It took a while for Billy Joel’s career to start – six years and four albums. But once it took off, it didn’t stop. Joel spent the early part of the 1970s as a singer who wrote about what he knew: New York City, girls, love. He scored a minor but critical hit in 1973 with ‘Piano Man,’ which became his signature song. But it wasn’t until 1977’s ‘The Stranger’ that his records started selling in the millions and topping the charts. His next two albums went to No. 1; so did a pair in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, right around the time he retired from making pop records (though he still tours regularly and released an album of classical songs since). He got tough (1980’s ‘Glass Houses’), political (1982’s ‘The Nylon Curtain’) and nostalgic (1983’s ‘An Innocent Man’). But Joel is at his best singing about the loves of his life.