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Liberty DeVitto (born August 8, 1950 in New York City, New York) is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for Billy Joel. He has also played with the Hit Squad and he has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists.

Career

DeVitto was born in New York City of Italian ancestry where his father was a police officer at the New York Police Department. He taught himself to play the drums after seeing The Beatles on their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.

After working with Billy Joel for 30 years, Devitto was discharged from drumming duties for the 2006 Billy Joel tour. Up to that point, he had the longest running tenure in Joel's band, starting with the recording of 1976's Turnstiles.

On May 19, 2009, DeVitto filed a lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court claiming Joel and Sony Music owed DeVitto over 10 years worth of royalty payments. DeVitto has never been given songwriting credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claims that he helped write some of them. DeVitto's lawyer added that he is does not know exactly how DeVitto is owed, and that Joel's record sales are subject to an audit.^[3]

Philanthropy

In 2003, Liberty DeVitto signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Liberty has personally delivered instruments to children in the program, performed at benefit events for the cause and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.

Personal

DeVitto is the father of actress Torrey DeVitto. He currently endorses Mapex drums, Sabian cymbals and Pro-Mark drumsticks. He has endorsed Tama drums and Zildjian cymbals in the past.

Credits

All albums listed are Billy Joel releases unless otherwise noted.

1976 Turnstiles
1977 The Stranger
1978 52nd Street
1980 Glass Houses
1981 Dead Ringer Meat Loaf
1981 The Burning Rick Wakeman
1981 Songs in the Attic
1982 The Nylon Curtain
1983 An Innocent Man
1985 Greatest Hits Volume I & II
1985 Spoiled Girl Carly Simon
1986 The Bridge
1987 КОНЦЕРТ
1989 Storm Front
1989 Mick Jones Mick Jones
1993 River of Dreams
2001 Chiller Theatre John Babcock
2007 Queen Anne's Revenge Sean J. Kennedy

External links

Drummerworld Entry

This article on a United States drummer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

^ ^a ^b Billy Joel Biography. billyjoel.com. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). "Billy Joel Biography. Allmusic. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.
^ Westerly, Mal (2009-05-24). "BILLY JOEL's Former Drummer Files Lawsuit, Liberty DeVitto Says He's Owed $$$". MusicNewsNet.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[bio-1] Billy Joel Biography. billyjoel.com. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.

[2] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). "Billy Joel Biography. Allmusic. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.

[Joel's_Former_Drummer_Sues_for_Payments-3] Westerly, Mal (2009-05-24). "BILLY JOEL's Former Drummer Files Lawsuit, Liberty DeVitto Says He's Owed $$$". MusicNewsNet.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[3]

