Monday, June 29, 2026

Exclusive: Guess Who Wrote the Miley Cyrus Hit “Flowers”? The Student Tapped by Billy Joel 10 Years Ago!

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Ten years ago, a kid named Michael Pollack was tapped by Billy Joel at a master class for students to play the piano. Pollack’s video recital went viral.

So guess who wrote Miley Cyrus’s monster hit, “Flowers,” number 1 on every chart? Michael Pollack and his writing partner Gregory Aldae Hein! Billy knew it a decade ago. He saw the talent.

So guess who sent Pollack a congratulatory email this week? Billy Joel himself. I saw the email. Billy’s thrilled that he spotted a number 1 writer and couldn’t be happier.

Pollack and Hein’s songs will be all over Miley’s album coming next month. My spy says it’s a killer. Miley’s back, there’s six degrees to Billy Joel. What could be better?

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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