Billy Joel Announces End of Madison Square Garden Residency After 10 Years: 'It's Hard to End'

Billy Joel will conclude his Madison Square Garden residency in 2024 after 150 lifetime shows at the venue

Billy Joel is movin' out of Madison Square Garden.

The piano man's historic MSG residency will come to an end next year after his 150th lifetime show at the storied New York City venue, he announced on Thursday.

"I'm kind of flabbergasted that it lasted as long as it did. My team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but 10 years, 150 shows – all right already!" Joel said in a statement.

The "Uptown Girl" singer, 74, will play the first of his final 10 shows on Oct. 20, 2023, and will play the last in July 2024.

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"I do remember the first time we played Madison Square Garden, it was the pinnacle of my career. 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," he said in a statement.

"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."

A relaxed Joel drew laughs at a press conference announcing the news, during which he accidentally began to read from remarks prepared by Mayor Eric Adams.

The six-time Grammy winner said he's selling his home on Long Island, but was not planning to leave New York, joking, "I'm just spending a little more time down in Florida like old Jewish guys do from New York City."

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"It's hard to believe that we've been able to do this for 10 years. I didn't know how long it was going to last," he said. "I never imagined anyone could have a residency here. It's just been one crazy exhilarating night after another… To me, my band, MSG is more than just our office. It's home. If you Google Billy Joel's house, they show Madison Square Garden, which is kind of cool."

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Joel first performed at MSG on Dec. 14, 1978, and later set the record for most consecutive performances by any artist (12) in 2006 (a record he's since broken). When he played his 65th lifetime show at the venue in 2015, he set another record, this time for "most lifetime performances by an artist" at MSG. Both feats earned him banners that still hang in the Garden's rafters, and are replaced each month with each performance.

Joel, a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has sold more than 1.6 million tickets since starting the residency in 2014.

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