Billy Joel discovered a brand new “Uptown Girl” — one who was born lengthy after that traditional 1983 single turned one in every of his greatest hits — at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening.
That can be Olivia Rodrigo — the 19-year-old pop sensation — who famously name-checked the Piano Man in her 2021 hit “Deja Vu”: “And I bet that she knows Billy Joel/‘’Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl’/You’re singing it together.”
And, fittingly, Rodrigo joined Joel to sing each “Deja Vu” and “Uptown Girl” for some in the viewers who had been sufficiently old to be her grandparents. But there have been surprisingly extra individuals in the group who knew the phrases to sing alongside to “Deja Vu” than you may need anticipated. Meanwhile, Joel smiled and nodded approvingly from his piano bench.
As bittersweet of a breakup music as “Deja Vu” could also be, it was all love between Rodrigo and Joel, because the giddy younger star made a shock look throughout the latest of the New York legend’s concert events in his month-to-month residency at MSG.
“I love her music — and so do my kids,” mentioned Joel from his revolving piano as he launched the three-time Grammy winner. And after letting Rodrigo have all the highlight on “Deja Vu,” Joel obtained up from his piano and joined her for an “Uptown Girl” duet that was fizzy enjoyable. It proved simply how a lot the 73-year-old’s music transcends generations.
It was the latest in a string of shock friends — from Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi to Tony Bennett and Miley Cyrus — who Joel has welcomed since beginning his Garden residency in January 2014. And definitely this one ranks among the many most stunning of all of them.
But it was additionally fairly ironic that Joel was embracing — and being embraced — by one of many hottest younger artists in the center of Harry Styles’ 15-show run at the Garden, which kicked off final Saturday. It was nearly as if he was letting New York know that he wasn’t about to be the irrelevant outdated man in his personal home.
“I’d like to thank Harry Styles for taking the night off, so we can kind of squeeze in here,” he mentioned cheekily.
Joel then went on to thank the group for ready two years for this COVID make-up present that was postponed from 2020.
“I don’t know if I would do that for me,” he mentioned. “Anyway, it’s good to be back at the Garden. We’re the house band now.”