Billy Joel Reveals the Music Legend Who Urged Him to Release a Song That Made Paul McCartney Jealous

Billy Joel says he owes part of the success of one of his most famous songs to one of the ’70s queens of rock.

The “Piano Man” singer was already flush with success but still keen for more hits when he was in the studio in 1977 making the album The Stranger.

But one of his best known songs, “Just The Way You Are,” might have been left off the album if it wasn’t for Linda Ronstadt.

In a Youtube interview with Rick Beato on Friday, July 10, Joel, 77, explained, “It’s a nice soft ballad, love song. I didn’t even want to put it on the album because I thought it was too mushy.”

“And then we were in the studio, Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow were in the studio, and we played the song for them. I said, ‘I don’t like this song that much,’” he recalled.

“Linda Ronstadt goes, ‘Are you out of your mind? That’s a hit record. You got to put that on the album. That’s a great song,’” he continued. “She talked me into it. So I have to thank Linda Ronstadt for that song.”

Ronstadt, 80, clearly had an ear for hits — the tune went on to become Joel’s first Top 10 Billboard pop hit, reaching No. 3.

As per Entertainment Weekly’s report, the single was certified three times platinum after it sold over three million copies.

The song also has celebrity fans, with Beato recalling in the interview that Paul McCartney said in the 2025 documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, that “It’s one of the only songs that he wishes he wrote.”

In response, Joel replied: “That blew me away.”