepsi Arena) in Albany, New York. This honor was given to him as part of the April 17, 2007, show he did there. On June 13, 2006, Columbia released "12 Gardens Live", a double album containing 32 live recordings from a collection of the 12 different shows at Madison Square Garden during Joel's 2006 tour.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel visited the United Kingdom and Ireland for the first time in many years as part of the European leg of his 2006 tour. On July 31, 2006, he performed a free concert in Rome, with the Colosseum as the backdrop.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel toured South Africa, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii in late 2006, and subsequently toured the Southeastern U.S. in February and March 2007 before hitting the Midwest in the spring of 2007. On January 3 of that year, news was leaked to the "New York Post" that Billy had recorded a new song with lyrics—this being the first new song with lyrics he'd written in almost 14 years. The song, titled "All My Life", was Joel's newest single (with second track "You're My Home", live from Madison Square Garden 2006 tour) and was released into stores on February 27, 2007. On February 4, Joel sang the national anthem for Super Bowl XLI, becoming the first to sing the national anthem twice at a Super Bowl. On April 17, 2007, Joel was honored in Albany, New York for his ninth concert at the Times Union Center. He is now holding the highest box office attendance of any artist to play at the arena. A banner was raised in his honor marking this achievement.


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 1, 2007, Joel premiered his new song "Christmas in Fallujah". The song was performed by Cass Dillon, a new Long Island based musician, as Joel felt it should be sung by someone in a soldier's age range (though he himself has played the song occasionally in concert.) The track was dedicated to servicemen based in Iraq. Joel wrote it in September 2007 after reading numerous letters sent to him from American soldiers in Iraq. "Christmas in Fallujah" is only the second pop/rock song released by Joel since 1993's "River of Dreams". Proceeds from the song benefited the Homes For Our Troops foundation.


title: Billy Joel

text: On January 26, 2008, Joel performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Academy of Music. Joel performed his classical piece titled, "Waltz No. 2 (Steinway Hall)" from Fantasies and Delusions arranged by Brad Ellis. He also played many of his less well-known pieces, with full orchestral backing arranged by Mr. Ellis, including the rarely performed "Nylon Curtain" songs "Scandinavian Skies" and "Where's the Orchestra?".


title: Billy Joel

text: On March 10, 2008, Joel inducted his friend John Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel sold out 10 concerts at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut from May to July 2008. The casino honored him with a banner displaying his name and the number 10 to hang in the arena. On June 19, 2008, he played a concert at the grand re-opening of Caesars Windsor (formerly Casino Windsor) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, to an invite-only crowd for Casino VIPs. His mood was light, and joke-filled, even introducing himself as "Billy Joel's dad" and stating "you guys overpaid to see a fat bald guy". He also admitted that Canadian folk-pop musician Gordon Lightfoot was the musical inspiration for "She's Always A Woman".


title: Billy Joel

text: On July 16 and 18, 2008, Joel played the final concerts at Shea Stadium before its demolition. His guests included Tony Bennett, Don Henley, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltrey, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney. The concerts were featured in the 2010 documentary film "Last Play at Shea". The film was released on DVD on February 8, 2011. The CD and DVD of the show, "", were released on March 8, 2011.


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 11, 2008, Joel recorded his own rendition of "Christmas in Fallujah" during a concert at Acer Arena in Sydney and released it as a live single in Australia only. It is the only official release of Joel performing "Christmas in Fallujah", as Cass Dillon sang on the 2007 studio recording and the handful of times the song was played live in 2007. Joel sang the song throughout his December 2008 tour of Australia.


title: Billy Joel

text: On May 19, 2009, Joel's former drummer, Liberty DeVitto, filed a lawsuit in NYC claiming Joel and Sony Music owed DeVitto over 10 years of royalty payments. DeVitto had never been given songwriting or arranging credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claimed that he helped arrange some of them, including "Only the Good Die Young". In April 2010, it was announced that Joel and DeVitto amicably resolved the lawsuit.


