The singer-songwriter, one of New York’s most beloved musicians, will conclude his monthly gig at the Manhattan arena after his 150th career concert there.
In December 1978, Billy Joel headlined Madison Square Garden for the first time, playing three shows on the tour for his first No. 1 album, “52nd Street.” Dozens more performances followed there over the years, and in January 2014, Joel began a monthly residency as the Garden’s first “music franchise.”
Now the monthly gig is coming to an end. On Thursday, Joel and the Garden announced his final 10 shows in the series, saying the residency will conclude in July 2024 with his 104th show in the series, which will be his 150th lifetime performance at the Garden.
“I’m kind of flabbergasted that it lasted as long as it did,”
Joel said at a news conference at the Garden. “My team tells me that we
could continue to sell tickets, but 10 years, 150 shows — all right
already!”
James L. Dolan, the chief executive of MSG
Entertainment, which owns the Garden and other venues, added: “Billy Joel’s
franchise run has made history — not only for Madison Square Garden, but
also for the music industry overall.”
Joel’s run at MSG has been
a cultural phenomenon and a business unto itself. Every show has sold out,
and aside from a dozen or two standards — you are all but guaranteed to hear
“Piano Man,” “Allentown,” “New York State of Mind” and “It’s Still Rock and
Roll to Me” — the set list varies enough to keep fans coming back again and
again. The roster of special guests has included Bruce Springsteen, Tony
Bennett, Olivia Rodrigo and Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel.
The residency has continued on a roughly monthly schedule since
its inception, aside from an 18-month break during the Covid-19 pandemic,
returning in November 2021.
According to the trade publication
Pollstar, Joel’s residency has played to nearly 1.7 million people through
its 89th performance in April, and sold $207 million in tickets. By his
final show, the residency will have grossed over $250 million.
The
idea for the residency came about following Celine Dion’s two
record-breaking runs in Las Vegas, which started in 2003 and ultimately sold
about $660 million in tickets. But Joel balked at traveling there. “I knew I
didn’t want to be a resident in a place like Vegas,” he once said. “I don’t
even like Vegas.”
Joel’s performances at the Garden have become “the Super Bowl
of music events,” Dennis Arfa, his longtime booking agent, told The New York
Times last year. It has also inspired a new residency model that has lately
taken hold in the music business, with some superstar artists preferring
longer stays at a smaller number of venues, rather than crisscrossing the
map one gig at a time — a move that can reduce touring costs and provide a
bit of branding buzz. Last year, for example, Harry Styles played 15 dates
at the Garden and, in late 2022 and 2023, another 15 at the Kia Forum in
Inglewood, Calif.
Joel, 74, will begin his 10 countdown shows on
Oct. 20. A representative for the singer said that while he is ending this
run, Joel is not retiring.
“There’s only one thing that’s more
New York than Billy Joel,” Mayor Eric Adams of New York said in a statement,
“and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG.”
