# In 1962, Billy Joel heard the best band before The Beatles. Now, his tribute to them is bigger than all of their songs

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1962-billy-joel-heard-the-best-band-before-the-beatles-now-his-tribute-to-them-is-bigger-than-all-of-their-songs/
- Published: 2026-11-15T20:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T20:21:52+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1962-billy-joel-heard-the-best-band-before-the-beatles/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- “Uptown Girl” is Billy Joel’s most-streamed song.
- Joel saw the Four Seasons as his early musical heroes.
- The song revisited the group’s sound on *An Innocent Man*.

## Summary

Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl”, a tribute to the Four Seasons, has become the most-streamed song of his career, surpassing the band’s best-known songs in modern streaming comparisons. The story presents this as a striking afterlife for a track inspired by the group Joel admired before the Beatles, and highlights how his musical influences shaped his work.

Joel said the Four Seasons were “The Beatles before there was a Beatles”, praising their songwriting and performances. His 1983 album *An Innocent Man* drew on the music of his heroes and included “Uptown Girl” and the doo-wop song “The Longest Time”; the article contrasts its success with the more experimental *The Nylon Curtain* and its hit “Allentown”.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.