Billy Joel isn’t ready to retire. What’s next after his Madison Square Garden residency?
After a record-breaking run, Billy Joel will be ending his Madison Square Garden residency on July 25 with his 150th show. But he’s 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 we’re going to be playing,” he said in a preview clip for the July 14 episode of “Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist,” adding that the “exclusivity aspect to the Madison Square Garden deal” kept him from playing at other New York City venues.
He’s 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 there’s plenty of that lined up," he said. "I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do."
In 2021, Joel told USA TODAY that Madison Square Garden “seemed like the biggest place (he) could ever imagine” when he first stepped foot in the iconic venue as a little kid.
"I never dreamed I’d have a residency at Madison Square Garden. We can’t believe people are still buying tickets to see us," Joel said at the time. "The Garden is our home. The crowd is always great; it’s New York. The acoustics are great. It’s just everything good about playing live.”
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But even with Madison Square Garden in the rearview, retirement is not on Joel’s horizon.
The "Piano Man" singer compared his career trajectory to other musical legends like Don Henley and Bruce Springsteen, sharing that “they all said the same thing” when he asked about their future steps –– that they were “going to keep performing.” 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 don’t want to do that," he joked.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Billy Joel has stadium shows planned in NYC following MSG residency
