Our condolences to Billy Joel. Sources in the Hamptons say Joel's dad, Howard Joel, who lives in Vienna, is "not doing well" and will pass away soon. Howard, who escaped the Nazis as a child, left the "Piano Man"'s mom in the 1960s and moved back to his native Austria to remarry and have another son, composer Alexander Joel. Billy and Howard were reunited some years ago but, as he told the Villager.com in 2003, "It was strained... [But] I have great respect for him." Joel's representative said, "That is true. He is not doing well. Billy just saw him while he was on his European tour but there are no immediate plans to return to Vienna."

Billy Joel's father is reportedly close to death - but the singer has no plans to visit him in hospital in Vienna, Austria. The details of Howard Joel's illness have not been revealed but his doctors have confirmed he is not expected to make a recovery, reports PageSix.com. Howard fled Austria as a child to escape the Nazi occupation in 1938 and moved to America. He was divorced from Joel's mother in the 1960s and returned to his homeland where he remarried and had another son - composer Alexander Joel. Billy and Howard - real name Helmuth Joel - reconciled in recent years and the "Piano Man" singer spent time with his father during his recent European Tour. His spokesperson says, "It is true. (Howard) is not doing well. Billy just saw him while he was on his European Tour but there are no immediate plans to return to Vienna."

Billy Joel has hit out at reports his father is dying in an Austrian hospital and is urging the media to respect his family's privacy. The New York Post claimed Howard Joel has been told by doctors he's not expected to recover from his illness - but a spokesperson for the "Piano Man" star insists the reports are untrue, and adds the singer only recently returned after spending time in Austria with his father. Joel's representative says, "His father is not in hospital and no doctor has told him or anyone he is dying. This is a private family matter."

Billy Joel, whose song bag and career were most recently in the spotlight when his music served as basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, "Movin' Out," returns to Hawaii for a single concert December 16th, 2006 at Blaisdell Arena. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

Joel has earned six Grammy Awards and logged 33 tunes on Billboard's Top 10 charts.

He last performed here in October 1987 at Aloha Stadium, attracting about 25,000 cheering fans. At that time, he was pausing in Hawaii en route to "Down Under" gigs after making a historic trek to the Soviet Union. Joel's only other Honolulu gig was at a private Columbia Records event at the Sheraton Waikiki hotel.

When he returns, he'll have new ammo. Joel's current solo tour coincides with the release of a lavish five-disc boxed set, "My Lives," released by Columbia and Legacy Recordings, and featuring four CDs and one DVD chronicling his career. His latest tour is the first since his 1998-99 world tour, where he gave 64 shows before 1.1 million fans and grossed $47 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Over the years, Joel has established a stable of distinguished hits - including "Just The Way You Are," "Piano Man," "My Life," "Honesty," "Uptown Girl," "New York State of Mind," "An Innocent Man," "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "She's Got A Way," "Allentown," and "Prelude/Angry Young Man" - with album sales surpassing 100 million copies.

Bronx-raised Joel teamed with Elton John in concert in 1994, snapping up $46 million from just 24 dates in one of the most lucrative twin bills of pop-music superstars. He also recorded a rare Leningrad Tour with a live CD in 1987.

When Twyla Tharp fleshed out a dance-oriented Broadway show featuring Joel's music, it ran for 1,307 performances from October 2002 to its December 2005 closing, earning 10 Tony nominations and Tony Awards for choreography and orchestration.

Joel's concert is being presented in Honolulu by KGMB-9, Marek Lieberberg Presents and Live Nation.

While this column went on hiatus for a few weeks, Long Island bands continued to make albums, launch tours, sneak their songs onto movie soundtracks and generally keep busy. Here's what's been happening, and what's about to happen...

Anyone who thought the Long Island Music Hall of Fame was just a pipe dream will be proved wrong when Billy Joel shows up for the hall's inaugural induction ceremony, October 15th, 2006 at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. Yes, really - Joel's publicist confirms it. Other artists scheduled to appear include Joan Jett, Paul Shaffer, and Dion...

The "Piano Man" is "Movin' Out."

Four years after purchasing an estate with picturesque views of Oyster Bay Harbor, the 57 year-old singer has listed the place for sale with a prominent real estate firm.

