Joel was born in the Bronx and raised in the Levittown section of Hicksville, New York. His father, Howard (born Helmut), was born in Germany as the son of German-Jewish merchant and manufacturer Karl Amson Joel who after the advent of the Nazi regime emigrated to Switzerland and later to the United States. Billy Joel's mother, Rosalind Nyman, was born in England to a Jewish family (Philip and Rebecca Nyman). His parents divorced in 1960, and his father moved to Vienna, Austria. Billy has a sister, Judith Joel, and a half-brother, Alexander Joel, who is an acclaimed classical conductor in Europe, currently chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig.

Joel's father was an accomplished classical pianist. Billy reluctantly began piano lessons at an early age, at his mother's insistence; his teachers included the noted American pianist Morton Estrin and musician/songwriter Timothy Ford. His interest in music, rather than sports, was a source of teasing and bullying in his early years. (He has said in interviews that his piano instructor also taught ballet. Her name was Frances Neiman, and she was a Juilliard trained musician. She gave both classic piano and ballet lessons in the studio attached to the rear of her house, leading neighborhood bullies to mistakenly think he was learning to dance.) As a teenager, Joel took up boxing so that he would be able to defend himself. He boxed successfully on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit for a short time, winning twenty-two bouts, but abandoned the sport shortly after having his nose broken in his twenty-fourth boxing match.

Joel attended Hicksville High School, class of 1967, but did not graduate. Due to playing at a piano bar, he was one English credit short of the graduation requirement; he overslept on the day of an important exam, owing to his late-night musician's lifestyle. He left high school without a diploma to begin a career in music. " I told them, 'the 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'." Columbia did, in fact, become the label that eventually signed him. In 1992, he submitted essays to the school board and was awarded his diploma at Hicksville High's annual graduation ceremony, 25 years after he had left.

Upon seeing The Beatles on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career, and set about finding a local Long Island band to join. Eventually he found the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes became a popular New York attraction, convincing him to leave high school to become a professional musician. He began playing for the Echoes when he was 14 years old.

Joel began playing recording sessions with the Echoes in 1965, when he was 16 years old. Joel played piano on several recordings produced by Shadow Morton, including (as claimed by Joel, but denied by songwriter Ellie Greenwich) the Shangri-Las' 'Leader of the Pack', as well as several records released through Kama Sutra Productions. During this time, the Echoes started to play numerous late-night shows.

Later, in 1965, the Echoes changed their name to the Emeralds and then to the Lost Souls. For two years, Joel played sessions and performed with the Lost Souls. In 1967, he left that band to join the Hassles, a Long Island band that had signed a contract with United Artists Records. Over the next year and a half, they released 'The Hassles' in 1967, 'Hour of the Wolf' in 1968, and four singles, all of which failed commercially. Following The Hassles' demise in 1969, he formed the duo Attila with Hassles drummer Jon Small. Attila released their eponymous debut album in July 1970, and disbanded the following October. The reason for the group's break-up has been attributed to Joel's affair with Small's wife, Elizabeth, whom Joel eventually married.

Joel signed his first solo record contract with Family Productions, and subsequently recorded his first solo album. 'Cold Spring Harbor' (a reference to the Long Island town of the same name), was released in 1971. However, the album was mastered at the wrong speed, and the album was initially released with this error, resulting in Joel's sounding a semitone too high. The onerous terms of the Family Productions contract also guaranteed him very little money from the sales of his albums.

Popular cuts such as "She's Got a Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now" were originally released on this album, although they did not gain much attention until released as live performances in 1981 on 'Songs in the Attic'. Since then, they have become favorite concert numbers. 'Cold Spring Harbor' gained a second chance on the charts in 1984, when Columbia reissued the album after slowing it down to the correct speed. The album reached #158 in the US and #95 in the UK nearly a year later. 'Cold Spring Harbor' caught the attention of Merrilee Rush ("Angel of the Morning") and she recorded a femme version of " She's Got a Way (He's Got a Way)" for Scepter Records in 1971.

