For the longest time, Madison Square Garden has felt like home to one piano man.
But after his 150th show at the iconic New York City venue on Thursday night, Billy Joel concluded his residency nearly 50 years after his first show at the Garden and more than 10 years after it started, according to a statement by MSG. His first show there was on Dec. 14, 1978.
Joel, 75, kicked off his decade-long residency back in 2014, agreeing to play one show a month for “as long as the demand continues.”
“The demand never stopped,” Dennis Arfa, his agent, said in a phone interview.
So an end was selected: his 150th gig at the venue overall. In total, the run grossed more than $260 million with attendance nearing two million, according to Pollstar.
Congratulations @billyjoel on 150 lifetime shows at The Garden! ✨ pic.twitter.com/e2pIEjNcwi
— MSG (@TheGarden) July 26, 2024
Joel followed through with that promise and broke his own record of “most consecutive performances by any artist” with his 13th show at MSG, the venue said, in January 2015. The moment became cemented in Garden history with a banner in the venue’s rafters.
He broke another record — “most lifetime performances by any artist” — that July after his 65th lifetime performance, MSG said. Another banner was raised above MSG in his honor.
Last night Billy Joel had Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses as a surprise guest at his last show at Madison Square Garden.
They performed the legendary song “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. pic.twitter.com/Gd6cU2pdoj
— 🎸 Rock History 🎸 (@historyrock_) July 26, 2024
Over the course of his MSG tenure, he has been joined on stage by a multitude of surprise guests, including Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Olivia Rodrigo, Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Miley Cyrus, among others.
This show included an appearance by Jimmy Fallon, who honored the beaming singer as the banner marking the 150th concert was hoisted above the stage. (“You’ve given us all great memories of being here,” he said. “We’re actually getting to watch you live a memory.”)
A surprise performer, the Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, strutted in a black blazer twinkling with sequins while singing his band’s version of ‘Live and Let Die’ and a cover of AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’; he returned for the finale, joining Joel on ‘You May Be Right.’
During his “legendary run,” more than 1.9 million tickets have been sold to fans from all 50 U.S. states and more than 120 countries, MSG said.