The Stranger is widely regarded as Billy Joel’s critical and commercial breakthrough, spending six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album achieved remarkable success with four singles reaching the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100: “Just the Way You Are” (No. 3), “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” “She’s Always a Woman” (both No. 17), and “Only the Good Die Young” (No. 24). Iconic tracks like “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Vienna” have become career staples and are regularly featured in his live performances. At the 1978 Grammy Awards, The Stranger won two awards—Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Just the Way You Are”—and it remains Joel’s best-selling non-compilation album. With over 10 million units sold worldwide, it surpassed Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water to become Columbia’s best-selling album release. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 70 on its 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” later revising it to number 169 in 2020. In 2008, The Stranger was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.