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The Library of Congress is set to honor Billy Joel with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
The “Piano Man” and “Uptown Girl” singer is due to receive the prestigious lifetime achievement award in Washington D.C. this November.
“Billy Joel is a storyteller of the highest order,” librarian James Billington shared in a statement, the LA Times reported. “There is an intimacy to his songwriting that bridges the gap between the listener and the worlds he shares through music. When you listen to a Billy Joel song, you know about the people and the place and what happened there. And while there may be pain, despair and loss, there is ultimately a resilience to it that makes you want to go to these places again and again.”
The award, named after the brothers and music pioneers George and Ira Gershwin, has only had six previous winners: Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.
“The great composer George Gershwin has been a personal inspiration to me throughout my career,” Joel said on his official website. “And the Library’s decision to include me among those songwriters who have been past recipients is a milestone for me.”
