East Coast music icon Billy Joel has discovered that Moving Out of his beloved Long Island was much easier than moving back in.

The bearded, blue-eyed Joel - who's back on top of the music biz since his "New York State of Mind" became an anthem of the 9-11 tragedies - is desperate to buy a house in his beloved East Hampton, NY. He scrammed just two years ago, when funnyman Jerry Seinfeld laid out an eye-popping 32 million clams for his digs.

Over the summer and into this fall, the "Piano Man" searched high and low for a suitable home in the chichi town and found a $6 million mansion he liked. But planning and zoning board members won't let Joel, 52, buy it and expand it to the size of a supermarket, 16,000 square feet. Next, he wanted to buy the nearby private isle, Gull Island, for another $4 mil.

The five-acre island has a nice Cape Codder on it, for use as a guesthouse. But to get to the island on his 90-foot yacht, Joel would have to dredge the basin. And zoning bureaucrats nixed that, too.

Livid, the island's owner, who's been trying to sell for two years, said: "Let him dredge already." Joel and his agent had no comment.

"Piano Man" Billy Joel concedes he's not as proficient on the ivories as he would like.

As a little boy growing up in a little Levitt-style house in Hicksville, Long Island, Joel found himself drawn to the family's old upright Lester piano. "By the time I was four, my mother was tired of hearing me go bang, bang, bang (on the keyboard) and she said, 'You're going to learn how to play.'"

At 16, Joel "discovered girls" and the piano lessons stopped. Consequently, he tells Susan Stamberg on "Morning Edition," "I'm not as well-versed in all the keys as I should be. I didn't practice my scales enough when I studied piano."

But that hasn't stopped Joel from drawing a deep understanding of the instrument that brought him fame and which is featured in his latest album. "Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano," which has topped the classical charts for several weeks now, is unlike anything he's done before. Neither Joel's famous voice - nor his piano playing - is anywhere to be heard on the album. Instead, admitting his own limitations, he drafted classical pianist Richard Joo to perform.

"My left hand is not really good," Joel concedes. "I didn't study to be a concert pianist. I got to a certain point in my piano lessons (when) I realized I wasn't going to be (a classical pianist like) Vladimir Horowitz. I didn't even want to be one of those guys. I wanted to compose, and it's not unusual for a composer to not perform his own work..."

For Joel the composer, the keys are the alphabet of an emotional language. "They (mean) different colors, different emotions: cooler, warmer, more passionate, more philosophical." Many of those elements are evident in "Fantasies & Delusions," with song titles like "Soliloquy (On a Separation)" and "Waltz # 3 (For Lola)."

Joel's inspirations - or motivations - for writing music vary. "Sometimes I'm writing to a particular person and I want to convey an emotion. And usually it's a woman. All my life (I've been) writing for women. But they seem to like that. Girls like that. They like it when you write stuff for them."

"Or sometimes (there's) something that's troubling me that I have to work out. Or sometimes something for a friend, but it's usually something based on a personal relationship or personal thoughts." But he says he doesn't want his fans to read too much into his songs: "I'm not trying to make any grand, eloquent socioeconomic statements with these things."

The Recording Academy has named Grammy-winning musician Billy Joel the 2002 MusiCares Person of The Year for his professional and philanthropic accomplishments.

A number of celebrities, musicians and other members of the entertainment industry will be on-hand to celebrate Joel's career at a tribute dinner, concert and silent auction on February 25th, 2002 in Los Angeles. The event will be part of Grammy Fest, a month-long cultural celebration leading to the 44th Annual Grammy Awards on February 27th, 2002.

"Billy Joel's gift for lyric and melody rank him among the industry's most talented and accomplished musicians," said MusiCares Foundation and Recording Academy President/CEO Michael Greene. "He is a living symbol for what the Recording Academy stands for - his musical accomplishments are matched only by his endeavors as an advocate for music education. We truly are privileged to be honoring this gifted human being."

Joel has enjoyed a career that has spanned more than three decades and produced a catalog containing some of the most beloved songs in American pop music history. He has amassed 33 Top 40 hits, 22 Grammy nominations and five Grammy Awards, including Song of The Year and Record of The Year for "Just the Way You Are"; Album of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for "52nd Street"; and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for "Glass Houses." He was also presented with the Grammy Legend Award in 1990 for his contributions to the recording field. In 1992, Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2001, was presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the organization's highest honor. In 1999, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and also received the Recording Industry Association of America's Diamond Award for his "Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II," which has been certified as the biggest selling greatest hits album by a male artist. He recently released "Fantasies & Delusions," a collection of his compositions performed by Richard Joo, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical Music chart.

