There’s something about Billy Joel’s music that just hits the spot, right?
Spotify recently put out a list of the top 10 most streamed songs by him, and guess what? The song that takes the crown is “Uptown Girl.” It was inspired by his ex-wife, the supermodel Christie Brinkley.
“Uptown Girl” came out in 1983 and was written for Brinkley, according to Joel’s new HBO doc, “Billy Joel: And It Goes.” This was released alongside a soundtrack that debuted on July 26.
Joel shared in an interview with Howard Stern that, at first, he was dating Elle Macpherson when he started writing. “But then I got involved with Christie. So, it’s not just about all those other girls, she became the ‘Uptown Girl,’” he said.
Check out Spotify’s list of Billy Joel’s top streamed tracks:
- “Uptown Girl”
- “The Man at the Piano”
- “Vienna”
- “She’s Always a Woman”
- “My Life”
- “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
- “Just the Way You Are”
- “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”
- “Good Die Young”
- “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”
In the documentary, Brinkley expressed how much she appreciated being his inspiration. “It was such a rush, this whirlwind romance. It was exciting to have it become music,” she said.
“Piano Man” grabbed second place on the list and marked Joel’s first hit from 1973 that won him a Grammy. Interestingly, the inspiration for this song came from characters he and his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, encountered at a bar called the Executive Room. They performed there after his debut album, “Cold Spring Harbor,” didn’t do well.
Weber, who also worked at that bar, noted that one line refers to “the waitress practicing politics.” She recalled how they were juggling finances—she would drive Joel to work and often wait to take him back home. “We knew times were tight, and we wondered if I should be there while he worked. I could also earn some money,” she added.
At 76, Joel, known as the “Piano Man,” has admitted that a lot of his songs draw from his experiences with Weber. “They say to write what you know, and that’s exactly what I did—many songs were about Elizabeth,” he revealed in the film.
Two songs from the top 10—”She’s Always a Woman” and “Just the Way You Are”—were directly inspired by her. “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you how many songs are about me,” Weber remarked. “We just lived our lives and didn’t really discuss it.”
Coming in third is “Vienna,” a song Joel wrote reflecting on visiting his father, who had left when he was a child, in Vienna during his twenties.
With over 150 million records sold, Joel is one of the most successful artists around. It’s pretty clear why his music remains timeless.
