The Billy Joel single from 52nd Street that peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 was “My Life.”
“My Life” was released as a single in late 1978 from Joel’s sixth studio album, 52nd Street. It reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in early 1979, making it one of the album’s three major American Top 40 hits. The song also reached No. 2 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.
The recording is an energetic pop-rock track built around drums, bass, piano, keyboards, and guitar. Its assertive lyric about personal independence helped make it especially recognizable, while the compact single edit was shorter than the album version. Chicago musicians Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus contributed backing vocals.
The other prominent 52nd Street singles had different peaks: “Big Shot” reached No. 14, while “Honesty” reached No. 24 on the U.S. chart. A useful distinction is that “My Life” was a No. 3 Billboard Hot 100 hit, not a No. 1 single; the album itself did reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.