---

"Vienna waits for you," goes the refrain to a Billy Joel song. And Vienna waits for him, too - or it did. The city of Beethoven and Brahms has a new arrival: the "Piano Man" himself, whose "Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano" - Joel's classical music debut - was recorded there by pianist Richard Joo. Although Joel's pop songs may betray the influence of Paul McCartney and Elton John, his classical music tastes evidently tend toward Debussy and Chopin. They are the principal models here, and the ten works on this album by and large mimic 19th century styles of keyboard composition.

The opening "Reverie (Villa D'Este)," for example, begins with Debussy-like dreaminess, moving into a restless middle passage that is fleetingly reminiscent of a Chopin ballade. "Soliloquy (On a Separation)" follows much the same design, and the three waltzes are unmistakably Chopin-esque. The "Invention in C Minor," in contrast, is a study in Bach-style counterpoint, and the album closes in a lighter vein with "Air (Dublinesque)," a folksy, Irish-flavored piece that begins wistfully and ends with a jaunty jig. On the whole, Joel displays a well-developed harmonic sense and a flair for idiomatic piano writing. He clearly has an ear for the Romantic style - as well as a knack for recapturing it. Joo, a British/Korean pianist and former grand-prize winner of the Stravinsky International Piano Competition, plays with expression and sensitivity, although he lacks a touch of finesse. Joel knew classical music critics would be chomping at the bit to pass judgment on this - the playful title is surely in part self-derogatory, in part an affront to would-be critics. But "Fantasies & Delusions" is plainly a serious effort, and while Joel's classical personality does not feel fully formed, he should be congratulated for the album's successes and adventurous spirit. Joel is a many-sided and multi-talented artist, and his classical debut is a satisfying, impressive achievement.

---

For nearly a decade now, Billy Joel has devoted himself to writing instrumental classical music. The results heard on "Fantasies & Delusions" show the "Piano Man" firmly rooted in Romanticism and short, expressive works that cover a range of moods. There are hints of Schumann and Chopin throughout the 10 solo piano compositions; Joel may wear his influences on his sleeve, but at least he has great influences. Some critics may scoff, but this is a solid debut - not a "classical crossover" attempt filled with infectious pop melodies, but an impressive recording of new piano works played solidly by Richard Joo. As with his pop creations, Joel doesn't strive for the cutting-edge and he certainly doesn't traverse the depths of human emotions (though the 11-minute "Opus 1. Soliloquy" sounds a little overwrought). This is still a pleasant classical album that's infinitely listenable (and head and shoulders above recent "classical" works penned by Paul McCartney and other pop stars).

---

"Billy Joel: In His Own Words" is an intimate and revealing evening with one of the world's most popular recording artists and most respected entertainers. The legendary Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/performer will perform solo versions of his timeless hits and personal favorites. He will also answer questions from a live audience at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia (the program will be taped on November 6th, 2001).

Over the past few years, Billy Joel's live "Master Class" performances/audience interviews have been hugely popular events on college campuses and other venues, giving his fans a close-up look at Billy and his music. "Billy Joel: In His Own Words" should be a spontaneous, lively and surprising show that will provide insight into his unparalleled career as one of popular music's most enduring hit makers.

Joel will also discuss his latest project, Billy Joel "Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano)" (Columbia Records/Sony Classical). The collection features Joel-penned classical compositions as performed by virtuoso pianist Richard Joo, who will also be featured on the show. "Fantasies & Delusions" recently debuted at #1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical Music chart with the highest first week's sales of any album of instrumental classical music in the SoundScan era. The CD was released on October 2nd, 2001, as was "The Essential Billy Joel" (Columbia Records/Legacy Records), a two-disc, 36-song collection highlighting the full scope of Joel's extraordinary career.

---

"The Essential Billy Joel" casts its spotlight on three full decades of recording achievements and now takes its place as the only career-spanning collection in his mega-selling album catalog. The 36-song, double-CD/cassette package is set for October 2nd, 2001 release on Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music. The same day marks the release of Billy Joel's solo piano compositions, Billy Joel "Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano)," on Sony Classical/Columbia. The set contains ten new pieces performed by Richard Joo, winner of the Stravinsky Prize for piano.

From "She's Got A Way" (whose original version appeared on the 1971 album, "Cold Spring Harbor") through the collection's closing two selections from "Fantasies & Delusions" (recorded in 2001), "The Essential Billy Joel" presents a vivid portrait of an artist whose style and vision came to redefine our notions of contemporary popular music.

"The Essential Billy Joel" weighs in with more than two dozen bonafide chart singles and major album tracks - from his earliest signatures "Piano Man" and "Captain Jack" (from 1973's "Piano Man" album) to the album title tune "The River Of Dreams" which reached #3 in 1993. The list of song titles is nothing less than the ultimate litany of rock and pop standards. Disc One also includes "The Entertainer," "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)," "New York State of Mind," "She's Always A Woman," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Only the Good Die Young," "Just the Way You Are," "Honesty," "My Life," "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "You May Be Right," "Don't Ask Me Why," "She's Got a Way," and "Allentown."

Disc Two boasts "Goodnight Saigon," "An Innocent Man," "Uptown Girl," "The Longest Time," "Tell Her About It," "Leave A Tender Moment Alone," "A Matter of Trust," "Baby Grand" (featuring Ray Charles), "I Go To Extremes," "We Didn't Start the Fire," "Leningrad," "The Downeaster 'Alexa'," "And So It Goes," "All About Soul," and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)." Throughout, "The Essential Billy Joel" does justice to his best-selling album catalog: "Piano Man" (1973), "Streetlife Serenade" (1974), "Turnstiles" (1976), "The Stranger" (1977), "52nd Street" (1978), "Glass Houses" (1979), "Songs In the Attic" (1980), "The Nylon Curtain" (1982), "An Innocent Man" (1983), "The Bridge" (1986), "Storm Front" (1989), and "River of Dreams" (1993).