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+{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
-'''Liberty DeVitto''' (born [[August 8]], [[1950]] in [[New York City]], [[New York]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[rock music|rock]] [[drummer]].
+| Name = Liberty DeVitto
+| Img =
+| Img_capt =
+| Img_size =
+| Landscape =
+| Background = drummer
+| Birth_name = William Martin Joel<ref name=bio>[http://www.billyjoel.com/biography Billy Joel Biography]. billyjoel.com. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.</ref>
+| Alias = Bill Martin<ref>Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). "[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifqxqe5ldse~T1 Billy Joel Biography]. [[Allmusic]]. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.</ref>
+| Born = {{birth date and age|1949|5|9}}
+| Origin = [[Bronx, New York]], [[United States|U.S.]]<ref name=bio />
+| Instrument = [[singing|Vocals]]<br />[[Piano]]<br />[[Electronic keyboard|Keyboards]]<br />[[Guitar]]<br />[[Harmonica]]<br />[[Accordion]]<br />[[Clarinet]]<br />[[Organ (instrument)|Organ]]
+| Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[pop rock]], [[Rock music|rock]]
+| Occupation = [[Singer-songwriter]], [[musician]]
+| Years_active = 1964–present
+| Label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]<br>[[Family Productions]]<br>[[Famous Music]]<br>[[Sony Classical]]
+| Associated_acts = [[Echoes (band)|Echoes]], [[The Hassles]], [[Attila (band)|Attila]], [[Elton John]]
+| URL = [http://www.billyjoel.com/ BillyJoel.com]
+| Notable_instruments =
+}}
+'''Liberty DeVitto''' (born [[August 8]], [[1950]] in [[New York City]], [[New York]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[rock music|rock]] [[drummer]].
-DeVitto has been the drummer for [[Billy Joel]] and the Hit Squad and he has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists. DeVitto was born in New York City of Italian ancestry where his father was a [[police officer]] at the [[New York Police Department]].
+==Career==
 DeVitto taught himself to play the drums after seeing [[The Beatles]] on their appearance on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]] in 1964.
-The 2006 Billy Joel tour is the first known tour to not include DeVitto on drums since his inclusion in Billy Joel's band in the 1970s. Up to that point, he had the longest running tenure in Joel's band.
+  Billy Joel             Billy Joel . Up to that point, he had the longest running tenure in Joel's band.
-Liberty is the father of [[actress]] [[Torrey DeVitto]]. He currently endorses [[Mapex]] drums, [[Sabian (company)|Sabian]] cymbals and [[Pro-Mark]] drumsticks. He has endorsed [[Tama]] drums and [[Avedis Zildjian Company|Zildjian]] cymbals in the past.
-Liberty DeVitto has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court demanding Joel pay him overdue royalties.
-He was Joel's drummer from 1975 to 2005 and had helped Joel create some of his biggest albums released.
-DeVitto's lawyer says he doesn't know how much his client is owed. He says Joel's sales are subject to an audit.
+On May 19, 2009, DeVitto filed a lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court claiming Joel and Sony Music owed DeVitto over 10 years worth of royalty payments. DeVitto has never been given songwriting credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claims that he helped write some of them. DeVitto's lawyer added that he is does not know exactly how DeVitto is owed, and that Joel's record sales are subject to an audit.<ref name="Joel's Former Drummer Sues for Payments">{{cite web
+ | url = http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2009/05/billy-joels-former-drummer-to-file-lawsuit.html
+ | title = BILLY JOEL's Former Drummer Files Lawsuit, Liberty DeVitto Says He's Owed $$$
+ | first = Mal
+ | last = Westerly
+ | publisher = MusicNewsNet.com
+ | date = [[2009-05-24]]
+ | accessdate = 2009-05-24}}</ref>
+== Philanthropy ==
+In 2003, Liberty DeVitto signed on as an official supporter of [[Little Kids Rock]], a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Liberty has personally delivered instruments to children in the program, performed at benefit events for the cause and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
+==Personal==
+ is the father of [[actress]] [[Torrey DeVitto]]. He currently endorses [[Mapex]] drums, [[Sabian (company)|Sabian]] cymbals and [[Pro-Mark]] drumsticks. He has endorsed [[Tama]] drums and [[Avedis Zildjian Company|Zildjian]] cymbals in the past.
 ==Credits==
+''All albums listed are Billy Joel releases unless otherwise noted.''
-*1976 ''[[Turnstiles]]'' [[Billy Joel]]
-*1977 ''[[The Stranger (album)|The Stranger]]'' [[Billy Joel]]
-*1978 ''[[52nd Street (album)|52nd Street]]'' [[Billy Joel]]
-*1980 ''[[Glass Houses]]'' Billy Joel
-*1981 ''[[Dead Ringer (album)|Dead Ringer]]'' [[Meat Loaf]]
-*1981 ''[[The Burning (soundtrack)|The Burning]]'' [[Rick Wakeman]]
-*1981 ''[[Songs in the Attic]]'' Billy Joel
-*1982 ''[[Nylon Curtain]]'' Billy Joel
-*1983 ''[[An Innocent Man]]'' Billy Joel
-*1985 ''[[Greatest Hits Volume I & II]]'' Billy Joel
-*1985 ''[[Spoiled Girl]]'' [[Carly Simon]]
-*1986 ''[[The Bridge (Billy Joel album)|The Bridge]]'' Billy Joel
-*1987 ''[[Kohuept|КОНЦЕРТ]] Billy Joel
-*1989 ''[[Storm Front (album)|Storm Front]]'' Billy Joel
-*1989 Mick Jones' solo debut ''[[Mick Jones (album)|Mick Jones]]''
-*1993 ''[[River of Dreams]]'' Billy Joel
-*2001 ''Chiller Theatre'' [[John Babcock (musician)|John Babcock]]
-*2007 ''[[Queen Anne's Revenge]]'' Sean J. Kennedy
+*1976 ''[[Turnstiles]]''
-== Philanthropy ==
+*1977 ''[[The Stranger (album)|The Stranger]]''
+*1978 ''[[52nd Street (album)|52nd Street]]''
-In 2003, Liberty DeVitto signed on as an official supporter of [[Little Kids Rock]], a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Liberty has personally delivered instruments to children in the program, performed at benefit events for the cause and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
+*1980 ''[[Glass Houses]]''
+*1981 ''[[Dead Ringer (album)|Dead Ringer]]'' [[Meat Loaf]]
+*1981 ''[[The Burning (soundtrack)|The Burning]]'' [[Rick Wakeman]]
+*1981 ''[[Songs in the Attic]]''
+*1982 ''[[Nylon Curtain]]''
+*1983 ''[[An Innocent Man]]''
+*1985 ''[[Greatest Hits Volume I & II]]''
+*1985 ''[[Spoiled Girl]]'' [[Carly Simon]]
+*1986 ''[[The Bridge (Billy Joel album)|The Bridge]]''
+*1987 ''[[Kohuept|КОНЦЕРТ]]
+*1989 ''[[Storm Front (album)|Storm Front]]''
+*1989  ''[[Mick Jones (album)|Mick Jones]]''
+*1993 ''[[River of Dreams]]''
+*2001 ''Chiller Theatre'' [[John Babcock (musician)|John Babcock]]
+*2007 ''[[Queen Anne's Revenge]]'' Sean J. Kennedy
 == External links ==