On November 9, 1973, Columbia Records released Piano Man. The title track single debuted on the Hot 100 in February 1974, where it eventually rose to No. 25. It went on to sell more than 4-times RIAA platinum to date.

Rolling Stone ranked it on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time and the RIAA and the National Endowment For The Arts ( NEA ) included "Piano Man" in The Top 365 Songs of The 20th Century in 2001.