[Ksyrup]

Billy got screwed over by that whore. Plus, he got hosed by his accountant/manager and lost pretty much everything he made early in his career. That almost makes up for the fact that he stole River of Dreams. Almost.

My wife loves the guy. I like some of it, but I hate the "NY state of mind" type crap. I will never be in a NY state of mind, and the fact that he is/was, means that I can never fully appreciate him.

I have a hatred of pretty much all music not written by the band/artist performing it. I won't call it "irrational," because it's perfectly rational to me, but it doesn't matter who it is or what kind of music, I have a hard time letting go. Even a band that just covers someone else's song, I have rules for "acceptance" of the artist. If it's a one-off type thing, or on a tribute, or part of a covers album/theme, then I can be OK with it. If it's the first single for some band, forget about it. They could write Sgt. Pepper's Part II and I'd never give them the time of day. Examples off the top of my head: Orgy and Alien Ant Farm. I was very conflicted when Living Colour got back together, then recording and released Back In Black. had it not been for their stellar catalog, they'd have been out of my mind.

Anyway, to try to answer your question, in my case, I obviously attach significance to whether an artist can write music. And the fact that someone has to resort to performing another's song, tells me that that artist has very little to offer. So, perhaps you have a specific dislike/hatred that Billy Joel is attached to or personifies, and his music triggers that hatred and you transfer that hatred to him specifically.