At the same time, the "...Essential..." collection puts in context Billy Joel's desire to return to the classical studies of his youth. "By the time I was 15," he told one interviewer, "I didn't want to be a concert pianist and I didn't want to have to play other people's music, so I left classical music - 'the girl next door' - and ran away with rock and roll - 'the woman with the torn fishnet stockings and high heels.' She swept me away and, for 30 years, we had this wild love affair. Now things have cooled down a little bit and although I'll always have strong feelings for her, I'm back in love with the girl next door."

Billy Joel's non-stop reign on the Billboard Hot 100 (more than 30 chart appearances in the top 40 between 1974 and 1993, most of them included here) ranks him as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers of all time. In 1999, worldwide sales of his albums over the past quarter century topped 100 million units and he was presented with the RIAA Diamond Award for the double album "Greatest Hits Volume I & II" (10 million copies sold in the US). In all, he holds 81 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications by the RIAA for his singles, albums, and videos.

Billy Joel has won five Grammy Awards including "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" (both for "Just The Way You Are," 1978), "Album of the Year" ("52nd Street," 1979), and "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male" ("52nd Street," 1979, and "Glass Houses," 1980). For his achievements, he received the "Grammy Legend Award" in 1990. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1992. 1999 was an especially auspicious year for Billy Joel as he was presented with the American Music Awards "Award of Merit" in January and, on March 15th, was personally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by one of his idols, the legendary Ray Charles. In 2001, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame presented him with the "Johnny Mercer Award," their highest honor.

---

Two new Billy Joel albums come out Tuesday (October 2nd, 2001) - a two-disc hits set called "The Essential Billy Joel" and more notably, "Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano)," his first set of instrumental classical music and his first album of new material since 1993's "River of Dreams."

Joel tells Launch.com that the long gap between albums allowed him to develop as an instrumental writer and that he had resolved not to push anything out before he felt it was ready: "To tell you the truth, I wasn't feeling compelled to put anything out. All I wanted to do was compose, and I wasn't necessarily feeling that, 'Well, this is stuff I've gotta give to the world.' I was on a learning curve. I was learning to speak a new vernacular, and it started eight years ago," he says.

Joel plans to promote the album with a short "Master Class" tour, on which Richard Joo, who actually plays the pieces on "Fantasies & Delusions," will join him. Joo is a well-known classical pianist and grand-prize winner of the "Stravinsky International Piano Competition."

---

"Fantasies & Delusions" is a bold album where the "Piano Man" takes a giant risk, entering an arena where few pop artists are willing - or able to go. Paul McCartney has taken the classical dare a few times and received a lickin' for his efforts.

The longhairs and classical eggheads may want to gang up on Joel too, but the collection will stand up to their darts. This is a lovely batch of songs that reveal Joel, as a composer, to be a closet fan of Mozart, Chopin and Strauss.

Rather than working the keys himself, Joel enlisted young virtuoso Richard Joo to sit at the Steinway. Billy's fans might be disappointed, yet it was a very wise decision.

Joo's classical training presents this material with a stylistic expertise Joel admits he doesn't have. It allows the songs to be showcased with technical precision so the listener can hear the melodies in their best light.

And those melodies are stirring. The album takes time and effort on the listener's part. The dynamic range is go great, it really lends self to listening on headphones or better yet, in Carnegie Hall.

If the classical stuff scares you, Columbia is also releasing "The Essential Billy Joel" today. The "Essentials" include 36 of the man's best such as "Piano Man" and "New York State of Mind."

---

Back in 1993 on his "River of Dreams" album in the song "Famous Last Words," Billy Joel wrote the line: "These are the last words I have to say." "That was the last time I wrote a piece of music that had lyrics," said Joel.

This pop icon has been toiling ever since over a collection of compositions for solo piano.

That labor is unveiled with today's release "Fantasies & Delusions" a 10-song opus written in the style of the early 19th-century Romantic Movement.

"My first love was classical," Billy Joel told The Post.

"Let's call classical the girl next door. When I was a teenager and the hormones kicked in I was seduced by rock - a chick in fishnet stockings and high heels.

"She seduced me and we ran away and had a torrid affair for the last 35 years. That love has cooled down for me and I rediscovered the girl next door."

Joel, 52, has proved just about everything there is to prove in pop music and he doesn't expect the album to be a commercial success.

As far from contemporary pop as can be, this collection finds Joel doing exactly what he wants to do, with the punk defiance of rock and roll rebel.

Post: People expect a Billy Joel album to feature Billy Joel on it. You're the Piano Man.

Joel: I'm not really sure who Billy Joel is supposed to be in the first place and besides, I don't think I've ever done the same thing twice.

Post: OK, then look at it the other way, why use Richard Joo as your interpreter?

Joel: He's a great pianist, he's a classically trained virtuoso. He is familiar with all the nuance and has the expertise to play difficult classical music.

Post: You wrote this music, so you can play it, right?

Joel: I wrote these songs in increments, nobody writes an entire piece in one sitting, beginning to end - there too much wrestling and changing going on to do that.

I can play one section of a piece, but I can't just blend it into the next part with the kind of bravura playing that is required. I needed a pianist who was trained.

Post: What's the difference between pop and classical writing?

