billy joel tour in russia

• Prince Collaborator Dies
• Gilmour Plays Pink Floyd Rarities
• The 40 Best Breakup Songs
• Anger Over Aerosmith Song
• Top 10 Traffic Songs
• Win Up to $30,000

35 Years Ago: Billy Joel Makes History With Soviet Union Shows

When Billy Joel  visited the Soviet Union for a series of historic concerts in 1987, he learned it was still rock 'n' roll to them — albeit slightly different.

On July 26, 1987, Joel and his band played at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow to kick off a six-show "tour," making him the first Western artist to take a full-blown stage production behind the then-wilting Iron Curtain. With three concerts each in Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), it was a triumphant and only occasionally troubled bit of international diplomacy, ultimately leaving Soviet fans dancing, twisting and shouting in the aisles in a manner not that all that different from what happened at Joel shows elsewhere.

"I'm glad we did that trip," Joel tells UCR now. "I was very proud of that trip, and I think we helped kick the door in a little bit to open it up to Democratic stuff." But he acknowledges that Russia now, at least at the political level, is not the same nation of Mikhail Gorbachev-led Glasnost that he played back then.

"I'm very disappointed," Joel says. "I'm hoping the Russian people really get to know what's actually happening, but I don't know how much real information they get because they're kind of in a closed media society. It's a crazy world. It's a different world now, between Trump and what's going on with Russia and  COVID and what's going on with the economy. This is a hard time now."

Joel first had the idea of going to the Soviet Union in 1979, after playing a successful concert in Havana, Cuba. "I thought, 'If I can do that in Havana, why can't I do it in Moscow?'" he explained to reporters during one of several press conferences he conducted in Moscow. But he felt a particular push to make the trek after his first daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, was born six years later.

"I thought, 'What kind of world do I want her to grow up in?'" Joel explained. "I wanted it to be better. ... It was kind of like, 'What did you do in the Cold War, daddy?' So my management said, 'If you want to do it, we'll do it,' and they did."

Watch Billy Joel Perform 'It's Still Rock and Roll to Me' in the Soviet Union

Joel insisted that politics was not the focus of his visit. "I'm here as a cultural exchange," he noted. "This isn't some big peace mission. I want to get the music across. I'm just putting on a concert, playing music for these people. If anything happens after that, it'll be great."

The Soviet idea became a reality during the fall of 1986, while Joel was rehearsing to tour in support of his then-new album The Bridge . "When we started [the tour] he said, 'Let's do something we've never done before,'" production coordinator Steve Cohen told this writer at the time. "I didn't know at the time he considered Russia."

Russia was not devoid of Western pop music, of course. Elton John toured there in a duo with percussionist Ray Cooper in 1979, while John Denver and Roy Clark had also visited. Pat Metheny was there in 1987 before Joel hit the country, and the Doobie Brothers , Carlos Santana , James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt had performed at a July 4 festival in Moscow that was co-produced by Bill Graham .

Joel's visit was made possible by the Agreement on Contacts and Exchanges in Scientific, Educational and Cultural Fields, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev at their 1985 Geneva Summit. The New York-based Citizens Exchange Council (CEC), a non-profit group that sent regular excursions to the Soviet Union, helped coordinate the tour. Cohen made his first visit in January 1987 and returned in May, coordinating details with the Soviet arts agency Gosconcert.

The Joel entourage would number more than 160 and cost about $2 million — guaranteed to lose money, although a documentary, a live album (1987's Kontsert ) and an HBO broadcast of the final Leningrad show would make up the difference. The massive endeavor marked the first time Gosconcert and the Soviet radio and television agency ever worked together on a project.

Cohen, meanwhile, learned that the Soviets had no concept of putting seats on the floor for arena-sized concerts like Joel's. The Olimpiyskiy (aka Olympic Sports Complex) manager said he could only get 1,000 chairs for the shows, but after Cohen brought an additional 600 from London, the venue found yet another 1,000. "It was like a poker game — 'You get 600, I'll get 1,000,'" Cohen recalled.

Watch Billy Joel Play 'You May Be Right' Live in the Soviet Union

A promotional push was also engineered to educate the Soviet populace about Joel, who was known more by name than by music at the time. Soviet TV stations began airing Joel videos, and an interview was set up with national radio music host Andrei Orlov. On July 18, Soviet TV aired an unprecedented 75-minute special featuring nothing but Joel videos for an audience of 70 million. "The advertising campaign was very intense," Orlov said.

