Billy Joel Wrapping Up His MSG Residency
• Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (MSG Entertainment) and Billy Joel announced that after ten extraordinary years, Joel’s historic franchise run at The Garden will conclude with his 150th lifetime show at the venue in July 2024. With this also comes the announcement that the first of the final ten shows in his record-breaking residency at The World’s Most Famous Arena will take place on October 20, 2023.
“I’m kind of flabbergasted that it lasted as long as it did,” Joel said. “My team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but ten years, 150 shows — all right already! I do remember the first time we played Madison Square Garden, it was the pinnacle of my career [December 14, 1978]. I thought, ‘My God, I’m headlining Madison Square Garden.’ Everybody in the world knows when you play The Garden, it’s not just New York. To our audience, I want to thank them for coming to our shows for this long. It’s hard to end, even at 150 lifetime shows. I just want to thank everyone for the wonderful thing that’s happened here.”
James L. Dolan, Executive Chairman & CEO, MSG Entertainment, noted, “Billy Joel’s franchise run has made history — not only for Madison Square Garden, but also for the music industry overall. One hundred fifty sold-out lifetime shows is a remarkable achievement, and speaks to Billy’s extraordinary talent, beloved catalog, and dedicated fanbase. Billy always has a home here at MSG even though the residency is coming to an end with his 150th lifetime performance.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “There’s only one thing that’s more New York than Billy Joel — and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG. For more than 50 years, Billy’s music has defined our city and brought us together. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, congratulations, Billy, on a historic run of sold-out shows at MSG, and thank you for a lifetime of bringing joy to us all.”
The first of the final ten shows in Joel’s MSG franchise run will take place on October 20, 2023. Citi cardmembers will have first access to presale tickets for the October 20 show from Monday, June 5 at 10am ET through Thursday, June 8 at 10pm ET via citientertainment.com. The general public gets its shot beginning at 10am ET on Friday, June 9 via Ticketmaster. Good luck with that.
Joining Billy for his big announcement yesterday, (above, l-r): Josephine Vaccarello, EVP, Live, MSG Entertainment; legendary former New York Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist; Billy Joel, James L. Dolan, Executive Chairman & CEO, MSG Entertainment; Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City; and Jim Kerr, morning host, WAXQ (Q104.3)/New York.