Joel: Pop music songs are very restrictive. You play the verse and repeat the verse and then you do the chorus add a bridge and go back to the verse again. You are writing in a box. In writing instrumental long-form it allows the music to grow, expand and explore new places. When I hear it I feel like I've grown up.

Post: It seems like a radical turnaround.

Joel: The essence of what I do is the same. I write. I'm not a great singer, I don't think much of my voice and my piano playing is OK - stylistically I'm all over the place. As a writer I'm free. I can be who ever the hell I think I am.

Post: What's it like listening to your own music? Are you a back-seat piano player?

Joel: It's hard to describe how great it is. To hear it - one person removed - is a revelation. I can finally really hear my music. When I'm playing it I have to think too much about hitting the right notes.

Post: Even though this is a Billy Joel album it probably won't make any money, and will only find a limited audience. Do you care?

Joel: No, not at all. I'm doing it for the love of the music and that's the best motivator of all. I'm not expecting a commercial success, but if someone who was interested in my music is inspired to check out a recording of Schumann, Chopin or Beethoven then I've succeeded.

Post: What are some of the obstacles this record faces?

Joel: There are going to be classical purists who find it horrifying that this rock and roll guy is trying to write classical. I wrote it in the style of 19th-century composers and there's going to be others who say why should we listen to a guy writing in the style when we can listen to authentic music of that time.

Post: Is it hard to learn to listen to classical music?

Joel: There's a learning curve. These aren't three-minute pop tunes, there are no lyrics, listening to classical requires focus, concentration. But there's also the big payoff.

---

The moment it was announced that veteran pop artist Billy Joel was going "classical," critics and fans had plenty to chew on. His new album released yesterday, "Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano" has no lyrics at all, and Joel himself isn't even performing on it, leaving that to Richard Joo.

The questions are as many as the keys on his famous stage piano. Why is he leaving pop music, where, despite criticism, he was wildly successful? Why is he writing music in an outdated style of art music, rather than embracing some of the more contemporary trends? Will this shift finish his career off or extend it? What's his motive?

Still an angry young man at 52, Joel is fighting rock critics of the past and preparing for the same with classical critics, but he's as honest as ever, talking about the changes from a hotel in New York City.

Question: Your song "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)," is a chilling apocalyptic vision of New York City's destruction written in 1975 as a satire. Don't lyrics like "I saw the mighty skyline fall" hold a different meaning now?

Answer: In 1975, New York was on the brink of bankruptcy. They went to the Feds for aid; at the time Gerald Ford was president. There's a famous New York City headline: "Ford to New York: Drop Dead." ...What bothered me wasn't so much that the federal government told New York to drop dead, but all the glee there was about it.... I had this vision of an apocalypse in New York City, of what would happen if New York went down. I didn't realize that this would become prophecy.

Question: It seems to me that you have always been composing instrumental works, such as "Nocturne" from your very first album, "Cold Spring Harbor." Is this classical album all that different?

Answer: Well, hallelujah, somebody finally understands. I have run into so much stonewalling: 'Why are you writing in a 19th century milieu? Why aren't you writing 20th century [music]?' I've been doing this from day one. ...I didn't renounce pop music or songwriting, what I did is kick out the sides of the box. Look, I worked with Elton John and watched him write. Elton gets lyrics from Bernie Taupin or whomever, and he sits down and sets them to music. I write 180 degrees the other way. I write music first. Then, if I like the music, then I decide to put lyrics to it.

Question: So if the music industry would've been less rigid, would you have included even more instrumentals in your albums over the years?

Answer: I tried to include instrumental pieces in my earlier albums, "Nocturne," "Mexican Connection," "Root Beer Rag," "Prelude" to "Angry Young Man," even "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" has a good deal of instrumentals in it. I remember an era when I was a young guy where there were instrumental hits: "Tequila!," "Wipe Out"..."Cast Your Fate to the Wind".... It's a whole genre that's kind of been forgotten.

The music on this particular recording is very much 19th century European in style. It's not very American, the modalities are not 20th century in any way, shape and form.

Question: Could you explain this further?

Answer: If you took the melody of "Uptown Girl" (singing it), it's not too far away from Haydn. You put an Alberti bass under it, it's transformed. You can do the same thing for "The Longest Time" (singing it). It could be a string quartet by Schumann. But, I don't want to compare myself to the giants.

Question: So if you were always writing songs that could be instrumentals, and also writing instrumentals, why leave pop?

Answer: The problem with pop music is you are writing in a box. You have three, four, five minutes and you have to repeat the theme again and again, then you have to go to the chorus. It was driving me nuts!

Question: Did you work with anyone to learn more about the art music vernacular in the years since your 1993 album "River of Dreams"?

Answer: I took classical piano for 12 years, so I am familiar with form and theory. I did this in private lessons. My mother, bless her soul, was able to squeak out 10 bucks a week for a piano teacher. I had to study theory and understand that. ...The criticism I got for my pop music was that it was too classically infused. Now here I am writing classical music, and I am being criticized for it being too classical.

Question: Why is that?

Answer: I knew this would happen, because what has been in favor for the last 50 or so years has been the Schoenberg 12-tone, atonal, dissonant and ironic music. I don't digest it or relate to it. I can intellectually get it, but I am not sucked in by it.

Question: Do you fear your status as a pop star will be lessened by this new effort?

Answer: I think I have already secured my place as a pop artist. My criticism was always that I was too studied - "He's not an authentic rock and roller. He took piano lessons - that's the antithesis of rock and roll." I have been caught in this no-man's land forever. Now I am going to make it obvious why they hate me so. I am going to lay it out.... I am making myself more naked than ever. Now I am going to let the classical critics chew me out. But that's OK.

