Billy Joel celebrates his birthday on May 9! While his long-running residency at New York City’s Madison Square Garden has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s currently slated to pick back up in November 2021
Since his residency began in January 2014, Joel has always tried to keep fans guessing during his monthly MSG shows and has welcomed a variety of special guests. In honor of The Piano Man’s birthday, here are seven of our favorite residency cameos.
Christie Brinkley
Joel’s August 2014 residency show saw him dust off “Uptown Girl,” which, of course, is about his ex-wife Brinkley, but the audience blew up once they saw the supermodel on the jumbotron in attendance.
Jimmy Fallon
The Tonight Show host joined Joel at his 25 residency gig in January 2016, where he did his best Mick Jagger impersonation for a performance of “Start Me Up.” It’s equal parts ridiculous and fun.
Brian Johnson
Considering Johnson’s somewhat recent retirement from the stage, this performance of “You Shook Me All Night Long” from Joel’s December 2014 residency show is all the more poignant.
John Mellencamp
Indiana’s favorite son made his second guest appearance during Joel’s residency at the March 2017 show. This time around, Mellencamp and Joel dueted on “Authority Song” to a raucous crowd.
Foreigner’s Lou Gramm and Mick Jones
During Joel’s January 2018 MSG show, Gramm and Jones surprised the capacity crowd and performed two of their biggest hits, “Urgent” and “Cold As Ice.”
Bruce Springsteen
For Joel’s 100th show ever at MSG, The Boss joined The Piano Man on stage performed “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Born To Run”
John Fogerty
John Fogerty joined Joel for two songs during his March 2019 MSG gig: Creedence Clearwater Revival classics “Up Around The Bend” and “Fortunate Son.”
