The Billy Joel Tour That Hasn't Yet Ended

Eight years ago, Billy Joel launched a concert tour that hasn’t yet come to an end.  It was his first tour since he and Elton John wrapped up their Face to Face Tour in 2010.  And the new tour began when Billy played a few warm up shows at the end of 2013, then set out from Florida for a standard string of city to city dates in January of 2014.

That same January, Billy played Madison Square Garden with the intention of returning for an appearance every month as long as there was still demand.  And he’s still playing there every month to this day.

Among the notable highlights of Billy’s MSG residency:  he broke a record he had set in 2006 for the most sold out shows at the venue.

In July of 2015 he set the record for the most performances at Madison Square Garden by a single artist by edging past Elton John to claim 65 shows at the venue.

As with so many events, COVID threw a wrench into the works in March 2020 and brought Billy’s string of consecutive monthly performances at the Garden to an end.  That month would have marked his 74th concert (and his 120th Garden appearance of all time).  But the residencies eventually resumed, and at the time this was written in December 2022, Billy is slated to continue his monthly appearances at Madison Square Garden at least until August of next year.

Talk about living your dreams.  Billy has told the tale of seeing Gene Autry perform at Madison Square Garden when he was only 5.  But once he took that stage for himself to promote his latest album 52nd Street in 1978, he’s become a regular fixture.