Question: It's ironic that you were criticized for being learned when you had the mass appeal that normally is attributed to dumbed-down music.

Answer: I gave up trying to figure it out.

Question: And now?

Answer: People are hungry for substance, especially in light of recent events. So many things that were so important are no longer of any relevance at all. I feel there is almost an affirmation in the fact that I put out an album of instrumental music at this particular time. ...Lyrics don't do it for me right now. Nobody can describe the depths of emotions that people are having right now. I listened to the Barber "Adagio for Strings" and I wept, and it makes me feel better.

Question: If your new works are written in the same way you wrote pop - just without lyrics - is that why so many have subtitles?

Answer: Yes. Like the suite ["Suite for Piano (Star Crossed)]." It's about a love affair. The first movement is about falling in love, desire and unfulfilled physicality. It's melancholy and has a lot of references to Chopin, the way I ended certain phrases.

Question: When you say "references to Chopin...."

Answer: All the notes are my notes. If there's a reference to Chopin, Rachmaninoff or Schumann, it was purely incidentally. Stylistically, I borrowed liberally. What's wrong with taking a good idea?

Question: Nothing. That's the history of Western art music. Just look at all the Bach counterpoint that's taught in college. Do you feel liberated now that you have left pop?

Answer: Absolutely.

Question: But you are not playing on the new disc? It is pianist Richard Joo.

Answer: I had to get a hired gun.

Question: What about the cover. Its mimicking of a Schirmer edition, the same company that put out Chopin scores that millions of piano students studied from, might make it look like you are comparing yourself to the greats.

Answer: Many piano students ask their teachers, 'Can't I just play some Billy Joel?' So the teachers go out and get an arrangement of 'Piano Man' or 'Uptown Girl' - they are awful. For anyone who is musical in any way, they are insufficient. It's the arrangement done by some hack at the Hal Leonard publishing company. Now the teacher can go out and buy the actual piano music. They will go out and bring back a Schirmer edition of the pieces I have just written.

Question: You mean sheet music or the album?

Answer: Hal Leonard, which is the sheet music company that I have a deal with, bought Schirmer years ago. So we went to them and said can we use the Schirmer logo for an album cover. It will also be the cover [of the sheet music.] This is going to be immediately identifiable to any piano student. It will probably be out two weeks after the release of the album.

Question: Would you recommend a student study Billy Joel?

Answer: I would tell a piano student, don't learn my stuff, go out and buy the Chopin preludes and etudes. I am writing as a piano student.

Question: Are you going to tour in support of the new album?

Answer: I am going to do a Q&A tour with Richard Joo. I will be playing also.

Question: Are you having fun with all of this?

Answer: I am having the time of my life. I am so enjoying being able to give in to my instrumental tendencies, my melodic semantic urges. I am not making believe I am Chopin or Beethoven. But I am enjoying this so much more than creating pop music. Maybe it's my age. All music is strong and powerful, but this feels good to me.

---

There's good buzz surrounding a new dance musical by choreographer Twyla Tharp that's set to songs by Billy Joel. Tentatively titled "The 'Thoel' Project" (Tharp-Joel, get it?), the show was given a workshop presentation over the weekend by the Nederlander Organization.

Joel liked what he saw, and has approved a full-scale production that will likely open on Broadway next season.

"The 'Thoel' Project" is being compared to "Contact" in that there is no dialogue; the story is told through song and dance.

The show is about three men who grew up in the '60s. They go off to fight in Vietnam, where one is killed. One of the men blames the other for their friend's death. Both get caught up in the drug scene of the 1970s, but pull themselves together in the 1980s.

Billy Joel standards used in the show include "An Innocent Man," "Big Shot," "The River of Dreams" and "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)."

Tharp's choreography, which one person called "exquisite," encompasses ballet, modern dance, even a touch of disco. Pretty much everything but tap, this person said.

Unlike "Contact," which uses pre-recorded music, "The 'Thoel' Project" has a live band. The songs are performed by Michael Cavanaugh, a singer from Las Vegas whose voice is said to bear an uncanny resemblance to Joel's.

Dancer Scott Wise, who won a Tony in 1989 for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," was in the workshop, as was his wife, the very sexy Elizabeth Parkinson, who was last seen on Broadway in "Fosse."

I'm told Joel may write some new songs, just to help move the narrative along.

The budget is still being worked out but one person involved in the project said "The 'Thoel' Project" would probably cost between $6 and $8 million dollars.

"Raising the money won't be a problem," this source said. "People were practically throwing money at the show."

Expect a title change before "The 'Thoel' Project" hits Broadway.

---

"Uptown Swirl: Joel Is Recycling Classical Themes"
[Review]
By: Tim Smith
(October 10th, 2001)

Billy Joel's debut on disc as a classical composer is apt to leave you in a Chopin state of mind. Not to mention Liszt, Schumann and, for a minute, Bach.

As for Joel, this just-released recording - "Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano" (Sony Classical) - doesn't offer much of a clue. If he has a truly original musical idea in his head, he isn't sharing it here.

When Joel, one of pop music's leading lights, announced years ago that he was heading into the classical realm - his last pop record was in 1993 - there seemed to be a pretty decent chance for something fresh to emerge. As an accomplished "Piano Man," he could be counted on, at the very least, for distinctive keyboard writing. And as a proven melodist, surely he would find a distinctive way of expressing himself.

Instead, Joel has let loose a series of what can best be described as imitations - competent, even appealing imitations, but imitations nonetheless.

