As an overture to the 40th Anniversary Billy Joel catalog reissue project, Columbia/Legacy will release Billy Joel's The Hits -- a newly compiled collection of 19 essential tracks -- on Tuesday, November 16.

The first-ever career-spanning single disc distillation of Billy's Top 40 chartbusters & signature smashes, The Hits provides a critical index to some of the most beloved and abiding pop songs of our era.

Between the opening cut, "Everybody Loves You Now" (a deep track from 1971's Cold Spring Harbor) and "The River of Dreams," the Grammy-nominated classic that closes the collection, The Hits charts a course through 30+ years of American pop music and culture through the eyes and ears of an artist who defined the times.

Billy Joel - The Hits
Everybody Loves You Now (1971, Cold Spring Harbor)
Piano Man (1973, Piano Man, #25 Billboard Hot 100)
The Entertainer (1974, Streetlife Serenade, #34 Billboard Hot 100)
New York State Of Mind (1976, Turnstiles)
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (1977, The Stranger, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
Only The Good Die Young (1977, The Stranger, #24 Billboard Hot 100)
My Life (1978, 52nd Street, #3 Billboard Hot 100)
Big Shot (1978, 52nd Street, #14 Billboard Hot 100)
You May Be Right (1980, Glass Houses, #7 Billboard Hot 100)
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me (1980, Glass Houses, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live) (1980, Songs in the Attic, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
Allentown (1982, The Nylon Curtain, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
Pressure (1982, The Nylon Curtain, #20 Billboard Hot 100)
The Longest Time (1983, An Innocent Man, #14 Billboard Hot 100)
Tell Her About It (1983, An Innocent Man, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
A Matter Of Trust (1986, The Bridge, #10 Billboard Hot 100)
We Didn't Start The Fire (1989, Storm Front, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
I Go To Extremes (1989, Storm Front, #6 Billboard Hot 100)
The River Of Dreams (1993, River of Dreams, #3 Billboard Hot 100)

Among the upcoming releases in the Columbia/Legacy Billy Joel 40th anniversary commemoration will be Billy Joel - Live At Shea Stadium, a 2CD/DVD and stand-alone Blu-ray edition of Billy's historic 2008 Shea Stadium concerts, a Legacy Edition of the 1973 Piano Man album, a Complete Albums Collection featuring 14 of Billy's original albums with a bonus disc collecting 16 non-album tracks and more.