title: Billy Joel

text: 2011 marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Joel's first album, "Cold Spring Harbor." According to Joel's official website, to commemorate this anniversary, Columbia/Legacy Recordings originally planned "to celebrate the occasion with a definitive reissue project of newly restored and expanded Legacy editions of the complete Billy Joel catalog, newly curated collections of rarities from the vaults, previously unavailable studio tracks and live performances, home video releases and more", although this never fully came to fruition. The album "Piano Man" was re-released in a two-disc Legacy edition in November 2011.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2012, Joel signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), and its subsidiary Rondor Music International. Under the agreement, UMPG and Rondor replaced EMI Music Publishing in handling Joel's catalog outside the US. Additionally, the agreement marked the first time since Joel regained control of his publishing rights in the 1980s that he began to use an administrator to handle his catalog within the U.S. The agreement's focus is on increasing the use of Joel's music in movies, television programs, and commercials.


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 12, 2012, Joel performed as part of at Madison Square Garden, a concert held for all the victims of Hurricane Sandy. He changed the lyrics to "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" to make it relate to all the damage caused by Sandy.


title: Billy Joel

text: In May 2013, it was announced that Joel would hold his first ever indoor Irish concert at the O in Dublin on November 1. He subsequently announced his return to the UK for the first time in seven years to perform in October and November. Joel played in Manchester and Birmingham as well as London's Hammersmith Apollo. In October, Joel held a surprise concert on Long Island at The Paramount (Huntington, New York) to benefit Long Island Cares. The venue holds a capacity of 1,555 and sold out in five minutes. Joel headlined a solo arena concert in New York City for the first time since 2006 when he performed at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 31, 2013.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel announced a concert residency at Madison Square Garden, playing one concert a month indefinitely, starting January 27, 2014. The first MSG show also launched the Billy Joel in Concert tour, which continued at the Amway Center (in Orlando, Florida) where Joel performed several cover songs such as Elton John's "Your Song", Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful" (in tribute to Joe Cocker), The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "When I'm 64", Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne", and AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" (with Brian Johnson). Joel also performed an unusual set, including the song "Souvenir" (from 1974's "Streetlife Serenade") and excluding "We Didn't Start the Fire".


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2015, Joel performed 21 concerts in addition to his monthly Madison Square Garden residency. His August 4, 2015, engagement at Nassau Coliseum was the final concert prior to the arena undergoing a US$261 million renovation. Joel returned to Nassau Coliseum on April 5, 2017, to play the first concert at the newly renovated venue. Later that month, Joel played the first concert at Atlanta's new SunTrust Park, the suburban home of the Atlanta Braves.


title: Billy Joel

text: On June 24, 2017, he returned to Hicksville High School fifty years after his would-be graduating class received their diplomas, to deliver the honorary commencement address. It was also the 25th anniversary of receiving his own diploma from the same High School.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2019, Joel announced a concert at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, marking the first-ever concert at the baseball stadium. Joel was forced to postpone his concerts between March 2020 and August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel and Stevie Nicks jointly announced plans to perform a series of concerts across the United States in 2023, tentatively beginning with SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles on March 10.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1996, Joel merged his long-held love of boating with his desire for a second career. With Long Island boating businessman Peter Needham, he formed the Long Island Boat Company.


title: Billy Joel

text: In November 2010, Joel opened a shop in Oyster Bay, Long Island, to manufacture custom-made, retro-styled motorcycles and accessories.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2011, Joel announced that he was releasing an autobiography that he had written with Fred Schruers, titled "The Book of Joel: A Memoir". The book was originally going to be released in June 2011, but in March 2011 Joel decided against publishing the book and officially cancelled his deal with HarperCollins. "Rolling Stone" noted, "HarperCollins acquired the book project for US$3 million in 2008. Joel is expected to return his advance on that sum to the publisher." According to "Billboard", "the HarperCollins book was billed as an 'emotional ride' that would detail the music legend's failed marriage to Christie Brinkley, as well as his battles with substance abuse." In explaining his decision to cancel the book's release, Joel said, "It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I'm not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music." In 2014, Schruers published a biography, simply titled "Billy Joel", based on his extensive personal interviews with Joel.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel's first wife was Elizabeth Weber Small. When their relationship began, she was married to Jon Small, his music partner in the short-lived duo Attila, with whom she had a son. When the affair was revealed, Weber (temporarily) severed her relationships with both men. Weber and Joel later married in 1973 and she became his manager. His one-time producer Artie Ripp said Joel's songs "She's Got a Way" and "She's Always a Woman" were inspired by her, as was the waitress character in "Piano Man". They divorced on July 20, 1982.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel married a second time, to model Christie Brinkley, in March 1985. Their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, was born December 29, 1985. Alexa was given the middle name of Ray after Ray Charles, one of Joel's musical idols. Joel and Brinkley divorced on August 26, 1994.