The CD packaging provides the first clue to what's in store - it's a clever re-creation of the yellow cover found on the countless piano books published by G. Schirmer and used by piano students for decades. Perhaps the idea was to present such a familiar look on the outside that the discovery of familiar sounds on the inside would be less of a shock.

Sure, many classical composers draw on the past; the wave of neoclassicism in the 1920s and '30s was a prime example, as is the neoromantic style very much in vogue today. But an individualistic voice, one that is very much of the composer's own time, also can be heard in the best of such retro music.

It's awfully disappointing to find Joel settling for ersatz Chopin, including almost literal quotations from the Fantasie-Impromptu in his "Opus 7. Aria (Grand Canal)", and the E-minor Prelude in the "Innamorata" movement of his "Opus 8. Suite for Piano." Joel essentially surrenders to a nostalgia for largely 19th-Century melody and harmony; even in the technical aspects of the piano writing, he is merely recycling.

You can find dozens of pieces similar to Joel's in piano books from the late 1800s and early 1900s, when all sorts of modestly gifted composers wrote entertaining music in the prevailing style of the day. The idea of following their lead in 2001 severely stretches the limits of anachronism.

The obvious question is why listen to a Joel composition that sounds something like Chopin or Rachmaninoff or whoever, when you can hear the real thing? The next question is why doesn't Joel start studying composition with someone who might unleash the talent within that is obviously still awaiting an outlet?

The last track on the disc hints at one direction for that talent "Opus 10. Air (Dublinesque)" with its sly references to "Danny Boy" and its folksy spirit, suggests a composer more at home. We're still talking derivative (of Percy Grainger, for one), but also a level of honesty, charm and spontaneity lacking elsewhere.

Richard Joo, a competition-winning pianist recommended by the composer's conductor-brother Alex Joel, makes an effort to give each of the 10 pieces a dose of character and sails through the often considerable virtuosic challenges.

But in the end, there is nothing Joo can do to dispel the sad fact that the initial results of Joel's brave, even noble and, it is to be hoped, not final attempt at genre-crossing have been all too aptly named - "Fantasies & Delusions."

---

"Joel Jilted Again"
By: Mitchell Fink
(October 11th, 2001)

Billy Joel's hit "A Matter of Trust" turns out to be a good description of the ill-fated romance between the star and Long Island newscaster Trish Bergin.

The trouble began early this year, sources said, when Bergin broke up with Joel after learning that he had been out with another woman. He talked his way back into her favor but eventually went out with someone else. So Bergin broke up with him again.

Then Joel proposed, sources said, with a 3-carat diamond ring he bought at an East Hampton jeweler.

She turned him down, but the two have remained friends.

Bergin would not respond to questions or confirm Joel's proposal. "I'm not going to answer that," she said. "It's too personal."

Joel's rep, Claire Mercuri, knew the relationship "was back and forth" but, she said, "I never saw a ring."

---

"Billy Joel's 'Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano)' Debuts At #1 On Billboard's Top Classical Albums Chart"
[Eagerly-Awaited Debut Collection of Piano Compositions Achieves Highest First Week's Sales of Any Album of Instrumental Classical Music In SoundScan Era]
(October 11th, 2001)

Billy Joel's "Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano)" (Sony Classical/Columbia Records) has debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Classical Albums with first week's sales of more than 14,000 units. The album - comprised of music compositions by Billy Joel and performed by piano virtuoso Richard Joo - has achieved the highest first week's sales of any album of instrumental classical music in the SoundScan era. (Released on October 2nd, 2001, "Fantasies & Delusions" has also debuted at #83 on the overall Top 200 Album Sales chart.) With "Fantasies & Delusions" entering the traditional Classical chart in the top slot - echoing the achievement of his many #1 Pop successes - Billy Joel becomes one of the few artists in chart history to have had #1 records in the worlds of both Pop and Classical music.

The popular success of "Fantasies & Delusions" is being mirrored in the initial critical response to the album:

"'Fantasies & Delusions' comprises a set of ambitious, impressionistic piano instrumentals, it has the potential to introduce Joel to a new audience." (Billboard)

"A lovely batch of songs showcased with technical precision so the listener can hear the melodies in their best light...And those melodies are stirring." (New York Post)

"The music is intricate, dynamic, and sometimes breathtaking. Even when he's writing classical music, Joel's melodic nature still surfaces." (Newhouse News Wire)

"... the music is often disarmingly attractive, comforting in its familiarity. Joel's piano pieces push the right emotional buttons." ("B-" Entertainment Weekly)

"'Fantasies & Delusions' is an accomplishment to be proud of. It's also one that should draw new fans to both Joel and classical music." (Associated Press)

"It's fascinating to observe an artist so gifted in crafting emotional narratives breaking free from the constraints of pop formula and attempting wordless stories via longer structures" (USA Today)

Also released on October 2nd, 2001, "The Essential Billy Joel," the definitive collection of Billy Joel's first three decades of hits and most-loved recordings, has debuted at #29 on the Top 200 Album Sales chart. The album includes 36 classic Billy tracks spanning his unparalleled career from "Piano Man" and "Captain Jack" through "The River of Dreams" and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)," culminating with two selections from "Fantasies & Delusions": "Waltz No.1 (Nunley's Carousel)" and "Invention In C Minor." "The Essential Billy Joel" includes the original studio version of "New York State of Mind," the song Billy Joel performed live on the historic "America: A Tribute To Heroes" telethon on Friday, September 21st, 2001.

---

"Countdown To The Concert!"
(October 15th, 2001)

A star-studded night of song in the Big Apple strikes the perfect chord for Billy Joel, who wants to do whatever he can to help the city of his birth in the wake of September 11th, 2001.

