After 104 monthly shows over 10 years — and 1.9 million tickets sold — Billy Joel finally brought his residency at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden to a close on July 25 … with help from special guests Jimmy Fallon and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose.
When Billy noted early in the evening that it was the final show of the residency, fans booed — and Billy responded, “We don’t want to leave either, but it’s time.” He called the 10-year residency “the most amazing gig that we’ve ever done, ever.”
He then proceeded to reel off a list of his impressive other gigs: The first rock act to play at Yankee Stadium, the final act to perform at Shea Stadium, playing in front of the Colosseum in Rome, playing in Berlin as the Wall came down, performing in Cuba and being one of the first Western rock acts to perform in the Soviet Union.
But, Billy said, “THIS is the best!” He then added, “We’ll come back.”
Billy’s pal Jimmy Fallon was on hand to announce that a banner was being raised to the rafters of the Garden commemorating the fact that overall, the Piano Man has played 150 concerts at the legendary venue — the most lifetime performances by any artist. “No one else has done this!” Jimmy yelled. “We are part of history!”
A bit later, Axl Rose joined Billy to perform Paul McCartney‘s James Bond theme “Live and Let Die,” which GN’R had covered on their 1991 album Use Your Illusion I. Rose also performed AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” which was fitting, considering that he filled in as AC/DC’s lead singer in 2016. Rose returned to join Billy and the band for the final number, “You May Be Right.”
Billy was also joined onstage by his two youngest daughters: Della, who’ll be 9 in August, and Remy, 6. While Remy sat on the piano and waved at the crowd, Della sang along with every word of her dad’s hit “My Life,” acting out the lyrics when appropriate. At the end, she commandeered the mic to yell, “Thank you, Madison Square Garden!”
After a visibly moved Billy regained his composure, he joked, “I guess it’s HER life now!”
As for the rest of the set list, Billy stuck to hits like “Only the Good Die Young,” “You May Be Right” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and fan favorites like “Vienna,” “Zanzibar” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” The only unexpected number was “This Is the Time,” a romantic ballad from his 1986 album The Bridge which he played by special request of his wife, Alexis.
“Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)”
“Pressure”
“The Entertainer”
“Zanzibar”
“Vienna”
“My Life”
“Start Me Up” (snippet)
“An Innocent Man”
“Downeaster ‘Alexa'”
“Don’t Ask Me Why”
“New York State of Mind”
“Allentown”
“This Is the Time”
“Live and Let Die” (With Axl Rose)
“Highway to Hell” (With Axl Rose)
“Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”
“Only the Good Die Young”
“The River of Dreams”–> Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” (vocals: Crystal Taliefero) –> “The River of Dreams”
“Nessun Dorma” (vocals: Mike Guidice)
“Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”
“Piano Man”
Encore:
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”
“Uptown Girl”
“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”
“Big Shot”
“You May Be Right” (With Axl Rose, snippet of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock & Roll”)
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