'Piano Man' Hurt In Car Crash

Singer Billy Joel was released from a hospital Sunday morning, one day after his car swerved off a road and struck a tree on Long Island, police said.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on Joel's injuries.

The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Saturday in Sag Harbor, when Joel lost control of his Mercedes Benz, swerved off the road and struck a tree, said police Chief Thomas Fabiano.

Joel was taken by ambulance to East Hampton Airport and then airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.

It was not immediately clear whether alcohol was involved, police said. There were no passengers in the car, Fabiano said.

Witnesses said the crash tore off chunks of bark from the tree and left a trail of skid marks on the road where Joel had been driving.

Joel's award-winning career has spanned more than 30 years and includes more than two dozen Top Ten hits, including his signature 1974 song, "Piano Man." The New York-born songwriter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 1982, Joel also survived a motorcycle accident on Long Island. Last summer, he was released from a Connecticut substance and psychiatric hospital, which he entered voluntarily.

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