title: Billy Joel

text: On October 2, 2004, Joel married chef Katie Lee, his third wife. At the time of the wedding, Lee was 23 and Joel was 55. Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray, then 18, served as maid of honor. Joel's second wife, Christie Brinkley, attended the union and gave the couple her blessing. On June 17, 2009, they announced their separation.


title: Billy Joel

text: On July 4, 2015, Joel married a fourth time, to Alexis Roderick, an equestrian and former Morgan Stanley executive, at his estate on Long Island. He was 66, she 33. Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo conducted the ceremony. The couple had been together since 2009. On August 12, 2015, the couple's daughter, Della Rose Joel, was born. The couple had a second daughter, Remy Anne Joel, on October 22, 2017.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel bought a house in Centre Island, New York in 2002 for US$22 million. He also owns a house in Sag Harbor. Joel's waterfront residence in Manalapan, Florida went on the market in November 2015. On January 28, 2020, the 3.76-acre (1.52 ha) property sold for US$10.2 million.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel has battled depression for many years. In 1970, a career decline and personal tragedies worsened his moods. He left a suicide note and attempted to end his life by drinking furniture polish. Later he said, "I drank furniture polish. It looked tastier than bleach." His drummer and bandmate, Jon Small, rushed him to the hospital. Joel checked into Meadowbrook Hospital, where he was put on suicide watch and received treatment for depression.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2002, Joel entered Silver Hill Hospital, a substance abuse and psychiatric center in New Canaan, Connecticut. In March 2005, he checked into the Betty Ford Center, where he spent 30 days for the treatment of alcohol abuse.


title: Billy Joel

text: Although Joel has donated money to Democratic candidates running for office, he has never publicly affiliated himself with the Democratic Party. Although he is not known for publicly endorsing political candidates, he did play a benefit with Bruce Springsteen to raise money for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. He has performed at benefit concerts that have helped raise funds for political causes. However, about celebrities endorsing political candidates, Joel has said, "People who pay for your tickets, I don't think they want to hear who you're going to vote for and how you think they should vote." Nonetheless, in 2016, after his sarcastic dedication of "The Entertainer" to then-Republican candidate Donald Trump was taken as a serious endorsement, Joel told the "New York Daily News" in an email that he would be voting for Hillary Clinton.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel graduated well after his high school peers because of a missed English exam. His high school diploma was finally awarded by the school board 25 years later. Joel has been presented with multiple honorary doctorates:


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1986, Joel was on the site selection committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board. Seven members of the committee voted for the Hall to be located in San Francisco, and seven voted for Cleveland, Ohio; this tie was broken when Joel voted for Cleveland. Joel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1999 by one of his chief musical influences, Ray Charles, with whom he also collaborated on his song "Baby Grand" (1986).


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel was also named MusiCares Person of the Year for 2002, an award given each year at the same time as the Grammy Awards. At the dinner honoring him, various artists performed versions of his songs, including Nelly Furtado, Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, Diana Krall, Rob Thomas and Natalie Cole.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel has won five Grammys, including Album of the Year for "52nd Street" and Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Just the Way You Are".


title: Billy Joel

text: In 1993, Joel was the second entertainer out of thirty persons to be inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame. On September 20, 2004, Joel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his work in the music industry, located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard. He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.


title: Billy Joel

text: Joel is the only performing artist to have played both Yankee and Shea Stadiums, as well as Giants Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Joel has banners in the rafters of the MVP Arena, Nassau Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, and the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.


title: Billy Joel

text: In 2003, "Rolling Stone"s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included "The Stranger" at number 67, and "52nd Street" at number 352. And in 2004, on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, "Rolling Stone" included "Piano Man" at number 421.


