How much is Billy Joel worth?
| Net Worth: | $245 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Musician |
| Date of Birth: | May 9, 1949 (age 73) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in (1.66 m) |
About Billy Joel
Billy Joel as an American musician and composer who is often referred to as the “Piano Man” due to his song of the same name, which was his first hit and skyrocketed him to stardom. The singer has enjoyed a ton of success since the 1970s and has released a total of 13 full length albums, becoming one of the best-selling artists in history and being the third best selling US solo artist ever. With 150 million album sales under his belt, Joel is one of the richest musicians living today.
Some of Joel’s most famous hits include “Uptown Girl”, “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, and “She’s Always a Woman”.
It was in the early 70s when Joel first started drawing attention to himself, as a live radio performance of “Captain Jack” encouraged the label Columbia Records to sign a record deal with the musician. With the help of Columbia, Joel released the album, Piano Man, in 1973 and in quick succession he followed up with 1974’s Streetlife Serenade and 1976’s Turnstiles. But it was in 1977 when Joel saw his breakthrough in to mainstream success.
The Stranger, Joel’s fifth album, became the label’s biggest ever success, as it sold more than 10 million units and included the hit tracks “Just the Way You Are”, “Only the Good Die Young”, and “She’s Always a Woman”.
Following the success of The Stranger, Joel released 52nd Street, which was the first of the pianist’s albums to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart. At the turn of the decade, Joel switched gears and attempted to change the listeners’ perception of him to one more like a rock and roll performer, as 1980’s Glass Houses featured the rock and roll hits “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” and “Don’t Ask Me Why”.
Three years later, he switched genres again while still keeping his distinctive sound, as An Innocent Man featured rhythm and blues and doo-wop style songs including “The Longest Time” and “Uptown Girl”. “Uptown Girl” is possibly Joel’s most famous track, as it stayed at the top of the charts for weeks and has almost half a billion streams on Spotify.
Over a period of 30 years, Joel produced more than 30 songs that were in the top 40 of the US charts, having written every single one of them by himself, which can be said for few other musicians. The prolific songwriter has won five Grammy Awards, and nominated for another 18, and he has been awarded with many other honors, including being inducted in to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
Though Joel has had a quiet 21st century compared to the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the singer has still been touring almost non-stop, selling out arenas across the world and playing his hits to millions of fans.
Being one of the best selling music artists of all time and having more than 150 million records sold all over the world, it’s no secret that Billy Joel has accrued hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of his career. Though his proper albums are massively successful with each one selling millions of copies, the most successful album of Joel’s is the compilation record, Greatest Hits – Volume 1 & 2, which has sold an astounding 23 million copies in the US alone, and it is one of the best selling albums of all time.
Though he retired from recording new music decades ago, Joel still continues to see revenue from his hits thanks to streaming services like Spotify. The artist has over 14 million monthly listeners on the platform and most of his songs have hundreds of millions of plays.
He also receives royalties for his songs being used in commercials, movies, and TV, as his music can be heard everywhere. On top of this, Joel seems to never stop touring, and he has notably had a residency at Madison Square Garden since 2014. At the beginning of 2020, Joel surpassed his 70th monthly show at the massive arena and it is reported that he earns around $50 million per year when he is touring.
It’s thanks to learning the piano at such a young age that Joel has become such a savant at the instrument. The musician began taking piano lessons at the young age of just four years old, and he quickly fell in love with it, learning a lot of classical music (to which he paid homage with his last album, 2001’s Fantasies & Delusions).
In school, Joel didn’t graduate due to underperforming and not having enough credits, and instead of studying through summer to finish, he dropped out to focus on music full time. If it wasn’t for Joel flunking out of school, who knows if he would have ever become the famous pianist he is today.
Joel’s songs are timeless, and not having released a pop album for close to 30 years and still being an in-demand performer just goes to prove exactly that. When Joel agreed to his Madison Square Garden residency in 2014, it was planned to last until there was no longer a demand for it, and it’s still going six years later. Not only that, but Joel has sold out the arena on more than 40 occasions.
A lot of seasoned musicians spend the latter part of their career playing their hits to crowds of thousands year after year, such as Jimmy Buffett, Paul Simon, et al., but Joel is by far the most successful at it, as few other musicians can imitate what the Piano Man does.
Joel’s Total Net Worth
Billy Joel has earned estimated total career income of $525 million dollars. Joel earns around $50 million dollars when he is touring, and even when he is not, he can earn around $25-35 million. He is paid $2-3 million dollars per show when he is in residency, like his multi-year Madison Square Garden residencies.
As Joel lives in the state of New York and is sometimes based in Florida for tax years, and considering he has also earned in some high federal income tax years, he will have had to pay around 48% in taxes on his career income. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $273 million dollars, having paid $252 million dollars in taxes.
Billy Joel has been married four times and divorced three times. Billy married Elizabeth Ann Weber in 1973 and they divorced nine years later, in 1982. Not only did the divorce settlement cost him around $5-6 million, including a $4 million dollar apartment on the Upper East Side of New York. He also lost around $30 million dollars in mismanaged funds after Elizabeth’s brother had been entrusted with investing Billy’s fortune.
Two more marriages and divorces later, while Joel had managed to rebuild his fortune through touring, he had also had to pay around $20-30 million dollars in divorce settlements. Billy later married Alexis Roderick in 2015 and they remain together. He has three children.
In his personal life he has likely spent $12-14 million dollars of his career earnings but also earned $50 -55 million dollars from his investments. Joel earns many properties on the East Coast, mainly in Florida and Long Island, New York.
Some examples of his real estate investments, is the $22.5 million for a 14,000 square-foot waterfront property in Oyster Bay in 2002. The $5.9 million dollar New York townhouse he bought in 2011. As well as the $11.8 million dollar adjacent properties over 4-acres of land in Manalapan, Florida that he bought in 2014.
As he will have also had to pay around $6-7 million dollars in business related costs, it is therefore estimated, that Billy Joel has a net worth of about $245 million dollars.
Summing-Up
With a canon of hits, so many that they fill two greatest hits albums, Billy Joel is a legend in the music industry and a titan of touring. Thanks to his jangly pop songs and his love of playing live, Billy Joel now has an astonishing net worth of more than $245 million including incredible real estate to enjoy and earn more value from.
