Billy Joel's one-show-a-month residency at New York's Madison Square Garden came to a grand close last Thursday night, with Axl Rose joining The Piano Man on stage. The duo performed two iconic songs -- Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die," covered by Guns N' Roses in 1991, and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," a number they had previously performed together in 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The night was capped off with Axl returning to the stage for the final song, Billy's classic "You May Be Right."
This marked the end of Billy's residency, which began in January 2014. The final show was his 116th performance at the venue, bringing his total Garden performances to an impressive 150. Reflecting on the residency, Billy expressed his astonishment at its longevity, saying, "I’m kind of flabbergasted that it did last as long as it did. My team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but 10 years, 150 shows – alright already! Seems like a nice number."
Despite ending the residency, Billy has no plans to retire. In fact, he's looking forward to playing at other venues in and around New York City. “We can play stadiums. Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, Citi Field, where the Mets play, so there’s plenty of that lined up. I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do. We have a whole schedule laid out into 2025, where we’re going to be playing.”
Throughout his MSG run, Joel sold more than 1.6 million tickets and was joined by numerous special guests, including Steve Miller, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Johnson, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Billy Gibbons, Elvis Costello, and Foreigner's Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. Despite turning 75 in May, Billy remains committed to his craft, stating, “What else am I going to do? Stop doing shows and sit around, and watch TV, and turn into a vegetable? No. I don’t want to do that."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]