As a long-time advocate of music education, Joel started his series of Master Classes called "An Evening of Questions, Answers...and a Little Music" for college students across the country and around the world. He has also held classes as a benefit for the STAR Foundation (Standing Truth About Radiation) and to establish the Rosalind Joel Scholarship for the Performing Arts at City College in New York City. Joel has also graciously donated his time to other organizations such as VH1's Save The Music program, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, AIDS Project Los Angeles and the American Cancer Society. He recently performed his song "New York State of Mind" on the "America: A Tribute To Heroes" television special to benefit those affected by the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

The MusiCares Person of The Year dinner gala will feature a silent auction of collectibles such as music and sports memorabilia, artwork and luxury items. Proceeds from the dinner and auction will provide support for MusiCares' Financial Assistance Program, which aids music people in times of crisis.

Previous MusiCares Person of The Year honorees include Paul Simon, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Luciano Pavoratti, Phil Collins, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Bonnie Raitt, and David Crosby.

The MusiCares Foundation focuses its attention on human service issues which directly impact the health and welfare of the music community. It is dedicated to promoting wellness through emergency financial assistance, addiction recovery programs, and outreach and leadership programs.

Billy Joel was named the 2002 MusiCares Person of the Year for his professional and philanthropic accomplishments yesterday by the Recording Academy, the group that oversees the Grammy Awards.

"Billy Joel's gift for lyric and melody ranks him among the industry's most talented and accomplished," said Michael Greene, MusiCares Foundation and Recording Academy president. "He is a living symbol for what the recording academy stands for - his musical accomplishments are matched only by his endeavors as an advocate for music education. We truly are privileged to be honoring this gifted human being."

Joel - whose string of hits, including "Just the Way You Are" and "Piano Man," make him the third-best selling solo artist of all time, behind Garth Brooks and Elton John - will receive the honor February 25th, 2002 at the MusiCares gala. The tribute dinner will include many of the artists gathered in Los Angeles for the February 27th, 2002 Grammy Awards performing Joel's songs and celebrating his accomplishments.

Though the Hicksville native retired from writing pop music after 1993's "River of Dreams" album, he remains a touring force, selling out arenas across the country on his current "Face 2 Face" tour with Elton John. His latest collection, "The Essential Billy Joel," debuted at #38 on the pop charts in October, while his classical music debut, "Fantasies & Delusions," topped the classical charts.

Joel also will be honored for establishing the Rosalind Joel Scholarship for the Performing Arts at City College in New York and his work with VH1's Save the Music program, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Rock superstar Billy Joel had a tense confrontation with the family of a Nazi supporter who forced the superstar's grandfather out of business, according to a documentary airing on German TV this week.

"The Joel File" chronicles how Nazi racial laws forced Karl Anson Joel to sell his textile firm at a fire-sale price to the politically connected Josef Neckermann.

Joel lost his cool after his brother Alexander, director of the Vienna State Opera, asked Neckermann's grandchildren if their grandfather was sorry for what he did.

They answered with a pause and a whispered "yes."

"Yes? That's it? Well, that's interesting!" Joel barked.

The Neckermann empire, which used slave labor to make uniforms for the Third Reich, has grown into a multibillion-dollar retailing and leisure company.

The film relates how Karl Joel asked Neckermann, who also wound up with the Joel family villa in the beautiful Charlottenburg district of Berlin, if the sale would bring him safety.

"Find your own safety," Neckermann told him.

Joel's grandfather escaped to Switzerland, but the "Piano Man's" father, Helmuth was held by the Nazis at the Dachau concentration camp until it was liberated by American troops in 1945.

Joel said he regretted his outburst at the Neckermann heirs.

"It was important for me to have this meeting, even though it was painful," he said. "When bitterness takes our hearts, evil has won."

The film will be shown Wednesday evening on the Arte network.

"He is a living symbol for what the Recording Academy stands for - his musical accomplishments are matched only by his endeavours as an advocate for music education."