STONY BROOK, Long Island (PIX11) — He’s one of the greatest-selling recording artists of all time, whose music and lyrics are known worldwide, and now, Billy Joel is the subject of a major new experience in the place where his roots are — Long Island.
Specifically, he provided much of the material curated in the brand new exhibit, “Billy Joel — My Life,” at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, or LIMEHOF.
The exhibit opened to the general public on Friday, three days after The Piano Man himself toured it. It occupies most of the first floor of the two-story facility.
As evidenced by various visitors breaking out into song, “My Life” is not a typical exhibit.
“If it wasn’t for that experience and his music,” said Michael Rodgers, as he toured around the exhibit’s displays of Joel’s own memorabilia, “I wouldn’t do what I do now.”
Rodgers is the director of music and performing arts for the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District and an advisor to the Hall of Fame. He was also present at the exhibit and spontaneously broke into song.
He called it engrossing in many ways.
“As I walk through this exhibit, I’m being brought to tears,” Rodgers said, “because I see places where I grew up, I see concert posters of concerts I’ve been to.”
The exhibit is named after one of Billy Joel’s nearly three dozen hits, each of which has sold millions of copies worldwide. The global star played a humble but vital role in making the whole experience come to life, according to its curator, Kevin O’Callaghan, the chair of the 3-D design program at the School of Visual Arts.
“He said, ‘Whatever you need will be available to you,’” O’Callaghan said about the conversation that he and LIMEHOF leaders had with Joel near the beginning of the year.
Billy Joel gave full access to his vast storage facilities, which had never been curated before, O’Callaghan said.
Thanks to that access, the grand piano from Billy Joel’s concerts with Elton John, Joel’s personal lyrics book, and photos from his childhood are on display at the Hall of Fame.
One of those images shows Billy Joel in an elementary classroom. Joel, the curator, and Ernie Canadeo, the LIMEHOF chairman, had a private tour. O’Callaghan said Joel pointed to a photo of a girl in the classroom during the tour.
“He said,’ That’s Virginia,’” O’Callaghan explained, referencing the love interest Billy Joel refers to in his 1978 hit single “Only The Good Die Young.”
Among the hundreds of artifacts and other items on display is Joel’s MTV Video Music Award Moonman statuette. It was designed by the studio of which curator O’Callaghan was a senior member.
There are many items available about Joel’s influences, including Otis Redding, and Ray Charles.
“He was completely overwhelmed, blown away,” O’Callaghan said. “We’d been working for a year getting this stuff.”
On Friday, opening day, visitors, young and old, from near and far, were on hand. There were supporters of the local world-class legend, megafans, and everything in between.
Marni Thomas is unequivocally in the megafan category.
“I’m sure I’ve hit a hundred,” she said about the number of concerts she’s been to, with Joel headlining.
She attended opening day from her home in Wooster, Massachusetts, wearing her truck’s license plate, which reads “JOELFN, around her neck. ”
“I think Ricky Nelson said it best,” she said, referring to lyrics from another rock and roll legend in paying tribute to Joel. “I saw his face, I heard his voice, believe me, I just had no choice. Hello, Billy Joel, goodbye heart.”
Jenn and Joe Mammina lived nearby and were the first in line on the exhibit’s first day. However, they get the last word in this story.
They called Billy Joel a world-renowned superstar who stays rooted at all times.
“He’s a Long Island guy,” Jenn Mammina said. “He does things for Long Island, Long Islanders, on Long Island. He keeps it here.”
The exhibit runs through the summer of 2024, at least. The curator and chairman said Joel loaned the facility far more items than they can display at any given time, so they intend to rotate some of the memorabilia in and out of displays so exhibitgoers can have a varied experience each time they visit.
