Since January 2014, Billy Joel and his band 20,000+ fans pack the Madison Square Garden to enjoy a rotating list of classic tunes from the native New Yorker’s (Hicksville, on Long Island) enormous catalogue of singles and LP cuts. Many fans have attended dozens of the concerts.
The Billy Joel MSG shows are often marked with surprise guests by fellow classic rock legends, who have joined the Piano Man for one or two songs. Sometimes, they join Billy on one of the tunes from his enormous catalogue; other times, he teams with them on one of their big hits. Either way, they’re a highlight of a concert filled with many such moments. Another piano legend, Chick Corea who was once part of Miles Davis’ band before establishing his own jazz fusion band, Return to Forever, joined Billy on his jazzy standard, “New York State of Mind.”
Of his home away from home, Joel has said, “Madison Square Garden is the centre of the universe as far as I’m concerned. It has the best acoustics, the best audiences, the best reputation, and the best history of great artists who have played there. It is the iconic, holy temple of rock and roll for most touring acts and, being a New Yorker, it holds a special significance to me.”
Joel has played one show per month at Madison Square Garden, an unprecedented run of sold-out shows. The July 18th, 2018 concert was his 100th all-time performance at the Garden, dating back to his first concert there in December 1978. (His monthly residency began January 27th, 2014, and concludes on July 25th, 2024.)
Billy Joel, who turned 75 on May 9th, has enjoyed a remarkable career that includes 13 Top 10 singles (and 23 that went Top 20). Superstars have joined Joel elsewhere and he, himself, has appeared at other stars’ shows.
Elvis Costello At first glance, the two may seem like a mismatched pair but both came to prominence in the ’70s and they were Columbia Records label mates for a decade. At Joel’s final show of 2023, he was joined by Costello to perform a favourite by each, “Pump It Up” and “Allentown.”
Thirteen songs into the Sunday night concert, Joel welcomed Billy F. Gibbons to the stage, and the ZZ Top legend didn’t disappoint the sold-out crowd, performing not one but two of the band’s favourites, “La Grange” and “Tush.” During the former, when Joel solo’d with a boogie-woogie piano, Gibbons, born offered the equivalent of a “we’re not worthy” salute.
A few months after founding members of Foreigner Mick Jones and Lou Gramm reunited onstage during the band’s 40th anniversary tour, the pair was this evening’s surprise guests, performing two of their massive hits, “Cold as Ice” and“Urgent.”
The “Gangster of Love” has appeared a couple of times during the Piano Man’s residency. At this holiday concert, Steve Miller offers the audience their choice of either “Living in the USA” or his 1973 #1 smash, “The Joker.”
The unlikely pairing of the legendary singer-songwriter and the then-24-year-old wowed the audience for a pair of hits. Joel’s “You May Be Right” was released a full 12 years before Myley Cyrus was born in 1992; the trio perform a lively version here. And there’s another surprise: Cyrus then belts out “Rock and Roll,” more than holding her own on the Led Zeppelin classic.
Did you know that Joel gave the induction speech for Mellencamp’s entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018? The pair has enjoyed a solid bromance over the years and on this night Mellencamp performed his 1984 hit “Authority Song” to a grateful crowd.
Billy dug deep into his vast catalogue to perform “Big Man on Mulberry Street” from his 1986 album, “The Bridge“. Sting’s singing style is perfect for the jazzy number as the pair trade lead vocal chores.
They may seem like strange bedfellows, but AC/DC’s repertoire has long been featured on Billy’s setlist. On this night, Johnson was still AC/DC’s lead singer and he offered up an unbelievable version of one of the band’s signature tunes. When introducing Johnson, Joel says, “A couple of years ago… I saw maybe the best band I ever saw in my life.”
The Fat Angel Sings 