Billy Joel fans can add a new item to their holiday-gift wish lists. On December 6th, 2005, the "Piano Man" will release "My Lives," a box set consisting of four CDs and one DVD tracing Joel's career from his salad days to his tenure as rock icon and budding classical composer.

The collection's first disc will include some of Joel's earliest recordings with Long Island-based bands such as the Lost Souls, the Hassles and Attila, plus demos and alternate takes of early hits such as "Piano Man" and "Only The Good Die Young." The other CDs will mix more rare and unreleased tracks with live performances - including a duet version of "You May Be Right" with Elton John - and covers of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Duke Ellington, Brian Wilson, Leonard Cohen and others. The DVD portion, "Live From The River of Dreams," features Joel performing his hits in Frankfurt, Germany.

The cover art for "My Lives" is another heretofore unreleased work that Joel has cherished for years: a portrait painted for the musician on his birthday, May 9th, 1993, by daughter, Alexa, who was then 7.

Three years ago the pop music icon, Billy Joel, and the modern dance revolutionist, Twyla Tharp, collaborated on what would instantly become a Broadway sensation.

For three years, Joel's characters and songs have been brought to life through Tharp's choreography, captivating audiences at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. After more than 1300 performances, Broadway's "Movin' Out" is closing on December 11th, 2005.

A story of love, life and friendship, "Movin' Out" is set on Long Island during the 1960s. War, death, and drugs wound the hearts of six friends, but love brings them all back together.

This winner of the 2003 Tony awards for Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations, features lively and enthusiastic dancers that practically "fly" rather than leap across the stage.

The well known Billy Joel songs featured in the show include "Big Shot," "Captain Jack," "Uptown Girl," "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," "Just The Way You Are," "Only The Good Die Young," "New York State of Mind," and of course, the title song "Movin' Out." A total of 24 Billy Joel's classics are featured in the two-hour performance.

If you study dance, you can not miss this show. Get some people together from your dance studio and take a trip to Manhattan, New York. Not a dancer? This is a great show to see with parents, friends or siblings (although I wouldn't recommend bringing anyone under the age of 10). It will be a day you and your friends will never forget.

Billy Joel once drank furniture polish in an apparent attempt to kill himself.

In a new book, "Billy Joel: The Life & Times of An Angry Young Man," author Hank Bordowitz claims the star one drank furniture polish because it would be easier than swilling down bleach.

The singer - who has had a well-documented battle with alcohol - is quoted as saying: "I drank furniture polish. It looked tastier than bleach."

Before he drank it, Joel reportedly wrote a suicide note that eventually became the lyrics to "Tomorrow Is Today."

Bordowitz details how Joel's friend, drummer Jon Small, discovered him passed out in his closet and rushed him to hospital.

Joel - who was once married to supermodel Christie Brinkley - was moved to a psychiatric ward and put on suicide watch.

He later begged his manager to get him out of the ward, pleading: "These people are really crazy."

It's claimed the episode was brought on by the star's secret affair with Jon Small's wife, Elizabeth.

Joel later penned several songs for Elizabeth - who later became his wife - including, "She's Got A Way," and "She's Always A Woman."

Billy Joel's upcoming five-disc boxed set, "My Lives," features 23 never-before-heard songs as well as a previously unreleased live DVD shot in Frankfurt, Germany during the "River of Dreams" Tour.

The set, due December 6th, 2005 via Columbia/Legacy, begins with rare cuts from Joel's mid-1960s bands the Lost Souls and the Hassles and moves into material recorded by his hard rock act Attila, which released its only album in 1970.

Disc One also features demos of "Only A Man," "Oyster Bay," and "Piano Man," plus early versions of "New Mexico" (which became "Worse Comes To Worst") and "These Rhinestone Days" (which became "I Loved These Days").

The second disc sports early versions of "The Longest Time" and "Elvis Presley Blvd.," a live take on "Captain Jack" from a July 1981 show at Sparks Saloon in Huntington, Long Island, an alternate version of "Getting Closer" with Steve Winwood and a live cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" recorded in 1987 on a Russian TV show.

Disc three is dominated by live and studio covers of such tracks as the Isley Brothers' "Shout," Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" and "Heartbreak Hotel," the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," Leonard Cohen's "Light As The Breeze" and the Carole King/Gerry Goffin oldie "Hey Girl."

The final audio disc features a 1994 live duet with Elton John on "You May Be Right," audio clips of recordings first issued on Joel's "The Essential Video Collection" and a series of his recent classical compositions.

The live DVD rounds up 14 selections from throughout Joel's career, including "Pressure," "Allentown," "We Didn't Start The Fire," "Big Shot," and "Goodnight Saigon."

Fans can also utilize Umixit technology encoded onto the disc to make their own remixes of Joel's "Zanzibar" and a live version of "I Go To Extremes."