The singer/songwriter and five-time Grammy winner will join music world notables Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton and others onstage at Madison Square Garden for October 20th, 2001's "Concert for New York," a benefit to be broadcast by VH1.

Joel previously pitched in at September 21st, 2001's "America: A Tribute to Heroes" telethon, performing his famous anthem to Gotham, "New York State of Mind." He has also visited Ground Zero - the ruins of the World Trade Center - to see the devastation.

There's no telling, though, whether Joel will sing his rock hits at the Garden event or try out his newer form of expression, classical music. The star has a brand-new album devoted entirely to classical piano compositions, Billy Joel "Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music for Solo Piano)," in stores now, and says that he has lost interest in rock.

"I started studying classical music when I was four," explains Joel. "But [rock music] has taken me away and for 30 years we had this wild affair...I feel like I've said all I want to say with lyrics. For eight years, all I've been writing is instrumental [classical] music."

"I don't need words to create music anymore," says Joel, who wrote his new instrumental tune, "Soliloquy," about Alexa Ray, the daughter he shares with ex-wife Christie Brinkley.

The musician, who confesses that the Twin Towers attack hit him doubly hard - as both an American and a New Yorker - calls his new classical music interest "therapeutic."

---

"Billy Joel In a Classical State of Mind"
The Rocker Turns Romantic Composer In A New Collection of Piano Pieces
By: Howard Kissel
(October 16th, 2001)

Billy Joel is going back to his roots, or at least the roots he had before he turned 16.

He's back in classical music.

Joel has just released an album called "Fantasies & Delusions," solo piano pieces he has composed that echo 19th-century composers. They are performed by Richard Joo, a classically trained pianist.

Joel himself began piano lessons when he was 4.

"I took lessons for 12 years," he says. "When I was 16, I discovered girls. It was easier to get girls with 'Blue Moon' than with Bach. There was an in-between guy, Beethoven. You could get certain girls if you could play the 'Moonlight Sonata.'"

By then, Joel knew he would never be a concert pianist. Nor did he want to be.

"I was tired of reading the black dots," he says. "I wanted to play in a band."

Joel is convinced his background was held against him: "I have never been forgiven for having had piano lessons."

"There's an orthodoxy to rock and roll. You can't have studied piano. You cannot understand theory. You can't have a classical or, for that matter, a jazz background."

Classical music runs deep in Joel's blood. His parents met in a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" at City University during World War II.

His father was a German Jew who came here via Cuba early in World War II. He had grown up in Nuremberg, where one of his classmates was Henry Kissinger.

Joel's mother, who grew up in Brooklyn, was descended from Russian Jews who came to the US via England.

"From my mother I got English music hall," Joel says. "From my father I got German Romanticism. My dad was a great pianist. He would go into the room in our house in Levittown [LI] where we had our crappy upright piano, a Lester, and play Chopin, Schumann, Scriabin.

"He would come out all dark in the face because he was unsatisfied. If I could play that well I would be so happy. But he was never satisfied, never happy."

The other decisive musical influence on Joel was the radio.

"On New York radio you heard everything - pop, soul, early rock and roll, classical, everything except Country-and-Western, thank God."

Ray Charles a Revelation

What does Joel have against Country-and-Western?

"In the '50s Country-and-Western was the kind of music you heard in redneck bars, it wasn't the music of Patsy Cline," he says. "I discovered Country-and-Western when I heard Ray Charles sing 'I Can't Stop Loving You.' He blues-ed it out. When I heard him I thought, 'Now I get it.'"

Joel's father, who fought for the U.S. in World War II, moved back to Europe in the '60s, after he divorced Joel's mother. He settled in Vienna, where Joel now spends a lot of time.

"My younger brother, who's 30, conducts at the Vienna Volksoper," Joel says with pride. "He catches hell for being Billy Joel's younger brother."

His brother has introduced him to a lot of young musicians who remind him of the people he hung out with decades ago in New York.

"These are young, crazy, testosterone and estrogen-driven young people who are totally dedicated and rarely get a chance to get recorded or even heard outside a small circle."

"They hang out all night in Vienna the way we did in New York in the '60s. But when they get blitzed out of their heads at 2 in the morning, what they jam on are Brahms quintets."

Among these musicians was Richard Joo, whose parents are Korean.

Joel asked Joo to record his "Fantasies & Delusions" because he didn't feel his own technique was good enough.

Joel sees Joo as a mentor.

"Sometimes I unwittingly make reference to Chopin or Ravel. If he tells me a passage sounds like something from Ravel," he says, "I think I must be getting pretty good."

Joel likes the fact that the dynamics of classical music have subtlety.

"Pop music is music of adolescence," he says. "Rock and roll is shuck bang shuck bang boom."

"The act of sex begins with longing, desire, the first brush of the lips. All the preliminaries are so important. Then comes the crash bang boom. Pop music only gives you the crash bang boom. I don't hear a lot of longing and desire. There's no foreplay."

Disenchanted With Pop

Joel's turn to classical music stems in part from his disenchantment with what pop has become.

"In pop music nowadays you don't have to write, you don't even have to play. Just keep your body toned," he says.

"Videos destroyed the vitality of rock and roll. Before that, music said, 'Listen to me.' Now it says, 'Look at me.'"

Nevertheless he considers it healthy that he no longer feels at home in pop music.

"The great thing about rock and roll is we cannibalize the old," he says. "We give them five years and then we eat them, unless you're a John Lennon or a Bob Dylan."

