Billy Joel’s first US Top 10, “Just the Way You Are” comes off his brilliant album The Stranger. It was internationally successful, reaching the top 20 in six countries including a #3 peak in the US.

With most singles of the time, its running time was cut down by a minute to fit for radio. It became a major hit even if the band and Billy Joel, himself, supposedly, were not fans of the song, and it took Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow to convince them to leave it on.

The song prominently features the washed tones of the Fender Rhodes keyboard, and overdubbed vocals inspired by 10cc’s 1975 song ‘’I’m Not in Love‘’. Producer Phil Ramone later revealed in an interview later that Joel and him were fans of the song and sought to create that sound and aura for this song.

Billy Joel originally wrote the song for his first wife (and also his business manager at the time) Elizabeth Weber. After they had divorced in 1982 the song would not appear again in concert until the early 2000s.

It’s also well known for its saxophone solo, played by Phil Woods who is a well-known jazz musician and Grammy award winner.