Billy Joel coming to Rock Band 3 out of spite

There are plenty of reasons artists license their music for a rhythm game. There's money, certainly, and notoriety. But what about scorn? For Billy Joel, it was more than enough reason to license a dozen or so of his songs to Rock Band 3. Here's his account from USA Today:

"I've never allowed my music to be used in a game before," but an Entertainment Weekly review of NBC's The Office changed his mind. Alluding to an episode in which characters mention a Rock Band featuring Billy Joel, "the critic wrote something like, 'God forbid that ever should happen.' So I called my people and said, 'Get me (on) that Rock Band game.' Then I wrote the critic, saying that every time I get a check, I'll give him a little nod."

We're assuming the songs will cost money, but we'd submit that reading the above story and knowing we'll never do anything remotely that cool is a dear enough price to pay.

Update: According to a release we just received from Harmonix, Joel's songs will start arriving on Dec. 14, including "Big Shot," "Captain Jack," "It's Still Rock N Roll to Me," "Movin' Out," "Only The Good Die Young," "Piano Man," "Pressure," "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," "The Entertainer," and "The Stranger"