Cyndi Lauper: The only artist Billy Joel has collaborated with
Most artists on Billy Joel‘s level have worked with a wide range of different musicians throughout their lengthy careers. However, while the offers have been there for him to collaborate with other superstars, Joel has preferred to take a lone-wolf approach. He has shied away from the art of collaboration at every given opportunity, apart from once.
Typically, most pop artists work with a team of co-writers who help them achieve their goals and unlock their creativity. Yet, even at the height of his fame, Joel always refused help despite the demands of his record label to keep churning out hit singles. Instead, he stayed with the only method he’s always known and remained loyal to his one-man band approach.
Due to his wild success, Joel could have worked with almost anyone in the world, but it just didn’t appeal. Although he has frequently toured with Elton John, including a nightly duet, and performed alongside artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Paul McCartney, Ray Charles and many more, that’s a different proposition from creating a new piece of music in a recording studio.
Speaking to Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio, Joel opened up to the legendary broadcaster about why he prefers to go it alone and revealed the names of two legendary artists who failed in their attempt at persuading him to collaborate.
He recalled: “John Oates asked me to collaborate with him, but I couldn’t figure out what to do. This was a long time ago, this is almost 30 years ago. Burt Bacharach wanted me to write a song with him, but he wanted me to write the words. Now, I’m the guy that writes the music first, I don’t write the lyrics off the cuff like Bernie Taupin does with Elton (John), and I couldn’t finish the project.”
However, only Cyndi Lauper has been fortunate enough to assist Joel in the music-making process. He explained: “The only person that I’ve really ever collaborated with was Cyndi Lauper. I was stuck on a song. The name of the song was ‘Code of Silence’, so it’s already difficult. How do you write about silence? Without it being ‘Sound of Silence’.”
He added: “So Cyndi says in the studio, ‘You’re really having a tough time with these words, aren’t you,’ and I said, ‘Yeah’. She says, ‘You play this song and just throw out some words when you’re playing, and I’ll make something out of it’.”
The New Jersey icon explained how he was initially reluctant to follow Lauper’s demands. However, she convinced him to roll with her plan for the spontaneous collaboration, which appeared on his 1986 album The Bridge.
Joel concluded: “So, we came up with these lyrics. I gave her credit, and I think she’s the only other co-writer I was ever able to work with because she did all the work. The only other writer I gave credit to on a collaboration was Ludwig van Beethoven because I stole a piece of his music. I didn’t pay him, but I gave him credit.”
Listen to the ‘Code of Silence’ below.
