Everybody’s favorite “Piano Man” had us all reaching for tissues with his press conference announcement on Thursday. The beloved Billy Joel and Madison Square Garden Entertainment announced his upcoming retirement from his concert residency at Madison Square Garden, which would officially begin after performing a total of a whopping 150 shows. Keeping his residency precisely a decade old, Billy is all set to conclude his record-breaking residency in July 2024.
The press conference proved to be somewhat of a farewell ceremony for Billy as a few people besides himself spoke elaborately about his legendary performances at Madison Square Garden to date. Billy was even moved to tears by the way he was being celebrated and applauded by the guest speakers.
For those who are unaware of his legacy, most of whom I expect are members of the Gen-Z community, William Martin Joel, aka Billy Joel, is a renowned 6-time Grammy Award winner singer with popular music that is primarily categorized as rock and pop.
He was considered all the rage in the 70s, 80s, and 90s but continues to retain a large fanbase at the age of 74! Even though some may be ignorant of his existence, the melodies of “Uptown Girl”, “Piano Man”, and “We Didn’t Start The Fire” are sure to have made their way to most Western music listeners’ ears at some point.
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Billy Joel And The Madison Square Garden
Billy Joel and Madison Square Garden have shared a connection for over half a century, with him being declared its first-ever music franchise in 2013 and with his first performance there being on 14th December 1978, after his popularity skyrocketed with his fifth album, ‘The Stranger’. ‘The Stranger’ won two Grammy Awards and gave us the gifts that are “She’s Always A Woman” and “Vienna”. Joel even went as far as to call that performance the “pinnacle” of his career.
He broke the record for “Most Number Of Consecutive Performances By Any Artist” in 2006 and later broke this same record again in January 2015.
It was on 27th January 2014 that Joel began his iconic and one-of-a-kind concert residency with Madison Square Garden, making history almost immediately in 2015 by grabbing yet another record, but this time for “Most Lifetime Performances By An Artist” with his sixty-fifth-lifetime show.
The fact that these two records belong to him is constantly showcased by the MSG with two banners that are replaced each time he breaks his own record with a new monthly performance.
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18th July 2018 marked yet another milestone in Joel’s journey with MSG, where he played his 100th-lifetime show. The day was even declared to be “Billy Joel Day” by the then-governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo!
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Thursday was the day that Joel, New York Mayor Eric Adams, and Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan hosted a press conference to officially announce that Billy Joel would be concluding his MSG residency next year after his 150th show.
The conference’s main speakers were James, Eric, and Joel. The three reflected on the past decade and Joel’s impactful performances over the past years at MSG.
James pointed out how exceptional Joel’s accomplishment really is by reading out that over the decade, MSG had welcomed over “1.6 million fans from all 50 states and more than 120 countries to the Garden to watch Billy Joel and his amazing band perform”. He went on to tell the audience to think about how much Billy Joel has contributed not just to MSG but to New York City too. Without further formalities, James, with a heavy heart, announced that Billy is set to perform his final set of shows, concluding his residency in July 2024.
He also announced that the first of the final ten shows would take place on 20th October this year, with the last one slated for July next year. He concluded his heart-warming and gratitude-filled speech by praising Billy and thanking him for bringing “unforgettable experiences” to the fans that attended his concerts.
Mayor Eric Adams took the stage soon after James and threw praise after praise at Joel and said that he “was an ambassador of what’s great about New York”. He also expressed his pleasure to have been mayor during Billy’s reign over the Madison Square Garden stage and that he is looking forward to hearing more from Billy.
Finally, Billy took the stage, and hilarity ensued as he fumbled through the notes on the podium before him, unable to find his speech notes. Rather than waste time searching, Billy began his improvised speech by noting how “flabbergasted” he was to have been able to be doing these shows for ten years. He told the audience how his team insisted that he would be able to keep selling tickets but that he apparently thought it was more than enough shows for a lifetime. He said, “Ten years. Alright, already”, signaling that it was quite a huge amount of shows and that it was finally the right time to stop.
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He ensured the audience that it wasn’t huge news and that he was just ending his residency, not leaving New York for good. He continued on after having found his notes, looking back at when he first played at MSG and how he never even imagined one could have a residency there. He recalled that the last ten years were “a crazy, exhilarating night after another” and that MSG had come to be home for him and his band.
Joel wrapped up his speech beautifully by thanking everyone involved in his Madison Square Garden Journey and expressing his gratitude towards the audience responsible for the success of his shows.
Well, Billy Joel delivered quite a disheartening piece of news, but it gives the audience all the more exciting to look forward to his final ten shows. Look out for tickets for what seems to be, unfortunately, the end of Billy’s legacy at Madison Square Garden.
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