Joel gigged locally in New York City in the fall of 1971 and moved out to Los Angeles early in 1972, adopting the stage name 'Bill Martin'. Subsequently he toured with his band members ( Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar and Larry Russell on bass) until the end of June 1972 throughout the US and Puerto Rico, opening for headliners such as J. Geils Band, The Beach Boys and Taj Mahal. At the Mar y sol festival in Puerto Rico, he electrified the crowd and got a big boost for his career. References to both suburbia and the inner city pepper the album.

The stand-out track on the album is "The Entertainer", a U.S. #34 hit which picks up thematically where "Piano Man" left off. Joel was upset that "Piano Man" had been significantly edited down to make it more radio-friendly, and in "The Entertainer", he refers to the edit with sarcastic lines such as "If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05", alluding to shortening of singles for radio play, as compared with the longer versions that appear on albums. Although 'Streetlife Serenade' is often considered one of Joel's weaker albums (Joel has confirmed his distaste for the album), it nevertheless contains some notable tracks, including the title track, "Los Angelenos" and the instrumental "Root Beer Rag", which was a staple of his live set in the '70s and was resurrected frequently in 2007 and 2008. 'Streetlife Serenade' also marks the beginning of a more confident vocal style on Joel's part.

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

Disenchanted with the L.A. music scene, Joel returned to New York in 1976. There he recorded 'Turnstiles', for which he used his own hand-picked musicians in the studio for the first time, and also adopted a more hands-on role. Songs were initially recorded at Caribou Ranch with members of Elton John's band, and produced by famed Chicago producer James William Guercio, but Joel was dissatisfied with the results. The songs were re-recorded in New York, and Joel took over, producing the album himself.

The minor hit "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" echoed the Phil Spector sound, and was covered by Ronnie Spector (in a 2008 radio interview, Joel said he does not perform "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" in his live shows anymore because it is in too high a key and "shreds" his vocal cords.) The album also featured the song "New York State of Mind", a bluesy, jazzy epic that has become one of Joel's signature songs, and which was later covered by fellow Columbia labelmates Barbra Streisand, on her 1977 'Streisand Superman' album, and as a duet with Tony Bennett, on his 2001 "Playing with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues" album. Other songs on the album include "Summer, Highland Falls", and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". Songs such as" Prelude/Angry Young Man " would become a mainstay of his concerts for years.

For 'The Stranger', Columbia Records teamed Joel with producer Phil Ramone. The album yielded four Top-25 hits on the Billboard Charts in the US: "Just the Way You Are"(#3), "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"(#17)," Only the Good Die Young "(#24), and" She's Always a Woman "(#17). Album sales exceeded Columbia's previous top-selling album, Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', and was certified multi-platinum. His first-ever Top Ten album, it reached #2 on the charts. Ramone subsequently produced every Billy Joel studio release up to 'Storm Front', initially released in 1989. This album also featured" Scenes from an Italian Restaurant ", an album-oriented rock classic, which has become one of his most well known songs. The song references a restaurant, Fontana di Trevi, near Carnegie Hall where he went when performing there.

'The Stranger' netted Joel Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, for "Just the Way You Are", which was written as a gift to his wife Elizabeth. He received a late night phonecall to his hotel room in Paris (he was on tour) in February 1979, letting him know he had won in both categories.

Joel faced high expectations on his next album. '52nd Street' was conceived as a day in Manhattan, and was named after the famous street of same name which hosted many of the world's premier jazz venues and performers throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Fans purchased over seven million copies on the strength of the hits "My Life"(#3), "Big Shot"(#14), and "Honesty"(#24). This helped '52nd Street' become Joel's first #1 album. "My Life" eventually became the theme song for a new US television sitcom, 'Bosom Buddies', which featured actor Tom Hanks in one of his earliest roles. '52nd Street' was the first album to be released on Compact Disc in Japan (1982). The album won Grammys for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male and Album of the Year.

