Billy Joel releases the single "The Stranger" 1978

Billy Joel released the title track from his album The Stranger as a single May 21, 1978 in Japan.  It peaked at #2 on the Oricon chart, which is kind of a Japanese version of our Billboard charts.  It also made the top 10 in New Zealand.  It charted in Australia and France.

Billy Joel wins 2 Grammys for "Just The Way You Are" 1979

My man Billy Joel won two Grammy awards for Just the Way You Are, a track from his fifth studio album, The Stranger, at the awards show on February 15, 1979.  It was his first gold single in the U.S. and it topped Billboard's Easy Listening Chart for all of January 1978.

It won for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for 1979.

According to wikipedia, Billy didn't like the song even though he wrote it and didn't want to include it on the album, but Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow convinced him to include it.

We're all glad they did!

Billy Joel releases "The Stranger" 1977

My man Billy Joel released The Stranger September 29, 1977.  'nuff said!