Celebrities: Jewish or Not?
Celebrities you might not have known are Jewish….or maybe you did…
Billy Joel – Jewish
William Martin Joel, known professionally as Billy Joel, is an American musician born May 9, 1949, in New York City to Ashkenazi Jewish parents. Joel is a six-time Grammy winner known for hits such as “Uptown Girl,” “Piano Man” and “Just the Way You Are.” His father was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution. As a child, Joel did not practice Judaism and was baptized at age 11. In the 2025 documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, Joel said, “No matter what, I will always be a Jew.”
