Readers Slam 'New York Times' For Viral Billy Joel Criticisms: 'He's a Good Example of a Person Who Writes 1 or 1.5 Songs Really Well'

As expected with any list ranking the 30 greatest living American songwriters, The New York Times was always going to endure their fair share of criticism, most especially when it came to the influential songwriters they chose to leave off of the list for one reason or another.

Case in point with the exclusion of musical legend Billy Joel, who was notably absent from The NY Times' list, which included the likes of Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey and Carole King.

When it came time to explain Joel's lack of presence on their list, the newspaper only seemed to fan the flames a bit more than necessarily intended, further earning the ire of longtime fans of Joel's work.

As the outlet wrote in a recent story explaining their decision, "Billy Joel is a very good example of a person who writes one or 1.5 kinds of songs really well," citing the singer's non-diverse discography as the primary reason for his absence.

In response, dozens of readers openly criticized The New York Times, defending Joel and citing his versatile musical style on some of the artist's best known albums.

"Hmm. That's a weird observation given Joel's breadth of work," one user commented on Facebook. "Barbershop, doo wop, jazz, swing, rock, Broadway, folk and there's more. So what is 1.5?"

"He wrote three great songs in one with 'Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,'" another fan added. "The man is a songwriting genius and anyone who argues the other way is just wasting their breath - they're objectively wrong."

Similarly, many social media profiles on platforms like Reddit seemed shocked by Joel's omission, with numerous accounts also citing their surprise at not finding certain other artists featured on The New York Times' list.

"Adrianne Lenker is absolutely one of the best living American songwriters, should've been included," shared one account.

"Not gonna even bother reading this list now knowing that Sufjan Stevens isn't included," wrote another user.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 12:09 PM.