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 12, 2011, Joel became the first non-classical musician honored with a portrait in Steinway Hall.


title: Billy Joel

text: On December 29, 2013, in Washington, D.C., Joel received Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts.


title: Billy Joel

text: On July 22, 2014, the Library of Congress announced that Joel would be the sixth recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. He received the prize at a performance ceremony in November 2014 from James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.


title: Billy Joel

text: On July 18, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed the date to be Billy Joel Day in New York state to mark his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué joined Manchester United in 2004. He returned to Barcelona in 2008 under Pep Guardiola's leadership and helped the club win trebles in 2008–09 and 2014–15. He is one of only four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué also represented Spain 102 times, making his debut on 11 February 2009. He played an integral role on the Spanish teams that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He retired from the national team after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Piqué started his career playing for FC Barcelona's youth teams as a defensive midfielder, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join Manchester United. The Premier League club did not pay a fee for Piqué as he was too young to have a professional contract.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué made his debut for Manchester United in October 2004, as a centre-back, a 67th minute replacement for John O'Shea in a 3–0 League Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra. He made his full debut in January 2005 in a 0–0 FA Cup draw with Exeter City. Pique made his Premier League debut on 15 October 2005, again as a substitute for O'Shea, in a 3–1 win over Sunderland. His first league start came on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United at Old Trafford, playing at right-back, as Gary Neville was unavailable due to injury.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: His performances, most notably in the reserve team, earned him a new contract, which he signed in February 2005, to run until the summer of 2009. On 4 August 2006, however, La Liga club Real Zaragoza secured Piqué on a season-long loan. The terms of the loan required Piqué to feature in at least 20 games for the Aragonese club, which he did, as he made 22 first team appearances in a successful spell, alongside Argentine Gabriel Milito, either as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 5 May 2007, it was announced that Piqué would be staying at Old Trafford for the following season. Sir Alex Ferguson had intended to assess Piqué's form at La Romareda on 6 May, prior to a meeting where the two parties would discuss Piqué's future prospects with the club. However, Ferguson was unable to attend because of airline difficulties.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué's return to Old Trafford saw him make nine league appearances during the 2007–08 season. In his first start in the UEFA Champions League, a 4–0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007, Piqué scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in that match. In doing so, he became the 450th player to score at least one goal for the club. His second goal for the club also came in the Champions League, in an away match with Roma on 12 December 2007.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 27 May 2008, Piqué signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a €5 million buy-out clause. Barcelona paid a £5 million fee for the player. He expressed his joy at re-signing with his boyhood club, although he admitted he had enjoyed his spell at Manchester United:


