Billy Joel

Billy Joel didn't receive his high school diploma when he was supposed to. The night before a big exam, Joel was playing at a piano bar and overslept the next morning. Joel wasn't angry about not graduating high school and is even rumored to have said, "I'm not going to Columbia University, I'm going to Columbia Records and you don't need a high school diploma over there." Years later, Joel actually did sign with Columbia Records and became one of the best selling musicians ever. His signature style of semi-remorseful, piano bar rock ballads have landed Joel as one of the more important musicians of his generation.