The Life of Billy Joel
Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949 in Bronx, New York. He moved at the age of four to a small town on Long Island. This is where at the ripe age of four he discovered the art of music. Originally a classical music fan, Billy Joel honed his skills with classical piano training. This undoubtedly has had a major influence on his life and certainly his music. Growing up Joel was a big fan of such greats as Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Otis Reading. He was greatly persuaded into a career of music when he saw the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. Amusingly Joel's first band was inspired by the uncanny opportunity to meet girls. The band was called The Echoes, but this was not the best of times
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With the success of his two most recent albums Joel was named the biggest selling solo artist of the 20th century with Columbia Records. In 1980, Joel followed up with another huge album which dominated the charts for six weeks named Glass Houses. Joel earned several more Grammy awards to compliment many of his prior awards. He then quickly released his first collection of live performances which enhanced his legend and fan base even more. The only thing that seemed to slow Joel was a serious motorcycle accident in 1982, which he miraculously recovered from. His next album was a tribute too many of the influences in his life included several of his childhood …show more content…
Joel performed in Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve 2000 in front of a sold out arena, and then released his 17th album. The album was a live recording of his December 31st performance. Last year, Joel toured with the ever popular Elton John and performed in front of 34 sold out venues. Billy Joel has been entertaining the world for over three decades and continues to shine despite a bought with alcoholism and the burdens of superstar status. He is currently working on another album and will continue to perform until he feels his time has
Count Basie, or William Basie, was born on August 21, 1904 in Red Banks, New Jersey. William grew up with an influential musical background. At a young age Basie learned how to play piano, as his mother would sit down and teach him. While Basie had a natural born talent for the piano, his first preference was the drums. After being discouraged however as not making it as the...
Travis Tritt was born on February 9, 1963 to Georgia and James Tritt. Travis fell in love with music as a young boy. By the age of eight he had already taught himself how to play the guitar and by the age of 14 he was beginning to write his own songs. When Travis was younger his parents did not want him to follow his instincts; his mother wanted him to sing in the church, but he wanted to sing and write country music.
Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment incorporates the significance of murder into the novel through a multitude of levels. The act of killing is not only used to further the plot point of the novel, but also offers insight to the reader of Raskolnikov’s ideology and psyche. This is portrayed through both his initial logic and reasoning behind the plotting of the crime, as well as through his immediate and long term reactions after killing Alyona Ivanovna. The emotional and physical responses instilled in Raskolnikov after killing Alyona Ivanovna as well as his justification for doing so helps illustrate his utilitarianism by offering accurate insight into the character’s moral values. These reactions also serve to show the instability of Raskolnikov’s character due to his changing emotions from being completely justified as the ubermensch to showing a sense of great regret. By including the act of killing, Dostoevsky further develops Raskolnikov’s character, and provides another level of detail to readers concerning his ideology and beliefs prior to his actions.
Johnny Cash was widely regarded as the most influential songwriter of the 20th century, known as “The Man in Black,” was admired for his emotional honesty of balladry, anarchy of rock ‘n’ roll, and love struck country music. He was one of the country’s biggest stars in the 1950’s and 60’s with 100 hit singles orchestrated. Cash was born and raised in Kingsland, Arkansas where both his parents were landowners. Poverty did not stop Cash; he wrote songs since the age of twelve and preformed on KLCN radio station in Blytheville, Arkansas, 1950. Nine years later, Cash got signed by Colombia Records and made his first hit single, “Don’t Take Your Guns To Towns,” where it reached the country’s top chart. Cash also overlooked the death of his brother to influence himself and become the legend he is known today. Johnny Cash’s fame reached a point in which the obstacles became too difficult to handle causing his downfall, but various events allowed his life to get back on track.
...e through Laura. To cement the concept, Laura and Jim’s discourse later on in the play reveal her deepest insecurities and how he perceives her, as well as his reasons for leaving her. Consequentially, dialogue serves as the final nail in the coffin and gives the viewer an intimate glimpse inside each character’s struggles and insecurities.