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008. His first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a Copa del Rey match against local rivals Espanyol. The goal, which came from a corner kick in the 57th minute, turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barcelona. On 2 May 2009, Piqué scored Barcelona's sixth goal in a 6–2 "El Clásico" win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, which saw him produce a passionate goal celebration where he grabbed his Barcelona jersey.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 13 May 2009, he picked up the first trophy of his Barcelona career as he helped his club to a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey Final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched the 2008–09 La Liga title after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Villarreal, with two games left in the season.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 27 May 2009, Piqué played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final, which Barcelona won 2–0 in Rome, completing a historic treble and becoming the first Spanish club to achieve this feat.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 19 December 2009, Piqué was in the Barcelona team which beat Argentine club Estudiantes 2–1 in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup Final at Abu Dhabi to complete an unprecedented sextuple. Piqué assisted Pedro's 89th minute equalising goal which took the match to extra-time.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 26 February 2010, Piqué signed a contract extension to keep him at Barcelona until at least summer 2015. On 28 April 2010, Piqué scored in Barcelona's 1–0 Champions League semi-final second leg victory against Inter Milan, though his team went out 3–2 on aggregate.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 7 December 2010, Piqué captained his first match for Barcelona, a 5–0 victory against Russian club Rubin Kazan at Camp Nou in the last Champions League group stage match, in the absence of regular captain Carles Puyol and vice-captain Xavi. On 28 May 2011, Piqué played in his second Champions League Final. Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3–1 at Wembley Stadium to lift the UEFA Champions League for the second time in three seasons.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 18 December 2011, Piqué started in Barcelona's 4–0 victory against Brazilian club Santos in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final at Yokohama.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 1 May 2013, Piqué scored an own goal for Bayern Munich in Camp Nou, making the score 2–0 to Bayern. Bayern went on to win 3–0 and 7–0 in aggregate.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 20 May 2014, Piqué signed a contract extension with Barcelona, keeping him at the club until 2019.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 6 June 2015, Piqué started for Barça in the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, as the club won its fifth European Cup/Champions League title by beating Juventus 3–1 at Berlin's Olympiastadion. This made Barcelona the first club in history to win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup, and European Cup twice. Piqué, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Dani Alves, and Pedro are the only players to have been a part of both treble-winning teams.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 20 December 2015, Piqué played in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final against Argentine club River Plate in Yokohama, with Barcelona winning 3–0.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 18 January 2018, Piqué extended his contract again, this time until 2022. On 25 August 2019, he played for a full 90 minutes in a 5–2 win against Real Betis, his 500th game for the club.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 20 October 2020, Piqué signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 20 June 2024, setting his buy-out clause at €500 million.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 3 March 2021, Piqué scored a last-minute header in the Copa del Rey semifinals against Sevilla, tying the aggregate score to send the game to extra time. Barcelona won the game 3–0 in extra time and advanced to the 2021 Copa del Rey Final, which the team won.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 3 November 2022, Piqué announced that he would retire following Barcelona's La Liga match against Almería on 5 November.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 5 November 2022, Piqué played his last game at the Camp Nou, starting as captain. He was substituted off to a standing ovation in the 84th minute of Barcelona's 2–0 win against Almería. The Barça players were wearing special shirts for the game with "SEMPR3" printed on the front and Piqué's name and number on the back; ""sempre"" means "always" in Catalan, with Piqué's shirt number three replacing the last "e". La Liga president Javier Tebas stated he had no doubt that Piqué would one day return and become a "great president of Barcelona." Piqué was still on the squad list, named as a substitute, for the final match before 2022 FIFA World Cup, away against Osasuna on 8 November; he was given a straight red card from the bench at half time after arguing with the referee over the second-yellow red card given to teammate Robert Lewandowski in the first half.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué was a member of the Spain under-19 team that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Poland. In a 2–1 final win against Scotland, Piqué put in a strong performance in defence and also contributed in attack, hitting the crossbar with a header and providing the assist for striker Alberto Bueno to score Spain's second goal.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Subsequently, he played in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting all six of Spain's matches and scoring a goal in the team's come-from-behind 4–2 victory over Brazil in the round of 16. However, Piqué missed the deciding penalty in the shoot-out against the Czech Republic, and Spain was eliminated at the quarter-final stage.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the senior squad for the friendly against England on 11 February. He played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville. In his second match as an international on 28 March 2009, he was called up as a replacement for injured teammate Carles Puyol and he scored the only goal in Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Turkey at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Four days later, he started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué made his tournament debut for Spain at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, starting in four of the team's five matches as "La Roja" finished in third place.