An Interview with Billy Joel
The true story of how I managed to interview the music legend, and a hero of mine, back in 1996
The following events occurred in March of 1996. I was 23 years old at the time, had graduated from Penn State nearly two years earlier, and was living in Nashville and pursuing my dream of being a professional singer/songwriter. Billy Joel was 46. His most recent album was River of Dreams, released in 1993 (as it turns out, he has not released another album of new material as a recording artist since, though he did release an album of original classical compositions performed by pianist Richard Joo, Fantasies and Delusions, in 2001). Anyway, here’s the story. Enjoy!
My brother calls from Penn State to inform me that Billy Joel is coming to the campus as part of a series of college dates he is doing. Not exactly a concert, the event is billed as: “Questions, Answers, and a Little Music with Billy Joel”.
This is my chance.
Somehow, with Billy Joel physically being on the turf of my alma mater, the possibility of meeting him face-to-face seems plausible. I purchase tickets to the show and, to the credit of my bosses, get some time off from work approved even though I am pretty new on the job.
