The Library of Congress' 2014 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will be awarded to Billy Joel this coming November, according to Rolling Stone.
The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is an award honored by the U.S. Library of Congress to a living "artist whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding."
"The great composer, George Gershwin, has been a personal inspiration to me throughout my career. And the Library's decision to include me among those songwriters who have been past recipients is a milestone for me," Billy Joel said about receiving this year's accolade, according to Reuters.
The Librarian of Congress James Billington has announced that the 65-year old singer will receive this year's Gershwin prize in Washington.
"Billy Joel is a storyteller of the highest order. 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," Billington said as told by CBS News.
With the Gershwin Prize awarded to Billy Joel, who is most popularly known through his hits "Uptown Girl", "Piano Man" and "New York State of Mind," he became just the sixth recipient of distinction. Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, composers Burt Bacharach and the late Hal David were among the past recipients and the latest receiver was Carole King, the first female musician to be bestowed with such.
Meanwhile, there is no stopping the "Shades of Grey" singer, retirement is far from his thoughts as he has started a monthly residency in New York's Madison Square Garden on January.
"As long as there's a ticket demand and as long as I'm physically capable of doing it. I'm gonna be 65 years old. Most people retire at 65," he said. "I'm kind of un-retiring," Billy Joel told CBS News.
