Billy Joel pays his respects to Gordon Lightfoot at Madison Square Garden show

Billy Joel pays his respects to Gordon Lightfoot at Madison Square Garden show
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks

Billy Joel was back at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the 90th show of his residency, and took some time out of the concert to pay tribute to singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who passed away last week at the age of 84. 

Joel added a bit of Lightfoot’s 1974 classic “Sundown” to his set. “You might know him from the hit records he had,” Joel told the crowd, according to Rolling Stone, “I want to say ‘thank you,’ and rest in peace Gordon Lightfoot.” 

The rocker also performed his own Storm Front track “Downeaster Alexa” in honor of Lightfoot, noting “I was thinking of him singing this next song that I wrote.” 

Joel had already paid tribute to Lightfoot on social media, playing a bit of “If You Could Read My Mind,” and calling him “a lifelong musical hero of mine,” adding, “His songs were the heart of Canada. R.I.P.”

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