"In the classical world once you've made a name, you're encased in concrete. That's why my brother's friends don't get a break."

"The hits I took in pop music were because I was classical in the first place. I was never cutting-edge, though I always admired cutting-edge."

"My biggest idol is the most cutting-edge of all, Beethoven."

---

"Rockin' The Free World"
By: Dan Aquilante
(October 17th, 2001)

The greatest concert extravaganza ever to be staged is music's answer to the most dastardly act of terrorism ever committed.

On Saturday at Madison Square Garden, the elite of American and British rock and roll will gather for a show expected to rival all three Woodstock festivals combined.

The one-night fund-raising event to benefit the victims of the September 11th, 2001 attack - and to honor the heroic efforts of the rescue workers in the aftermath - was conceived by Paul McCartney.

Sir Paul is the headliner at this mega-concert, whose warm-up acts include Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger, Billy Joel, Elton John, John Mellencamp, The Who, Eric Clapton, James Taylor and Jon Bon Jovi, among others.

The concert, which will be broadcast live to a worldwide audience, is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars through telethon-style donations, according to organizers.

Everyone's donating their services, from the ushers and lighting crews at the Garden to the stars themselves.

In a recent interview with London's Daily Mail, McCartney said he was in New York on September 11th, 2001.

"I was very sad, but I was also very glad I was in New York at the time and was able to personally witness the tremendous heroism that has come out of the city since the disaster," he said.

McCartney, whose father was a volunteer fireman in Liverpool during World War II, added, "I am proud that I am able to do something to benefit the families of the victims, especially the firemen."

Billy Joel told The Post that promoting his two just-released records seemed "irrelevant in times like this."

"I just don't feel like being self-serving right now," he said.

Joel explained why a concert like this is able to attract such star power.

"Humanity needs its artists to speak for the people who have no voice. That's our job, and we haven't lost sight of that."

Joel, who was noticeably shaken when he started singing his famous song "New York State of Mind" at last month's televised fund-raiser, said, "When I went on stage, I didn't know if I could actually get through the song. This was my town they hit. They were my people that got killed. It was a triple hit - it was against New York, it was against America...it was against all humanity.

"When I started to sing 'New York State of Mind,' I had to steel myself to get through it. I told myself, 'Billy, you're a professional. Don't lose it.'"

Joel isn't alone in his devotion to the city and his emotional response. The Who's Pete Townshend said his participation in the event was his "duty as a musician and entertainer."

"I owe too much to New York and New Yorkers," he said.

Although this star-studded concert is sold out, there are 250 pairs of tickets on sale at the online auction house eBay, on its Auction for America page. Opening bids for these gold-circle seats are $1,500.

The event starts at 8pm. Those who are lucky enough to have tickets need to arrive early to clear the Garden's security checks. The show will be broadcast live on VH1 and local radio stations.

All cash raised at this event will go directly to aid WTC victims and their families, and will be distributed by the Robin Hood Foundation.

---

"Billy Joel Says 'New York State of Mind' Is A Perfect Song For These Times"
By: Gary Graff
(October 19th, 2001)

You can probably count on Billy Joel to perform his 1976 song "New York State of Mind" at "The Concert For New York City" tomorrow (October 20th, 2001) at Madison Square Garden. Joel performed the song during the September 21st, 2001 "America: A Tribute To Heroes" telethon, and he tells Launch.com that he considers it the most appropriate tune in his repertoire to perform for these occasions.

"That just seemed instantly to be the song to do," he said. "It just jumped into my mind, I, I guess a few days after it happened, that they hit my city. They hit my town. I got very defensive, and said, 'If New York's gonna go down the tubes, I'm going with it. I'm gonna be there.'"

Also slated to perform at "The Concert For New York City" are Paul McCartney, the Who, Mick Jagger, Elton John, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bono and the Edge of U2, John Mellencamp, and James Taylor. The show airs on VH1.

---

"Billy Joel to Visit Penn for Night of Rock and Talk"
The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter is set to play at Irvine Auditorium on November 6th, 2001
By: Steve Brauntuch
(October 22nd, 2001)

For the second time in five years, the "Piano Man" is coming to Penn. Legendary singer and songwriter Billy Joel is set to arrive at the University on November 6th, 2001 to speak, answer questions and perform some of his greatest hits at Irvine Auditorium.

Joel will perform an interactive show called "Questions, Answers, & A Little Music," a performance similar to the one he gave at Penn in April of 1996. He will be accompanied by classical pianist Richard Joo, who will perform selections from Joel's recent classical release, "Fantasies and Delusions."

The concert, part of Joel's fall college tour, will also be taped for broadcast on the A&E cable channel later that month.

Tickets will cost $5.00 for all PennCard holders and will be distributed through an online lottery which begins Thursday, October 25th, 2001 at 6pm and runs through Sunday, October 28th, 2001.

The event will be sponsored by the Provost's Spotlight Series and Connaissance, part of the Social Planning and Events Committee. It will be the second major event hosted by Connaissance this fall, coming just two weeks after tomorrow's lecture from actor and politician Ben Stein.

Connaissance Co-Director Samantha Cohen, a College senior, said that while initial contact with Joel's representatives was made over the summer, the performance was not finalized until two weeks ago.

"We were were approached at the end of the summer," Cohen said. "We were informed that Billy Joel was going on a college speaking tour and that he wanted to stop in Philadelphia."

Joel will also be stopping at Princeton, New York, Northwestern, Georgetown and Tufts universities.

Although Tufts has reportedly paid in excess of $35,000, Cohen said that it will cost Penn "significantly less than that" to bring the legendary singer to campus. Cohen declined to specify the cost for Penn.

