"Big Shot" was the second hit single from Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

's 1978 album 52nd Street

52nd Street (album)

52nd Street is the sixth studio album by Billy Joel, released in 1978. It was also the first of many Joel albums to top the Billboard charts, along with his third and fourth Grammy win....

. The song was released in early-1979, just as his other hit single from that same album, "'My Life

My Life (Billy Joel song)

"My Life" is a song by Billy Joel that first appeared on his 1978 album 52nd Street. A single version was released in the fall of 1978 and reached #2 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart. Early the next year it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100....

", was peaking at #3. It would soon become his second top-twenty hit of 1979, peaking at #14.

The song is about the protagonist mocking a woman, probably a celebrity ("And the stories of your latest success / Kept 'em so entertained"), with a severe hangover

Hangover

A hangover describes the sum of unpleasant physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover include headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria, diarrhea and thirst, typically after the...

 about her intoxicated galavanting around town, making numerous social and verbal faux pas

Faux pas

A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...

 while high on alcohol and drugs ("But now you just can't remember / All the things you said / And you're not sure you want to know / I'll give you one hint, honey / You sure did put on a show!") The song makes late 1970s cultural references to such nouveaux riche fads such as Elaine's Restaurant and Halston

Halston

Roy Halston Frowick, also known as Halston was a clothing designer of the 1970s. His long dresses or copies of his style were popular fashion wear in mid-1970s discotheques.-Early life and career:...

. At one point, Joel said in an interview that the song was actually about himself (that he was the one who "had to be a big shot".)

A rumor that the song was based on a bad date with Bianca Jagger

Bianca Jagger

Bianca Jagger is a Nicaraguan-born social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model...

 is not true. In an interview in 2006, Billy Joel said, "I read that the song 'Big Shot' is said to be about a date I had with Bianca Jagger. I never had a date with Bianca Jagger."

In an interview with Howard Stern on 11/16/2010, Billy Joel admitted that this song was written after having dinner with Mick Jagger and his first wife, Bianca Jagger. Joel told Stern that while writing the lyrics to "Big Shot," he was thinking of Mick singing the song to Bianca.

Chart positions

Chart (1979)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	91
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	13
New Zealand Singles Chart	36
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	14