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The Stranger, the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, was released on September 29, 1977, by Columbia Records. It marked the beginning of a collaboration between Joel and Phil Ramone, who would work together on five subsequent albums. This album propelled Billy from regional east coast stardom to global stardom.
Joel’s previous album, Turnstiles (1976), had sold modestly, peaking at only #122 on the US Billboard 200 charts. This prompted Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release failed to perform well. Joel wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of Turnstiles. The band consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist Richie Cannata, who played the saxophone and organ. Seeking a new producer, Joel initially approached veteran Beatles producer George Martin but eventually settled on Ramone, whom he had noticed on albums by other artists like Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks, with DeVitto, Stegmeyer, and Cannata performing on the album. Additional studio musicians filled in as guitarists on various songs.
The Stranger, released after a six-week stint at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, marked Joel’s critical and commercial breakthrough. Four singles were released in the US, all of which achieved Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Just the Way You Are” (No. 3), “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “She’s Always a Woman” (both No. 17), and “Only the Good Die Young” (No. 24). Other songs, such as “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Vienna”, have become integral to his career and are frequently performed in his live shows.
The album won two awards at the 21st Annual Grammy Awards in 1979: Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Just the Way You Are". It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date and surpassed Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water (1970) to become Columbia's best-selling album release, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 70 on its 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", repositioned to number 169 in a 2020 revision.[6][7] In 2008, The Stranger was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
