Billy Joel is coming again along with his first new tune in 17 years!
Although Joel, 74, plans to finish his long-running per month residency at New York Town’s Madison Sq. Lawn, the curtain isn’t decreasing on his profession simply but. On Monday, January 22, Joel introduced that he'll quickly finish his just about two-decade wreck from liberating new tune with “Turn The Lights Back On.” Due on February 1, the tune is a “classic Billy Joel-style tune, embodying the hallmarks of his signature sound and ushering in the next chapter of his story,” consistent with a press unlock.
The tune’s identify is a part of the lyrics, wherein Joel asks, “Did I wait too long…to turn the lights back on?”
Joel’s newest effort used to be produced by way of the Grammy-nominated songwriter and manufacturer Freddy Wexler, who’s written for Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber (“Stuck with U”), Selena Gomez (“Slow Down”), Red (“My Attic”), Demi Lovato (“Without The Love”) and extra. Wexler and Joel cowrote “Turn The Lights Back On” with Arthur Viscount St. Albans and Wayne Hector. The tune will arrive with a lyric video shared by way of Joel’s reliable YouTube channel, and a limited-edition 7” vinyl file of the observe could also be on the market.
Joel prior to now hinted that one thing new used to be on its means in December 2023, sharing a snippet by way of TikTok of level banter from one among his concert events. “I have good news and bad news,” he mentioned whilst seated on the piano. “I’ll give you the bad news first. We don’t have anything new to play for you. The good news is you don’t have to sit through something you have no idea what it is. Although, we got a little something we’re working on you might hear sometime.”
Although Joel has remained energetic at the level, he’s been a ghost within the recording studio. In 2001, he launched Fantasies & Delusions, which used to be reputedly his ultimate album. It used to be additionally his best LP to function classical compositions carried out by way of his good friend and fellow pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Earlier than that, Joel’s closing main album used to be 1993’s River of Goals.
In 2007, Joel launched “All My Life,” a standalone tune written for his then-wife, Katie Lee, as an anniversary present. That very same 12 months, Joel launched “Christmas in Fallujah,” a rock tune that includes Cass Dillion on vocals.
Joel instructed Rolling Stone in 2019 that he hadn’t stopped writing tune completely. “I just don’t record it,” he mentioned, “and [the music is] not in song form. It’s another kind of music altogether. It’s purely for my own edification. I don’t feel compelled to record it. I don’t feel compelled to make myself be relevant. Like I said, I lived the rock & roll life, and I’m not writing that anymore.”
In June 2023, Joel introduced that he would finish his habitual live performance collection at Madison Sq. Lawn, which started in January 2014. His long-running residency will formally conclude in July 2024 along with his a hundred and fiftieth lifetime efficiency on the venue. A consultant for Joel showed to The Mother or father on the time that regardless that the MSG residency used to be coming to an finish, the “Piano Man” used to be no longer retiring.