Fled Nazi Germany

There are good songwriters — and then there are those rare talents who can craft songs that capture the soundtrack of people’s lives, resonating across generations. The artist we’re focusing on today definitely belongs in that second category.

Beyond writing unforgettable hits, he’s enjoyed a successful solo career since the 1970s. Today, he stands as one of the world’s best-selling music artists and ranks as the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, no small feat for someone who grew up with very modest means.

Born in the Bronx, New York City, he was raised on Long Island alongside his cousin Judy, whom his parents adopted.

His family history was far from ordinary. His father, a successful businessman, had been forced to flee Nazi Germany, losing everything in the process. Though he eventually made his way to New York, he rarely spoke about the horrors of the war.

In many ways, our artist grew up in a typical working-class household. His father later became an engineer, and the community around him in Oyster Bay was filled with families like theirs, people who had survived the Second World War, left behind difficult lives in cities, and sought to build something new and better.

A year ago, the global superstar opened up about his childhood, revealing details that few had known until now. Among other things, he shared that his father, Howard, was a “wonderful pianist.”

”He knocked me out”

The artist himself began studying piano at just four years old, but according to a 2025 documentary about his life, Howard “never really showed kindness, compassion, or understanding toward his talent” as he was growing up.

It wasn’t just that his father ignored the young, talented boy — he could also be violent at times. The artist recalled a memory from when he was eight years old. He was supposed to be playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 as written, but instead performed a rock-and-roll version of the piece.

At one point, his father “came down the stairs, bang, I got whacked,” the Grammy winner said.

“I got whacked so hard he knocked me out, I was unconscious for like a minute. And I remember waking up going, ‘Well, that got his attention,’ and that was my memory of his piano lessons,” he added with a laugh.

“So, he didn’t teach me much.”