Billy Joel is voting for Hillary Clinton — but he’s not exactly asking his fans to join the chorus.
The Long Island “Piano Man” told the Daily News in an email he’s casting his ballot for the Democratic presidential candidate in this week’s election, though he made it clear he doesn’t want his political preferences to affect how his audience votes.
“I have no desire to influence anyone to think as I do,” Joel told the Daily News through his publicist. “My personal opinion shouldn’t matter to anyone with their own free will.”
Joel, 67, previously hadn’t made who he was voting for public, but he has often poked fun at Donald Trump by jokingly dedicating his hit “The Entertainer” — a song about the shallowness of show business — to the Republican candidate at his concerts.
Trump took the dedication at face value, thanking Joel for the shoutout after a show in May. Joel later addressed the matter without espousing his political stance.
“I’m in the entertainment business. Donald Trump’s campaign has been very entertaining,” Joel told Time magazine in May. “Aside from that, who cares about the political opinions of a piano player?”
When pressed about the election by the Daily News earlier this week, however, Joel said he was voting for Clinton.
Joel, who has long made an effort to stay quiet about politics, joins a lengthy list of celebrities supporting Clinton that includes Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake and Bruce Springsteen.
Read the article at the New York Daily News.