I can actually make an index of which names in Billy Joel songs were people's actual names and which ones just sang well.
Bill, John, Paul, Dave (Piano Man)
Billy (The Ballad of Billy the Kid, and it's not him, it's some bartender he knew, supposedly, also the actual Billy the Kid)
Captain Jack (Captain Jack, kinda doubt this was his legal name but he was known by it)
Virginia (Only the Good Die Young)
Rosalinda (Rosalinda's Eyes, his mother's name was Rosalind)
Christie Lee, Joe (Christie Lee, it's a fictional story loosely based on jokey versions of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, Joe was her nickname for him)
The Alexa (The Downeaster "Alexa," he actually did name his boat Alexa after his daughter, not sure if the real boat or the song came first)
Real people, fake names that just sing well:
James (James, a composite of several people)
Brenda, Eddie (Scenes from an Italian Restaurant)
Charlie, Baker (Goodnight Saigon, not fake names for specific people as far as I know, composites of soldiers)
Unknown/unconfirmed to me at this time:
Eliza (Turn Around, might be Elizabeth)
Roberta (Roberta, real person, not sure if it's her real name)
Bobby, Johnny (Say Goodbye to Hollywood, don't know if they're real)
Little Gio (Half a Mile Away, I think he's like Brenda and Eddie, just a composite of the people Billy Joel grew up with but I don't know)
Diane (Sleeping with the Television On, I'm pretty sure she's fictional)
Songs that mention famous people by name:
Streetlife Serenader (Eisenhower)
Zanzibar (Muhammed Ali, Pete Rose)
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me (Beau Brummel)
Close to the Borderline (45 calibre homicide aka Son of Sam)
We Didn't Start the Fire (I'm not doing this one)
prguitarman
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
yousharknotpass