The Glass Menagerie is a play about the memories of a young man named Tom Wingfield. Tom dreams of escaping his complicated and completely dependent family. Tennessee Williams uses symbolism to emphasize Tom’s yearning to leave. The first symbol of this the fire escape which serves as a bridge to reality from the illusive wo...
When a person thinks of jazz, they think they are performers who take stage and improvise their songs. Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington were two of the greatest jazz composers of their time. These two collaborated hundreds of productions. Ellington was known for his song Caravan featuring Juan Tizol that was written in 1936. Other musicians have recorded this song, Caravan, many times. Billy Strayhorn song he composed in 1941, Take the “A” Train, premiered in Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. This song has been recorded by other musicians more than 900 times.
Billy Joel grew up in Long Island, New York. While growing up, he studied classical music; however, when he went to a Beatles concert, he decided to become a professional musician. He later became one of the most successful artists of his generation by selling more than one hundred million records worldwide. In 1999, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In “Hold Fast Your Dreams - and Trust Your Mistakes,” Billy Joel is inspirational because he shows that he is hardworking, and he turns his mistakes and failures into great things for his career.
John Lennon was a famous musician in the mid 1900’s. John’s full name is John Winston Ono Lennon (John Lennon Biography). He was born on October 9, 1940 in England. John died due to a gun shot when he was only 40 years old. He married twice, and had a child with each of his wives. John Lennon was a legend first found with the Beatles, and then he became a very popular solo artist.
This play illustrates a lot of the struggles of family life and relationships between family members. In The Glass Menagerie we get to see how a girl deals with her handicap and how it changes how she views herself and the world. The play also shows a relationship between a vastly different mother and son and how, while she is well intentioned, sometimes it is best to
Tennessee Williams's brilliant use of symbols adds life to the play. The title itself, The Glass Menagerie, reveals one of the most important symbols. Laura's collection of glass animals represents her fragile state. When Jim, the gentleman caller, breaks the horn off her favorite unicorn, this represents Laura's break from her unique innocence.
In Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, each character attempts to escape the real world by creating their own “reality”. Laura hides from the world by magnifying her illness. Tom convinces himself that his needs supersede the needs of his family. Amanda focuses almost exclusively on the past - when she saw herself as a desirable southern belle. Even Jim focus his hopes on recapturing his good old high school days. Each character transposes their difficult situations into shadows of the truth.
...es by some form of punishment. Because his conscience, which is built upon religion, does not agree with the murders, Raskolnikov knew that what he did was not right. This message is the purpose Dostoyevsky introduces Raskolnikov to achieve. However, crime is often taken literally to mean crime with the law, but the crime that really causes conflict is the crime that occurs in Raskolnikov’s conscience. Religion is seen in the most obvious form at the fruition of his punishment. Crime and Punishment shows conformity to society’s laws as a paradigm for redemption, which is taken from a religious context in that Jesus suffered for redemption. Raskolnikov embraces conformity when he turns himself in, accepting religion’s, and therefore society’s, expectations for him.
Tennessee Williams’ excellent use of themes to portray characters in his world class, classic play “The Glass Menagerie” makes the play enthralling till the very end of it. Out of many themes like loneliness, illusions and distress; disintegration of the family seems to be a major plot of the play. Undoubtedly, all the themes displayed in “The Glass Menagerie” are as much important for the success of the play which keeps the audience indulged into it throughout. Nature and lifestyle of each character plays a vital role in creating events and setting the theme of the story. From an ambitious, energetic and hard-working young man, Tom to a physically challenged and unsociable girl, Laura; many qualities of a human being have been portrayed in
In the story Laura, the sister of Tom, has a special glass menagerie that she entertains herself with. A glass menagerie is a collection of small, glassed shaped animals, that are usually put on a shelf as decoration. From the title of Williams story, it shows what the one of most important symbol in the play is, Laura’s glass menagerie.