"Baby Grand" is the fourth and final single released off Billy Joel's album The Bridge. A duet with Joel and Ray Charles, the song is a ballad dedicated to the baby grand piano, and the relationship it can share with its players. The two originally got together when Charles contacted Joel about the naming of his daughter, Alexa Ray, after Charles. Charles then suggested they create a song together.

Joel originally sang the song in his thick New York accent, but decided to do a Charles impression instead when he noticed Charles was trying to imitate his style. The song was positively received by critics. The single peaked at #75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at #3 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. The music video features Joel and Charles recording the vocal tracks together.

Production of the song began in early 1986. Joel considered Ray Charles one of his idols. "Ray Charles was my hero when I was growing up," Joel recalled. "As big of a pianist or as big of a star I could ever become, I could never be Ray Charles." According to Joel, when Charles heard that Joel named his daughter, Alexa Ray, after him, Charles contacted him saying that he'd love to do a song with Joel, as long as he had the "right song" in mind. When writing the song, Joel tried to compose it in the style of Charles' hit, "Georgia on My Mind", while also giving it a blues sound. Joel wrote the song over a single night. "It was one of those rare songs, like "New York State of Mind", that seem to come all at once - it seemed almost as though I had heard it before."

Originally Joel sang the song in his thick Hicksville accent, and Charles did the same. According to Joel, Charles was very easy to work with. "He was just waiting for a cue from me," Joel recalled. "He would have taken the thing anywhere I wanted to take it." Originally, Joel was nervous about recording with Charles, and was unsure how to record the song. Producer Phil Ramone told Joel to "challenge him," and to do it the way Joel wanted to. So, Joel did his best impression of Charles, and Charles understood, and they sang together in the same style.

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