"He really wanted to be in Philadelphia," she said. "We wanted to make it extremely cheap for students."

Joel's performance was well-received in 1996, and he extended his show for over an hour to allow for more student questions and requests. Next month, he is scheduled to go on stage at 7:30pm and perform for two and a half hours.

During his illustrious career, Joel has earned 22 Grammy nominations and has won five Grammy awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.

Despite Joel's recent appearance at Penn, Cohen said there were no concerns about bringing him back to campus for another performance.

"There was tremendous response and excitement about his last visit," she said. "There are all new undergraduates now who did not see him the first time."

Cohen said that she expects security for the event to be similar to previous high profile Connaissance events, such as Benjamin Netanyahu and Madeleine Albright.

"Higher level administration and Public Safety officials know that he is coming, and there will be a security presence," Cohen said. "We're not worried about security."

---

"Billy Joel Has Seen The Green Lights Go On, On Broadway"
"Piano Man's" songs will recount story of American soldiers during 1960s, '70s
By: Jon Wiederhorn
(October 24th, 2001)

When Billy Joel songs provide the entertainment for the evening, he's usually the one onstage. Earlier this month, however, he was in the audience listening to a Broadway musical-in-progress that will feature between 15 and 20 of his songs choreographed by Twyla Tharp.

After this private night at the theater, Joel green-lighted the show, tentatively titled "The Thoel Project." The musical is being produced by the Nederlander Organization theater empire and will likely be previewed early next year in another city for four to six weeks before beginning its Broadway run, a production spokesperson said.

"Twyla put it all together from the material I wrote and recorded over my whole career," Joel said backstage during Saturday's "The Concert for New York City." "I thought it was pretty good, but how objective could I be?"

Tharp and Nederlander discussed the idea of a musical centered around Joel's songs for two years before the "Piano Man" was contacted. While Joel's involvement will be minimal, his approval was necessary.

With minimal dialogue, the show uses Joel's music to tell the story of three friends growing up during the '60s who get shipped off to Vietnam, the spokesperson said. When one is killed, the two survivors are torn apart. After becoming ensnared in the '70s drug scene, they straighten out in time to greet the next decade.

Well-known Joel songs in the production include "An Innocent Man," "Big Shot," "The River of Dreams" and "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)." The musical features a live band fronted by Las Vegas vocalist Michael Cavanaugh, who is said to sound eerily similar to Joel.

Dance styles for the project range from ballet to modern dance to disco.

The double-album set "The Essential Billy Joel," which contains some of the songs that will be used in the musical, is #38 this week on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Joel also has the #1 record on Billboard's Top Classical Albums chart. "Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions (Music for Solo Piano)" consists of Joel compositions performed by pianist Richard Joo.

"It feels great [to have a #1 album] because I started out playing classical piano," Joel said. "So for all my teachers that told me I'd never amount to anything - ha!"

---

"Billy Joel In A 'New York State of Mind'"
(October 26th, 2001)

Billy Joel didn't hesitate to offer his time and talent during last month's telethon for the victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Not only did that telethon raise more than $150 million, but Joel walked away from the experience with a new appreciation for a song he had written more than 25 years ago, "The Early Show's" Mark McEwen reports.

At the tribute, when Joel sang a song that is so dear to New Yorkers, "New York State of Mind," most people in the audience cried from the opening bar to the end.

How is it that Joel himself did not cry?

"That's a good question," the performer said "Because I was feeling like doing that from the time I started singing 'til the end note. And with that Station Two hat on the piano, it was difficult to get through.

"You know, I was born in New York, and I lived here for 20 years. And it wasn't just a hit against some buildings. For me it was a triple hit. It was a hit against New York City. It was a hit against America. And it was a hit against all of humanity," he added. "And so there's my job. Just do your job, just get through it. Because I asked Elton how he got through the Princess Di recording, and he said he almost lost it a couple of times too. But you've got to be a man. Sometimes you've got to be a man. 'Be a man about it. Shut up, be a man.'"

In addition to playing seemingly every benefit held for the World Trade Center victims, Joel has also released two brand new CDs. One that you would expect, a greatest hits compilation, and one that you would not, an album of classical music: "Fantasies & Delusions."

Outside of the obvious, Joel says the initial stages of writing classical music are not that different from writing popular music or rock and roll.

"I started with music. I well, 95 percent of the time I wrote the music first," he said. What he doesn't do is play piano on this album. Instead, he turned to piano virtuoso, Richard Joo.

"I wanted a pianist who could see the notes, but also play the dynamics, play the nuances. Give the thing an art, give it a flow from beginning - without worrying about hitting the wrong notes," he added, noting his hands are not what they used to be.

"I had a motorcycle accident in '82. And my left thumb is just about non-existent. There's no bone in the top of this thumb. Everything else works, by the way. But the top of that thumb can't, you know - hold up," Joel said.

The way he writes is in increments, he explains. "But for me to play it from beginning to end without making a mistake is almost impossible. I'm a rock and roll guy. In fact, the more mistakes you make the more rock and roll it is."

"The Essential Billy Joel" has songs that have been around for years. But do they hold the same excitement for him?

He usually doesn't play one of his own albums at home, he said, because "I'm kind of sick of him.

But if I'm in my car and it comes on the radio, man that volume knob goes up to 10. 'Hey, that's me. That's me.' I'm with my kid, 'Hey, that's your dad.'" he said with a laugh.

Joel is particularly proud of his new classical album since it's his first one, and it debuted at #1. As for whether Joel will record more rock and roll music in the future, he says we'll have to wait and see.

---