Billy Joel

Billy Joel AKA the Piano Man

The word hero is tossed around so much. Not too many people fully know what it means to be a hero. You hear everyday on the radio a sport announcer say “He made an amazing catch he’s the hero of the game!” To me it’s wrong to call that person a hero. Not to badmouth sports because they are truly amazing, but I think a real hero is someone who finds a problem and perseveres and solves it. Like a fireman trying to save a little girl trapped inside. Problem: little girl is trapped inside burning building. Solution: fireman fights through the heat and smoke and saves the girl. That’s a true example of what a hero is.

Now everyone has heard of Superman, Batman, and even heroes like firemen and policemen, but I’m here to tell you about a different kind of hero, Billy Joel. Billy Joel, AKA the Piano Man, was born on May 9th, 1949. He endured many hardships during his life. His parents divorced in 1960 when he was only 11 years old. His love of music carried him through his parents' divorce, and was taught to play the piano at an early age.

His love of music kept him indoors a lot instead of playing sports like most boys his age. This led to much teasing and bullying throughout his school years. His piano instructor also taught ballet and thinking he was learning to dance, kids made fun of him worse than before. He dropped out of school after being one credit behind what he needed to graduate high school. When he released his most famous album Piano Man it sold 4 million copies, but the company cheated him and he only got $7000.

His heroism was greatly displayed after his songs about the Cold War. Not too many people knew about the Cold War, but he thought they should know. His songs like ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, and ‘Leningrad’, greatly showed the big horrors of the long Cold War spanning over 40 years. He started a fund raiser to help Russians after he saw their terrible lives in the USSR. His music inspired many to help Russia during its tough times.

As you can see Billy Joel has all the qualities of a true hero. He went through many hardships, but got through them with his love of music. He saw the terrible truth of the Cold War and shared it with many so they could see the truth too and do something about it. He went through all that and still showed no self pity and helped so many people. Billy Joel is a true hero. Now I’ll end with a quote that I’m not sure who it’s from, but it’s one of my favorites, “Don’t ever say a small person can’t change the world, because they are the only ones who ever have.”