Billy Joel Reaches A New All-Time High, Decades Into His Career

Billy Joel’s Piano Man – The Very Best Of climbs to No. 26 on the U.K. Official Albums Streaming chart, marking a new career peak for the musician. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 25: Billy Joel performs onstage during the last show of his residency at Madison Square Garden on July 25, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

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Billy Joel’s name is back in the headlines — and back on the charts — thanks to a new docuseries that details his life story and rise to musical superstardom. Billy Joel: And So It Goes premiered in two parts on HBO in July, and the effects of the popular show can be seen on music rankings in several countries as millions return to not just some of his biggest albums, but also his most successful songs — the ones that turned him into a household name.

Joel even manages to reach a new career peak on one list in the United Kingdom as streams of his entire catalog, and of one set in particular, soar.

Piano Man – The Very Best Of Peaks

Piano Man – The Very Best Of is one of Joel’s several compilations that bring together his hit songs. It’s the project that regularly appears on the charts in the U.K., and this week it’s gaining considerable ground on the Official Albums Streaming ranking. The title lifts from No. 30 to No. 26, and as it ascends, the compilation reaches a new personal best placement.

Billy Joel’s New Career High

Throughout his career, Joel has landed many hit albums in the U.K., but he’s only ever reached the Official Albums Streaming chart with one. As Piano Man climbs, the title brings the singer-songwriter to a never-before-seen peak on the list of the most-streamed collections in the country.

Nearly 300 Weeks on the Chart and Counting

Piano Man debuted on the Official Albums Streaming chart in July 2019, opening at No. 87 before disappearing. A month later, the full-length returned, and in the years since, it has risen and fallen, though it has maintained a steady presence on the tally since July 2021.

The set has now spent 284 weeks on the Official Albums Streaming chart. That lengthy stay suggests that while the occasional concert or headline has likely helped it jump to new peaks — as is the case thanks to the docuseries — fans in the U.K. regularly press play not just on the collection, but also on the individual tracks that fuel it.

Billy Joel Surgs on Multiple Tallies

As it jumps to its new best showing on the Official Albums Streaming chart, Joel’s Piano Man can also be found on four other tallies in the same country. The title rises almost 10 spaces on the Official Albums list — the ranking of the 100 most-consumed projects in the U.K. — and returns to three sales-focused lists at the same time.