Joel, who paid $22.5 million for the property in 2002, now has an asking price of $37.5 million. For that, a buyer will get a 40,000-square-foot brick, gabled house containing five bedrooms with three full baths, three half-baths and eight fireplaces on 14.26 acres with 1,550 feet of shoreline on Oyster Bay, New York. There's also a guest cottage and a pool house by the beach.

Joel's spokeswoman, Claire Mercuri, told Newsday: "Billy is a Long Islander and still maintains a property in Sag Harbor, New York." She declined further comment.

Other amenities include a gym, music room, wine cellar, outdoor pool, bowling alley and tennis courts, and a domed-roof indoor pool room, which has been converted into a space for Joel's grand piano.

Long Island's arguably most famous resident, musician Billy Joel, may be moving out, having listed his primary residence - his Centre Island, New York estate where he has lived for four years - for sale with a price tag of $37.5 million.

The singer/songwriter paid $22.5 million for the property in 2002.

The listing, posted yesterday, by Daniel Gale/Sotheby's International Realty notes that the "Piano Man"'s spread includes a 14,000-square-foot brick, gabled house containing five bedrooms with three full baths, three half-baths and eight fireplaces on 14.26 acres with 1,550 feet of frontage on Oyster Bay Harbor. Further amentities include a gym, music room, wine cellar, outdoor pool, bowling alley and tennis courts and a domed-roof indoor pool room where Joel had the pool filled in to create the perfect accoustical home for a grand piana. Besides the mansion, there is a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath guest cottage and 3-bedroom, 3-bath pool house by the beach.

To take over the digs of Long Island's favorite "Big Shot" means paying $184,513 in county and town taxes and $70,375 in village taxes.

Joel is traveling and could not be reached for comment. Joel spokeswoman Claire Mercuri said "Billy is a Long Islander and still maintains a property in Sag Harbor." She declined further comment.

But sources said Joel, who besides a waterfront house in Sag Harbor, New York, also owns an apartment in Manhattan, New York and a house he bought last year in Miami, Florida, has no plans to sell those places. But they said he has been looking for a new primary residence all around the country. The primary reason for leaving Centre Island, New York is that Joel has been frustrated in his efforts to build a dock into the harbor for his three boats. Because local officials arranged for the harbor to become a national wildlife refuge in the early 1970s to stop a proposed bridge from Bayville, New York to Rye, New York in Westchester, New York, no new piers have been approved in decades for the harbor. As a result, Joel has had to keep his $2.5 million commuter yacht "Vendetta," fishing boat "Alexa," and a pontoon landing craft that can come up to his beach across the harbor in an Oyster Bay, New York marina. In interviews, Joel has made barbed jokes about the invasive things he could do to his waterfront land but not build a dock.

The Centre Island, New York estate is across Cold Spring Harbor, New York from a house previously owned by Joel just north of the causeway leading to Lloyd Neck, New York. A former gatehouse for the Fort Hill mansion on the hill to the north, the brick house with a bay window on the first floor, five gables on the second floor and a pool and pavilion - and no screening on the water side - proved much too visible after Joel married model Christie Brinkley, so the couple moved to Amagansett, New York. After their divorce, Joel bought the Centre Island, New York estate. On October 2nd, 2004, Joel married Kate Lee at the Centre Island, New York home.

Joel has spoken frequently about his attachment to the Oyster Bay, New York area. He said he used to hitchhike to the North Shore to "borrow" boats when he was growing up in landlocked Hicksville, New York so buying a piece of Gold Coast real estate was a dream come true.

Centre Island, New York, also the home of media mongul Rupert Murdoch, is a posh and exclusive Gold Coast village, with village police headquarters situated at the entrance to the one main road into the community to discourage tourists. Joel's house is not visible from the road but is easily seen from the water.

The "Piano Man"'s "Movin' Out" - and hoping to almost double the record $22.5 million he spent on his Long Island, New York mansion four years ago.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Joel, 57, has put the massive Centre Island, New York pad on the market - with a $37.5 million price tag.

But he denies he's no longer in a Long Island state of mind, despite now dumping three of his four homes in the area.