Despite the publicity photos and album cover showing Joel holding a trumpet, he does not play the instrument on the album, though two tracks on the album do feature trumpets. Freddie Hubbard plays two solos in "Zanzibar". Jon Faddis joins Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker in the horn section for "Half a Mile Away".

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

The success of his piano-driven ballads like "Just the Way You Are", "She's Always a Woman" and "Honesty" never sat well with Joel, as many critics were quick to slap the "balladeer" tag on him. With 'Glass Houses', he attacked the new wave popularity with aplomb and delivered several harder-edged songs custom made for the live shows in arenas and stadiums he was now playing almost exclusively. The front cover consisted of Joel's real-life modern glass house. The album spent 6 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart and yielded such hits as "You May Be Right"(used as the theme song, covered by Southside Johnny, for the CBS mid-90s sitcom 'Dave's World') (#7, May 1980), "Close To The Borderline"(B-side of the "You May Be Right" single), "Don't Ask Me Why"(#19, September 1980), "Sometimes a Fantasy"(#36, November 1980) and "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me", which became Joel's first Billboard #1 song in July, 1980. 'Glass Houses' won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. It would also win 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".

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. 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 benefitted the Homes For Our Troops foundation.

On January 26, 2008, Joel performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Academy of Music. Joel premiered his new classical piece entitled, "Waltz No. 2 (Steinway Hall)", whilst playing many of his more obscure pieces with full orchestral backing. Highlights of this were the rarely performed 'Nylon Curtain' songs" Scandinavian Skies "and" Where's the Orchestra?".

On March 10, 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. During his induction speech, Joel said: Don't let this club membership change you, John. Stay ornery, stay mean. We need you to be pissed off, and restless, because no matter what they tell us--we know, this country is going to hell in a handcart. This country's been hijacked. You know it and I know it. People are worried. People are scared, and people are angry. People need to hear a voice like yours that's out there to echo the discontent that's out there in the heartland. They need to hear stories about it.

Joel's staying power as a touring act continues to prove itself. He sold out 10 concerts at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut from May to July. Mohegan Sun honored him with a banner displaying his name and the number ten 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 kiddingly admitted that Canadian folk-pop musician Gordon Lightfoot was the inspiration for" She's Always A Woman ".

On July 16 and July 18, 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 Mc Cartney. Mc Cartney ended the show with a reference to his own performance there with the Beatles in 1965, the first major stadium concert of the rock and roll industry.

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.

On May 19, 2009, Joel's former drummer, Liberty De Vitto, filed a lawsuit in NYC claiming Joel and Sony Music owed De Vitto over 10 years of royalty payments. De Vitto has never been given songwriting credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claims that he helped write some of them.

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 have played their own songs, 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 the Face to Face tour in March 2009 and it will continue on-and-off for at least two years. The concerts begin with the artists on twin pianos, performing duets; followed by each headliner performing a set with their respective bands; ending with an encore of both headliners and their bands.Joel mentioned in a television interview on the UK's Channel Five that he had dated Elle Macpherson in the 1980s prior to his marriage to Christie Brinkley. Joel has also said that the songs "This Night", and "And So It Goes" were written about his relationship with Macpherson.

Joel married his business manager, Elizabeth Weber Small, on September 5, 1973. She was the former wife of his music partner, Jon Small, in the short-lived band Attila. They divorced on July 20, 1982.

Joel married Christie Brinkley on March 23, 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 25, 1994, although the couple remain friendly.

On October 2, 2004, Joel married 23-year-old Katie Lee. At the time of the wedding, 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. Lee works as a restaurant correspondent for the PBS show, 'George Hirsch: Living it Up!'. In 2006, Katie Lee hosted Bravo's 'Top Chef'. She did not return for a second season, instead going on tour with her husband. She now has a weekly column in 'Hamptons Magazine', and is a field correspondent for the entertainment television show 'Extra'. On June 17, 2009, both confirmed that they have split after five years of marriage.

On December 5, 2009, Joel's daughter Alexa Ray was hospitalized after a reported suicide attempt.