BILLY JOEL's last album, "River of Dreams" was released 22 years ago, yet he's enjoying a resurgence with his music from the past, at age 65 ! Basically, he quit while on top and has nothing new to say or write to record a really good, new album. Joel says... "Some people think it's because I'm lazy or I'm just being contrary. But no, I think it's just--I've had my say." Joel says when other artists continue to cash in on their name past their prime, the results aren't pretty. ..."I've seen artists on that treadmill, putting out albums year after year, and the albums get worse and worse, less and less interesting, and it's, like, maybe you should stop." Another reason Joel declines to put out new music, though, is also the simplest: Joel, at 65, isn't up for the grueling hub-bub that goes into making a new album anymore. Joel says... "I'm not crazy about going into a recording studio and doing that kind of life again...Or taking on another project where there's other people involved--arrangers and orchestrators and conductors and producers. I don't want to deal with it". And he dosen't have to ! BILLY JOEL is the third best-selling solo artist in the U.S.A. ! (Garth Brooks #1, Elvis Presley #2) achieving 33 Top 40 hits ! He has sold 150 million records worldwide. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner, 1978-(2), 1979-(2), 1980-(1), 1990-(1), was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), recieved the Johnny Mercer Award (2001), the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006), the Kennedy Center Honors (2013), and most recently, the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Centennial Award and the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize (both in 2014), as well as, other honors and achievements too numerous to mention. BILLY JOEL knows he has nothing left to prove by producing another album. Can you blame him for not wanting to record another album, and with being content with his career up until now ?
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