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué was Spain's first-choice centre-back at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, playing alongside Puyol. He started all seven matches as Spain won the tournament, defeating the Netherlands 1–0 in the final. Piqué's partnership with Puyol saw Spain concede only twice in seven World Cup matches and keep four consecutive clean sheets in the knockout stage. In Spain's 1–0 group stage defeat to Switzerland, just before Gelson Fernandes scored the only goal of the game, Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok tumbled over Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas and accidentally kicked Piqué in the face, knocking him over and leaving him with a deep cut beside his right eye.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué played every minute of Spain's UEFA Euro 2012 campaign, partnering Sergio Ramos in the centre of defence. He successfully converted the team's third penalty in a semi-final shoot-out win over Portugal. In the final, Spain recorded a fifth consecutive clean sheet in a 4–0 win over Italy. Piqué was one of three Spanish defenders included in UEFA's Team of the Tournament as "La Roja" conceded only one goal in six matches.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, Piqué was the third of Spain's seven successful takers in a 7–6 shootout win over Italy at the semi-final stage. On 30 June 2013, Piqué was sent off during the final against Brazil. He received a straight red card in the 68th minute for a violent tackle on recently signed Barcelona teammate Neymar. The match finished 3–0 to Brazil, ending Spain's world record 29 match unbeaten run in competitive internationals.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: In Spain's opening group game of UEFA Euro 2016 on 13 June, Piqué scored his fifth goal for his country, a late header in a 1–0 victory against the Czech Republic.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: In Spain's second group match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 20 June, a 1–0 win against Iran, Piqué made his 100th international appearance.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 25 March 2019, Piqué won his 10th cap for Catalonia in a friendly match against Venezuela, a few months after he had retired from the Spanish national team and led the team to a 2–1 victory.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué was a modern and commanding defender, who combined strength and tackling ability with good technique and passing. Due to his height and physical attributes, he was good in the air. Although he was primarily deployed as a centre-back, he was a tactically versatile player who was capable of playing as a defensive midfielder, a position in which he was initially deployed in his youth; he was also deployed as a sweeper on occasion, showing similarities to German legend Franz Beckenbauer, thus earning the sobriquet "Piquénbauer". He was also occasionally known to use his height as an additional attacking threat by advancing into more offensive positions, often functioning as an auxiliary striker, particularly if his team were trailing late on during matches. His ball-playing ability and capacity to read the game enabled him to form an effective central-defensive partnership with the more physical Carles Puyol, both with Barcelona and Spain. Despite his talent in his youth, he was initially accused by certain pundits of being error-prone defensively, and has been criticised on occasion for his inconsistency and lack of pace. Considered to be one of the best defenders in world football by pundits, in 2018, Pique's former defensive partner Puyol described him as "the best centre-back in the world" due to his personal development as a player in terms of his intelligence, leadership, positional sense, composure, and anticipation.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué was raised in a Catalan family. His father, Joan, is a businessman, and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a spinal injuries hospital in Barcelona. He has a younger brother, Marc. His grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, is a former vice-president of Barcelona. During the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, he was seen by many as one of the public faces of the pro-independence movement, voting and tweeting his support in Catalan. He subsequently faced backlash from some Spanish fans for his support of the Catalan independence referendum.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: From 2011 to 2022, Piqué was in a relationship with Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. They met when he appeared in the music video for her single "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Piqué and Shakira share the same birthday, ten years apart. They have two children together. In June 2022, the couple confirmed in a joint statement that they are separating. Piqué has been in a relationship with Clara Chía Martí since October 2022.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué was the face of Mango's men's line "HE" for four consecutive campaign seasons between 2011 and 2012. In 2012, he lent his voice to the Catalan version of "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" as the Pirate King.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: Piqué is the founder and president of Kosmos Holding (Kosmos Global Holding S.L.), a sports and media investment group he founded with Hiroshi Mikitani (founder and chairman of Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, Inc.), Edmund Chu, Nullah Sarker, and Mike Evans. Kosmos struck a deal with the International Tennis Federation for a 25-year, $3 billion partnership to transform the Davis Cup and generate substantial revenues for global tennis development. In August 2018, U.S. billionaire Larry Ellison publicly stated his support of Kosmos and his intention to invest in the Kosmos-ITF partnership. In December 2018, through his firm Kosmos Holding, Piqué bought Spanish football club FC Andorra. On 21 May 2022, the team was promoted to the Segunda División after beating already relegated UCAM Murcia 1–0 at home, thus ascending to the second tier for the first time in their history. In July 2019, Piqué took over a majority stake in another Spanish football club - Gimnàstic Manresa. The acquisition was completed through Kosmos. In December 2020, Piqué invested in the fantasy football game "Sorare". Kosmos bought the Spanish broadcasting rights for the 2021 Copa América in a partnership with streamer Ibai Llanos, and in 2021 he and Ibai founded and became co-owners of the esports team KOI. The esports team later acquired a majority interest in Rogue, which resulted in Piqué's team competing in the League of Legends European Championship.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic Piqué (along with teammates, including Lionel Messi) committed to a 70% salary cut throughout the crisis. They further committed to donating to the salaries of all employees at the club during the state of emergency.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 10 July 2019, Piqué was ordered by a Spanish court to pay €2.1 million to the tax authorities following his conviction for image rights fraud. He had been convicted by Spain's National Court in 2016 for faking the sale of his image rights to his Kerad Project company in order to evade taxes from 2008 to 2010.


