Billy Joel Fans Outraged After Network Cuts Off Residency Special During 'Piano Man'

For over a decade now, Billy Joel has been playing shows at Madison Square Garden as part of a long-running residency at the massive New York City venue. On March 28, he played his 100th residency show at the Garden, and the performance was showcased in the CBS special Billy Joel: The 100^th – Live at Madison Square Garden that aired on April 14.

The two-hour special, however, wasn't without its hiccups. The broadcast start was delayed by 30 minutes due to the 2024 Masters Tournament. Worse still, the broadcast suddenly cut to local news programming during Joel's soaring performance of "Piano Man."

Fans online were furious about the chaotic telecast and the terribly timed cutoff. Barstool Sports shared a clip of the moment when "Piano Man" abruptly transitioned into local news and echoed what many were thinking, writing on X, "How do you cut a Billy Joel concert in the middle of 'Piano Man'?!"

Others were similarly up in arms. "CBS has been promoting the Billy Joel concert special every two minutes for weeks. So what better way to air it than to preempt it for a half hour and the cut him off mid-'Piano Man'? C'mon guys," one fan wrote on X.

"Just an absolute disaster by CBS tonight producing the Billy Joel concert. Ineptitude at its finest. Start it late and cut it off early. Just horrible," another said.

Even a local CBS News radio anchor in New York City, Steve Scott, wasn't pleased with the broadcasting decision. "CBS abruptly ended the Billy Joel concert mid-'Piano Man.' A terrible ending to a great show," he lamented.

The broadcast snafu wasn't the only issue fans found with the show. One viewer noted that the concert was truncated to fit into a two-hour timeframe, which included cutting out beloved songs like "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "Uptown Girl" as well as his duet with Sting "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."

"They also switched the order of the songs," he added. "Terrible."

Luckily, you can watch the special in full on Paramount+. Joel's MSG residency will come to an end on July 25. And after the incident, CBS issued a statement via Joel clarifying that it will broadcast the show in full later this week.

"A network programming timing error ended last night's Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones," the statement read. "We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song. Due to the overwhelming demand from his legion of fans, Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT."