On Tuesday (April 25), Billy Joel performed his 1974 track "Los Angelenos" live for the first time in over four decades.
While performing at his annual Madison Square Garden show in New York earlier this week, Joel brought the track out of its unofficial retirement – playing it live for the first time since 1981. “We never do this song, we haven’t done this since the ’80s, I think. Let’s give it a shot,” Joel said after speaking to the crowd about living in Los Angeles.
The old tune is essentially Joel's love letter to the city of Los Angeles. "Los Angelenos / All come from somewhere / To live in sunshine," he croons in the first verse. The song was included as the second track in his third album as a solo artist, Streetlife Serenade. The record was put out less than a year after Piano Man to capitalize on that album’s success. However, Streetlife Serenade proved a commercial disappointment, only hitting #35 on the Billboard album charts, with “The Entertainer” being the album’s most successful single at #34. Joel would remark, "“Overall […] I have a very low regard for that particular album. The rush to record it left me with less than my strongest material."
Billy Joel is set to play a string of shows across the United States from between May 2023 until March next year. Outside of North America, Joel was announced in September as a headliner of BST Hyde Park‘s 2023 program. He’ll perform for the series on Friday July 7, marking his only UK performance for the year.
In other Billy Joel news, it was announced last year a biopic based on the singer is in the works, though Joel will not be involved and hasn’t granted rights to his music, name/likeness or life story for the project. Michael Jai White’s Jaigantic Studios, which is heading the project, acquired the life rights to Billy Joel’s first manager Irwin Mazur, who managed the musician from 1965 to 1972.
Watch fan-shot footage of Billy Joel performing "Los Angelenos" live below.
Check out our selection of free stations streaming Billy Joel music at Live365.com.
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Article Image: Billy Joel smiles at an Anaheim, California crowd while sitting at his piano during a show. (wirestock_creators via DepositPhotos.)