title: Gerard Piqué

text: On 27 August 2019, Piqué took part in the EPT Barcelona €25,000 Single-Day High Roller Event. He finished in second place and won a prize of €352,950.


title: The Undertaker

text: Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority of his career wrestling for WWF/E, and is best known for his critically acclaimed "Deadman" Undertaker gimmick, for which he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022. Calaway remains employed for WWE through a 15-year contract signed in 2019.


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway began his career in 1987, working under various gimmicks for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and other affiliate promotions. He became USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion and WCWA Texas Heavyweight Champion during this time. After signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1989, he had a brief stint in the mid-card as "Mean" Mark Callous, before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, turned WWE) in 1990.


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway was rebranded as "The Undertaker" once joining the WWF. As one of WWE's most high-profile and enduring characters, The Undertaker is famed for his undead, funereal, macabre "Deadman" persona, which gained significant mainstream popularity and won him the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" award for Best Gimmick a record-setting 5 years in a row. The longest-tenured wrestler in company history at 30 years, The Undertaker is also one of the most prominent figures of the Attitude Era–a high ratings, envelope-pushing generation of the WWF/E in the latter 1990s/early 2000s. In 2000, Calaway expanded on The Undertaker, fleshing out the gimmick with a human side, biker identity, dubbed "The American Badass". Calaway later resurrected Deadman Undertaker in 2004, with residual elements of American Badass Undertaker remaining.


title: The Undertaker

text: For the better part of his career, The Undertaker was observed as a focal point of WWE's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, where he became esteemed for The Streak—a series of 21 straight victories. He is also known for pairing with his in-storyline half-brother Kane, with whom he had alternatively feuded and teamed off and on with as the Brothers of Destruction from 1997 through 2020. During his wrestling career under The Undertaker gimmick, Calaway won the WWF/E Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the Hardcore Championship once and the World Tag Team Championship six times. He also won the Royal Rumble match in 2007. He is one of WWE's most prolific pay-per-view performers, headlining several pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania on five occasions.


title: The Undertaker

text: The Undertaker retired from professional wrestling in 2020 and made a farewell appearance at that year's Survivor Series, 30 years to the day from his on-screen debut for the company at the same pay-per-view event brand. The Undertaker was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the headline inductee for the Class of 2022.


title: The Undertaker

text: Mark William Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, on March 24, 1965, the son of Frank Compton Calaway (died July 2003) and Betty Catherine Truby. He has four older brothers named David, Michael, Paul, and Timothy (died March 2020, age 63). He attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. He graduated in 1983 and began studying on a basketball scholarship at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. In 1985, he enrolled in Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he majored in sport management and played as a center for the Rams in the 1985–1986 season. In 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a career in sports and briefly considered playing professional basketball in Europe, before deciding to focus on professional wrestling.


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway began training under Buzz Sawyer in late 1986; he disliked Sawyer, who reportedly lacked commitment and provided a limited education. Calaway learned "on the job" thereafter. Performing under a mask as Texas Red, Calaway wrestled his first match on June 26, 1987, for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), losing to Bruiser Brody at the Dallas Sportatorium. He was accompanied to the ring by Percival "Percy" Pringle III, who would later serve as his manager in the WWF as Paul Bearer. Two myths have circulated regarding Calaway's beginnings in the industry, the first being that he made his in-ring debut in 1984, and the second being that he was trained by former WCCW colleague Don Jardine (aka The Spoiler). While never trained by Jardine, Calaway was an admirer of his work and would emulate Jardine's top rope walk. "PWInsider"s Mike Johnson stated, "Undertaker using some of Jardine's style eventually morphed into this story that he was trained by Jardine."


