Billy Joel cover art

Billy Joel

The Definitive Biography

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Billy Joel

By: Fred Schruers
Narrated by: Kirk Thornton
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

 The all-access biography and unprecedented look at the life, career, and legacy of a pint-sized kid from Long Island who became a music legend.

“A funny, revealing, and poignant look at [Billy] Joel’s long career.”—Boston Globe

Exhibiting unparalleled intimate knowledge, Fred Schruers chronicles Joel’s rise to the top of the charts, from his working-class origins in Levittown and early days spent in boxing rings and sweaty clubs to his monumental success in the seventies and eighties. He also explores Joel’s creative transformation in the nineties, his dream performance with Paul McCartney at Shea Stadium in 2008, and beyond.

Along the way, Schruers reveals the stories behind all the key events and relationships—including Joel’s high-profile marriages and legal battles—that defined his path to stardom and inspired his signature songs, such as “Piano Man,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “New York State of Mind,” and “She’s Always a Woman.” Throughout, he captures the spirit of a restless artist determined to break through by sharing, in his deeply personal lyrics, the dreams and heartbreaks of suburban American life.

Comprehensive, vibrantly written, and filled with Joel’s memories and reflections—as well as those of the family, friends, and band members who have formed his inner circle, including Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray Joel, Jon Small, and Steve Cohen—this is the definitive account of a beloved rock star’s epic American journey. Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity Biography Sports Heartfelt Dream

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Liberty cover art
Cerphe's Up cover art
Lightfoot cover art
The Never-Ending Present cover art
Born to Run cover art
The Sound of Laughter cover art
Best Seat in the House cover art
Slaughterhouse-Five cover art
Stories to Tell cover art
A Deeper Blue cover art
My Cross to Bear cover art
Clockwork Angels cover art
Trouble Boys cover art
The Caped Crusade cover art
Face the Music cover art
Original Gangstas cover art

Critic reviews

“If you call yourself a Joel fan, you'll be reading this.”—Newsday

“The rollicking story of a Hicksville boy made good.”—Maura Johnston, Newsday

“Schruers clearly realizes he has gold in his interviews with Joel, his friends, paramours, and confidants. . . . [He delivers] insights on individual songs that will surprise even the most studied Joel fan . . . [and] has given us the most complete look at Joel’s life and career to date.”—Dallas Morning News

“[Billy Joel] not only lives up to its subtitle, but has the strengths of both an autobiography and biography. . . . [It] will likely end up as the most complete tome on the Bard of Long Island, with the most access to its subject.”—Houston Press

“Schruers’ account of Joel’s 1970s rise is fantastic, rich in anecdotes about the origins of different songs.”—Billboard

“[A] funny and revealing account of one of the most popular songwriters of our time.”—New York Daily News

“Schruers uses interviews to great effect, allowing to emerge the everyman persona that resonates with Joel's fans . . . a fair, thorough assessment of Joel's celebrity.”—Publishers Weekly
All stars
Most relevant
I was drawn in by the whole story. from start to finish. A truly inspirational story of over coming problems and perseverance and moving forward.

An amazing insight.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed some of the insights into the world of Billy Joel. Great story and narration.

A must for Billy Joel fans

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I so so so wish that the guy reading it did not try to emulate every persons accent and mod when he quotes them. It is beyond cringe worthy and really puts me off his voice altogether. Is it not possible to just read a book with dignity and clarity without vocal acrobatics and unnecessary accentry. Brrrrr, gives me the shivers when he tries to sound British ...

good audio book, but

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a huge joel fan and should have loved this book as billy does seemed to have had a very interesting career. The experience was however very dry, the readers voice annoying and the dick van dyk British accents laughable. Came over like a text but and was not helped by quotes atributed to billy such as 'hell yah'

Missed opportunity

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having been a Billy fan for 40 years, I did appreciate the background into many of his songs and albums. Gives a pretty good overview of his life and relationships. Pretty shallow when it comes to the band but roughly gives a time line to the early members.
My biggest gripe …. the awful accents. Almost made it unlistenable.

Just about ok …

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.