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After 10 years, Billy Joel is finally ready to wrap his Madison Square Garden residency Thursday, with what will be the 150th show of his career at the iconic New York venue.
“It is an honor to be here. I'm kinda flabbergasted that it did last as long as it did,” he told reporters during a June 2023 press conference announcing plans for the residency’s end. He joked that his team told him he could keep on going if he wanted, but said with 150 shows, "It's 'Alright, already!'"
Joel launched the residency on Jan. 27, 2014, and ever since he's been packing the house for one show a month, with only some random illnesses and the COVID-19 pandemic keeping him from his scheduled appointment with the Big Apple crowd.
Joel took the monthly gigs as a chance to have some fun onstage, mixing his set with classics like “Piano Man,” “Only The Good Die Young,” “You May Be Right” and “Big Shot" with deeper cuts like “Los Angelinos,” “Zanzibar,” “Summer of Highland Falls” and “Everybody Loves You Now.”
He also surprised fans with plenty of musical guests, including Tony Bennett, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and John Fogerty.
Other guests included his daughters Alexa, Della and Remy, and even comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who in March helped raise a banner marking Billy’s 100th consecutive sell-out residency show. A taped special of that performance aired on CBS and was recently nominated for an Emmy award.
"I'm going to miss doing it a lot," he told USA Today about the residency. "I love it. The band loves it. The crowd is a New York-crazy crowd. The minute you walk onstage you're aware they're rooting for you."
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