1980 Rock-Infused Album, Written to Prove a Point, Gave the Piano Man His First No. 1 Hit

By 1980, Billy Joel had officially made it. He'd put out six albums, including 1977's critically acclaimed The Stranger, and had several songs break into the Hot 100. Even so, he had yet to release a chart-topping single, with "Just the Way You Are" getting closest at No. 2. But that all changed with Glass Houses and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

The Critics' Target Strikes Back

Ironically, the very song that would catapult Joel to his first No. 1 hit was written as a scathing rebuke of the music critics who had tried to pigeonhole him.

"Robert Hilburn [music critic for the Los Angeles Times] does this all the time, saying, in so many words, that 'Billy Joel is not an artist but a pop star,'" Joel complained to Rolling Stone shortly after the album debuted. "The thing that got me about that was, people who are looking for art in rock & roll or pop are looking for something that either doesn't or shouldn't exist there."

Refusing to be boxed in by the music press, Joel leaned heavily into the exploding New Wave scene, but with a massive twist. He insisted this "new" sound wasn't actually new at all. Instead, it was a sleek, aggressive throwback to the glorious, pre-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era of raw jukebox rock.

"I grew up on jukebox music, and everybody in the band has played this music all their lives, and they range in age from twenty-eight to thirty-one," he argued.

"What I'm saying in 'It's Still Rock and Roll' is that I happen to like Donna Summer's hits," he added.

Two Weeks at the Top

The song spent two glorious weeks at No. 1, proving that whether he was channeling New Wave edge, classic jukebox grit, or straight-up pop perfection, Joel answered only to his audience. By refusing to let the critics dictate the rhythm of his career, Joel turned his first chart-topping triumph into the ultimate victory lap with the loud proclamation, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 5:04 AM.