There’s no doubt that Billy Joel is one of the greatest songwriters of our lifetimes. We literally call him the “Piano Man!”
Which is why it’s absolutely thrilling that Joel is releasing new music for the first time in 17 years. He announced that his new single, called “Turn The Lights Back On,” will come out on Feb. 1. You’ll be able to stream the songs, as well as buy it as a 7-inch vinyl.
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Fans of Joel are well aware that when you see him in concert, you know you’re not going to get anything new. And honestly, Joel is at the point in his career when it’s totally fine that he just plays all the hits. That’s why people come and see a living legend like him in concert.
But true fans are always clamoring for new music, so it will be a treat to those who remember the excitement of getting a new Billy Joel album or song back in the day.
In an interview with Howard Stern from 2021, Joel revealed that just because he hasn’t released new music in a long time, doesn’t mean he stopped writing songs. That is, songs without lyrics.
“You have to have the desire to write songs. I love music so I never stopped writing music. It’s instrumental music. But I stopped writing lyrics because I got tired of that particular format,” Joel told Stern. “To me, music is enough now, and I became more comfortable with abstract form.”
He’s apparently changed his tube about songwriting since his 2021 interview, which is a great thing for us. Can you imagine the number of unreleased songs he must have wrote over the last 17 years? He probably has enough to fill multiple albums at this point.
The even better news is that Joel will play “Turn The Lights Back On” for the first live at this year’s Grammy Awards in just a few weeks. Hopefully we’ll get to hear the song, plus some other classic songs by the “Piano Man.” The Grammy Awards are Sunday, Feb. 4.
Joel teased a clip of the new song on his social media earlier this week, and it obviously sounds piano heavy. It sounds a little slow and melancholy, but fingers crossed it picks up after a clam intro of the song. There is nothing better than a rocking Billy Joel song, right?
You can listen to the teaser clip of of Joel’s new song above.