Billy Joel made sure his 150th and final show at New York City's Madison Square Garden was a special one on Thursday night (July 25). The pianist was joined by none other than Axl Rose to perform three songs during the historic concert.
The Guns N' Roses singer was introduced by Joel mid-show and received a standing ovation from the packed stadium. After the two rock legends embraced, Joel and his band launched into Wings' “Live and Let Die” (a song famously covered by GN'R), with Rose on lead vocals.
They then followed up with a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” another song Rose is very familiar with, having fronted AC/DC in 2016 when Brian Johnson had to step away from the band due to hearing issues.
The show resumed without Axl for the remainder of the main set, but the GN'R frontman returned to make an appearance during the final song of the encore, lending his vocals to “You May Be Right.”
After that, Joel pulled out his two young daughters as he took his final bows, ending his record-breaking residency at the “World's Most Famous Arena.”
Earlier in the set, Jimmy Fallon presented Joel with a banner that read, “Billy Joel 150: Most lifetime performances by any artist,” which will be hoisted into the rafters of the stadium.
Watch Axl Rose's performances with Billy Joel in the fan-filmed videos below, as well as Fallon's banner unveiling and the full 25-song tracklist.
Songs list:
Miami 2017 (We saw the lights go out on Broadway)
Pressure
The entertainer
Zanzibar
Vienna (Jimmy Fallon presents banner)
My life
An Innocent Man (Start Me Up Intro)
Downeaster's “Alexa”
Dont ask me why
New York State of Mind
Allentown
This is the time
Live and Let Die (Wings cover) (with Axl Rose)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC version) (with Axl Rose)
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Only the good die young
The river of dreams
Nessun slept (cover by Giacomo Puccini)
Scenes from an Italian restaurant
Pianist
Bis:
We didn't start the fire
Girl from the upper city
For me, it's still rock and roll
Big shot
You may be right (with Axl Rose)
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