title: The Undertaker

text: In 1988, Calaway joined the Continental Wrestling Association, wrestling under several gimmicks. On February 2, 1989, managed by Dutch Mantel, he was reintroduced as The Master of Pain, a former murderer. On April 1, The Master of Pain won his first professional wrestling championship by defeating Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion. He held it for just over three weeks before Lawler became the first man to pin him, winning it back. While performing as The Punisher, Calaway won the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5, 1989, when Eric Embry forfeited the title.


title: The Undertaker

text: In 1989, Calaway joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a villain and adopted the ring name "Mean Mark" Callous, a name devised for him by Terry Funk. He was portrayed as a sinister force, wearing predominantly black ring attire and was described by announcer Jim Ross as having a fondness for pet snakes and the music of Ozzy Osbourne. Callous was promptly drafted into The Skyscrapers tag team to replace a legitimately injured Sid Vicious, and made his debut on January 3, 1990, in a match later televised against Agent Steel and Randy Harris. The new team gained some notoriety at "Clash of the Champions X" when they beat down The Road Warriors after their match. However, Callous's partner Dan Spivey left WCW days before their Chicago Street Fight against the Road Warriors at WrestleWar. Callous and a replacement masked Skyscraper were defeated in the street fight and the team broke up soon afterwards. Now a singles wrestler, Callous took on the guidance of Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman).


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway later began to question his future in WCW after being told by company booker, Ole Anderson, during contract renewal discussions that nobody would ever pay money to watch him perform. It was in response to this that Calaway made numerous efforts to join the World Wrestling Federation, going to many lengths to land a meeting with Vince McMahon. However, accessing and securing an interview with McMahon was described by Calaway as a despairing task.


title: The Undertaker

text: Among routes Calaway took to land a meeting with McMahon was trying to convince individuals acquainted with McMahon or already existing WWF talent to recommend him into the WWF, such as Hulk Hogan, Paul Heyman, and Bruce Prichard, crediting the latter two for arranging the meeting at McMahon's mansion.


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway immediately gave notice to WCW before the interview took place. McMahon initially declined to hire Calaway; however, several days later the owner pitched the idea an "Old West Undertaker," a concept he had intended to create for several years but had never found an appropriate wrestler to play the part.


title: The Undertaker

text: Calaway's final WCW match was on September 7 at a "WorldWide" taping in Amarillo, Texas in which he defeated Dave Johnson. During his time in WCW, Calaway briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Punisher" Dice Morgan. After leaving WCW, he briefly returned to the USWA to participate in a tournament to determine the new USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; Calaway defeated Bill Dundee in the first round, but lost to Jerry Lawler in the quarterfinals.


title: The Undertaker

text: In October 1990, Calaway signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), set to portray the "brainchild" of McMahon that he had assigned to him, originally entitled "Kane the Undertaker" ("Kane" later added on to "The Undertaker" moniker by the time of his arrival at the urgings of Bruce Prichard, who had always desired a Cain and Abel effect for his character). Despite Calaway's perplexed, pessimistic feelings about McMahon's gimmick idea, he was readily accepting of the role, feeling anything better than the laughingstock gimmicks of that time, such as The Gobbledy Gooker. Kane the Undertaker was characterized as a menacing derivative of the Wild West undertakers depicted in television westerns. Resulting from that, this very first edition of The Undertaker's series of Deadman incarnations has been distinguished in external media as "The Old West Mortician". He made his overall WWF debut on a November 19, 1990, taping of "WWF Superstars" quickly defeating his very first opponent, Mario Mancini, in a singles match (this match was filmed three days prior to The Undertaker's televised debut at the November 22 Survivor Series, but did not air on television until December 15, 1990). Also prior to his Survivor Series appearance, Kane the Undertaker had a match on November 20 against Rick Sampson, which later aired on the December 9, 1990, edition of "WWF Wrestling Challenge".