"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" Brings Billy Joel to the Top of the Charts

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me was Billy Joel's first single to reach the number one position of the Billboard Hot 100.

The solo debut of the New York artist dates back to 1971, the year of publication of the Cold Spring Harbor album, but it was the 1977 album The Stranger who consecrated him.

The Stranger was the album with the beautiful Just The Way You Are, a ballad that reached the third position in the charts.

To conquer the well-deserved first place, Billy Joel had to wait 1980 and publish It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, taken from the Glass Houses album.

In the song, the singer expressed his opinion on musical critics, who considered his music a little dated, and on the record industry, which was oriented towards the new trends, such as the New Wave, which Billy Joel did not consider the evolution of music but the simple reworkings of old musical styles.

Agree or not with Billy Joel, the public appreciated the "dated" sound of the song (slightly unusual for Joel himself, in my opinion 😉) and rewarded him by exceeding the million copies sold.

Not bad for the song of an artist called "not very modern" by the press.

To date, with streaming, it seems that It's Still Rock and Roll to Me has passed the four million. An even more exceptional result, talking about streaming and total sales and not those of the period, Joel got it with two other pieces: Piano Man (1973) and Uptown Girl (1983).