Billy Joel has a lot in store for the future.
In a preview clip for a forthcoming episode of "Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist," Joel revealed his plans for after he ends his popular Madison Square Garden residency on July 25th.
"We’re going to continue to do shows," he said. "We have a whole schedule laid out into 2025, where we’re going to be playing."
Joel elaborated that since there was an "exclusivity aspect to the Madison Square Garden deal," which essentially prevented him from doing other shows in the area at different locations, he says he's now "going to be playing in New York again because we can do other venues."
"And now, we can play stadiums. Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, Citi Field, where the Mets play, so there’s plenty of that lined up," he continued. "I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do."
To help put his future in perspective, Joel said he asked other great musicians, such as Don Henley and Bruce Springsteen what they plan on doing in the years to come, and he said "they all said the same thing."
"I'm going to keep performing," he recalled them saying.
After asking them why, the Grammy winner said their answers were also the same.
“‘Cause that’s what I do,'" he recalled. "I said, 'Oh, right! OK, good idea.'"
While performing is on his radar, Joel said that there's one thing that's not: retirement.
"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," he said.
"Especially when you’re still filling up the places, right? I mean, the biggest venues you can fill, people are coming to see it," Geist added, and Joel agreed.
"Yeah, and we’re getting all different age demographics. I’m seeing a lot of younger people in our shows. It’s like they’re coming to see the antique," Joel said with a laugh. "That’s all that I can do. But, it helps having new audiences come in, all the time."
Ahead of his big finale, Joel also received support from another vet in the music business. On July 25, Celine Dion congratulated the singer for his major accomplishment.
"Congratulations to my long-time friend Billy Joel on closing out your historic 10-year residency today at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (a venue that is also near and dear to my heart.)," she wrote on Instagram, captioning a photo of her and Joel. "You have us in a “New York State of Mind.”
At a press conference in June, Joel announced he was going to end his record-breaking residency at Madison Square Garden. According to his official website, the "Uptown Girl" singer holds the record for having the “most consecutive performances by any artist” who has ever taken the stage at the Garden.
During the press conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams shared his thoughts about Joel's departure.
“There’s only one thing that’s more New York than Billy Joel — and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG,” Mayor Adams said. “For more than 50 years, Billy’s music has defined our city and brought us together. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, congratulations, Billy, on a historic run of sold-out shows at MSG, and thank you for a lifetime of bringing joy to us all.”
