Billy Joel — singer with roots in the Russian Empire
Billy Joel, born in 1949 in the Bronx, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He has had thirty-three Top 40 hits in the US and has sold over 160 million records worldwide.
"Paternal grandfather Karl Amson Joel, born in Colmberg, Bavaria, left Nazi Germany with his family; they went to Cuba and then to the United States."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Colmberg, Bavaria (Germany)
His paternal grandfather, Karl Amson Joel, was born in 1889 in Colmberg, Bavaria (German Empire); the family, including his father Howard (born Helmut), left Nazi Germany and reached the United States via Cuba. His mother, Rosalind, was born in Brooklyn to English Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca.
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Colmberg, Bavaria (Germany). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.