"Mr. Joel still maintains a property in Sag Harbor," said his spokeswoman, Claire Mercuri.

"He still lives in that house, and he is not planning on abandoning Long Island."

The Sag Harbor home was put on the market briefly last year, but pulled off before it sold.

Joel sold a Hamptons, New York home to comedian Jerry Seinfeld in 2000 for $32 million, and a Shelter Island, New York home in 2003.

Mercuri refused to comment on why Joel decided to sell the Centre Island, New York, five-bedroom home with a private stretch of beach and stunning Oyster Bay Harbor views - which was the venue for his 2004 wedding to Katie Lee Joel.

Although Joel paid a record price for North Shore properties when he bought the house, it no longer has top spot - with a Lloyd Neck home on 48 acres asking $60 million in March this year.

But experts said $37.5 million was still extremely high for that part of Long Island, which is overshadowed by the more popular and glitzy South Shore.

"It's in an area of expensive homes, but it's certainly among the most expensive," said Joel's real estate broker Bonnie Williamson, of realty firm Daniel Gale Sotheby's International.

The estate includes a domed-roof indoor-pool room, converted to house Joel's grand piano, an indoor bowling alley and a dock for the singer's beloved yacht.

Born in the Bronx, New York, Joel grew up in landlocked Hicksville, New York, in Nassau County, and has told stories of how he would hitchhike to the Long Island coast.

Billy Joel may be "Movin' Out."

He's put his primary residence - the 14-acre Centre Island, New York estate where he's lived for four years - up for sale for $37.5 million.

Joel, who paid $22.5 million for the property, declined to comment, but spokeswoman Claire Mercuri insisted he is not abandoning his native island. "Billy is a Long Islander and still maintains a property in Sag Harbor," she said.

Besides the harborfront house in Sag Harbor, Joel also owns a townhouse in Greenwich Village and a house in Miami. Sources said Joel has been looking for a new primary residence beyond Long Island.

His main reason for wanting to leave Centre Island, New York, the sources said, is his frustration over not being able to build a dock for his three boats. No new piers have been approved in decades because local officials arranged with the feds for the harbor to become a national wildlife refuge in the early 1970s to stop a proposed bridge from Bayville to Rye. As a result, Joel has kept his $2.5-million commuter yacht "Vendetta," fishing boat "Alexa," and a pontoon landing craft across the harbor in Oyster Bay, New York. Joel has complained about the restriction.

The listing by Daniel Gale/Sotheby's International Realty notes that the "Piano Man"'s spread includes a 14,000 square-foot brick, gabled house with 1,550 feet of frontage on Oyster Bay Harbor. Among the amenities is a domed-roof indoor pool room where Joel had the pool filled in to create the perfect acoustical home for a grand piano. Also on the grounds are a guest cottage and a pool house.

In addition to the purchase price, whoever takes over the digs will have to fork out about $250,000 in taxes.

The estate is across Cold Spring Harbor from a house previously owned by Joel just north of the causeway leading to Lloyd Neck, New York. A lack of screening on the water side made the property too visible after Joel married Christie Brinkley, so the couple moved to Amagansett, New York. After their divorce, Joel bought the Centre Island, New York estate. In 2004, Joel married Kate Lee there.

Billy Joel is "Movin' Out" - but only if someone ponies up the $37.5 million he's asking for his Long Island mansion.

The singer/songwriter has just listed his renovated 14-acre spread on Centre Island, New York, which he bought in 2002 for $22 million.

Surrounded by more than 1,500 feet of beachfront, the estate features a sprawling, 14,000-square-foot, Tudor-style main house with five bedrooms, three maids' rooms, a paneled library, a chef's kitchen with double-height ceilings, large public rooms with fireplaces, a bowling alley and indoor pool. The grounds include a three-bedroom guesthouse and a three-bedroom beach house with an outdoor pool, tennis court and a dock.

Sources say that Joel, 56, and his trophy wife Katie Lee Joel, now 25, plan to move to Manhattan, New York as soon as renovations on the couple's $6 million West Village, New York townhouse are completed.

It will be the first time Joel has lived Manhattan, New York since selling his Central Park West residence to Sting in the late 1980s, when Billy and bride and Christie Brinkley were the toast of the town.