Billy Joel isnât ready to retire. Whatâs next after his Madison Square Garden residency?
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After a record-breaking run, Billy Joel will be ending his Madison Square Garden residency on July 25 with his 150th show. But heâs not ready to put down the mic.
On Friday, Joel revealed that more live shows are to come.
"We have a whole schedule laid out into 2025, where weâre going to be playing,â he said in a preview clip for the July 14 episode of âSunday Sitdown with Willie Geist,â adding that the âexclusivity aspect to the Madison Square Garden dealâ kept him from playing at other New York City venues.
Heâs looking forward to expanding his live shows to stadiums across the city in the new year.
"Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, Citi Field, where the Mets play, so thereâs plenty of that lined up," he said. "Iâm not going to stop doing shows. Thatâs what I do."
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In 2021, Joel told USA TODAY that Madison Square Garden âseemed like the biggest place (he) could ever imagineâ when he first stepped foot in the iconic venue as a little kid.
"I never dreamed Iâd have a residency at Madison Square Garden. We canât believe people are still buying tickets to see us," Joel said at the time. "The Garden is our home. The crowd is always great; itâs New York. The acoustics are great. Itâs just everything good about playing live.â
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But even with Madison Square Garden in the rearview, retirement is not on Joelâs horizon.
The "Piano Man" singer compared his career trajectory to other musical legends like Don Henley and Bruce Springsteen, sharing that âthey all said the same thingâ when he asked about their future steps ââ that they were âgoing to keep performing.â Joel knew he wanted to follow suit.
"What else am I going to do? Stop doing shows and sit around, and watch TV, and turn into a vegetable? No. I donât want to do that," he joked.