Joel's Soviet shows followed a run at London's Wembley Stadium and included an unscheduled stopover in Tbilisi, Georgia, about 1,000 miles south of Russia. There, Joel, his then-wife Christie Brinkley, Alexa and drummer Liberty DeVitto were entertained in a local musician's home, and Joel and DeVitto jammed at a 15th-century church and opera house in the town. Brinkley remembered one of her hosts taking her into a room, telling her she was too thin and force-feeding her some cake. She also gave Brinkley some of her mother's jewelry to pass on to Alexa.

In Moscow before the shows, the Joel entourage toured the city, including the Kremlin Museums and Gorky Park. The family befriended a clown named Viktor Razinov, whom Joel remembered in the song "Leningrad" on his 1989 album Storm Front . Joel also visited the grave of Vladimir Vysotsky, the controversial Soviet singer-songwriter who died in 1980.

Joel dedicated his concerts to Vysotsky and had all the flowers thrown onstage in Moscow placed on the singer's grave. "I went to his grave... and the lines going to see it were longer than the lines going to Lenin's tomb," Joel said. "I asked, 'Why is this guy so loved?' People said it was because he was honest, because he spoke the truth... and got in trouble for it."

Vysotsky's mother Nina attended Joel's first Moscow concert. "It touched me very deeply that someone that successful could find the time to visit my son's grave," she said after the show. "[Joel's] performance on the stage reminded me of that of my son's — especially his energy."

Watch Billy Joel Perform 'Big Shot' in the Soviet Union

Joel's energy ultimately translated to the Soviet crowds, although it took a minute at the first Moscow show. He referred to the area of privileged Communist party insiders seated behind stage left as "an oil painting" and at one point even asked, "What are you doing here if you don't want to be here?"

"You'd look at their faces and see them thinking, 'I don't want to be here.' So... go!" Joel said during one of the press conferences. He also requested that anyone leaving give their ticket stub to one of the young people waiting outside so they could enjoy the show.

Joel also directed the crowd, with help from onstage interpreter Oleg Smirnoff, "Come on down to the stage. It's OK. We like it."

"It was unnerving at first," Joel acknowledged during a session with Soviet reporters before the third Moscow show. I thought I was going down the tubes. In the United States, I'm spoiled; I'm used to playing to audiences who can't wait to hear my music. They jump to their feet and cheer from beginning to end."

The Soviet fans were doing that by the end of the first show, as Joel and his band ripped through rockers such as "A Matter of Trust," "Only the Good Die Young," "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "Big Shot" and more, encoring appropriately with the Beatles ' "Back in the U.S.S.R." Some even tried to come down to the floor from the grandstands, pushing their way past Soviet soldiers. The pandemonium caught local officials by surprise, however, and there were tense discussions between Joel's camp and Gosconcert before the second show the following night.

"We are pioneers on both sides," agency spokeswoman Marina Mytarleva said. "For pioneers, it's always difficult." Tour producer Rick London wistfully added, "I envy the next band that comes here. We've taken a lot of lumps."

Then there was The Big Incident. During the second Moscow concert on July 27, Joel was unhappy with how the film crew lit the crowd, feeling that it inhibited fans from letting loose. During "Sometimes a Fantasy," Joel exploded, yelling, "Stop lighting the audience! ... Stop it! ... Let me do my show, for Christ's sake!" He then flipped over his electric piano, making international headlines for his "tantrum."

Watch Billy Joel's Moscow Meltdown

"I was yelling at our people," Joel explained after the show. "It was a real prima donna act, but I have to protect my show." Speaking with Western reporters the next day, Joel said a young Soviet woman had approached him that morning to ask if he would "trash the equipment again." He ultimately chalked it up to "the great tradition of trashing equipment on stage. ... Rock 'n' roll is about being outrageous, making some sort of expression."

Most of the kinks seemed to be worked out by the third Moscow show, a stomper that came after members of Joel's band had jammed with Soviet pop star Stas Namin until 6 a.m. (Namin also joined Joel and the group for soundcheck, playing "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the Rolling Stones ' "Gimme Shelter.") Joel carried Alexa Ray around the stage during "Uptown Girl" and welcomed a uniformed Soviet soldier up to present him with a handmade fan sign. The filmmakers also helped stack the deck, distributing tickets upfront to young people outside and even giving them American flags to wave.

"There should be more major concerts of this kind here, regular concerts," Gosconcert director Oleg Smolensky declared afterward. His wish became reality, although Joel himself never returned. He did, however, preserve the memory with  Kontsert , "Leningrad" and, in 2014, A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia , which packaged the original 1987 live LP with previously unreleased songs and videos and a new documentary about the momentous undertaking.

"When we were done it was like... 'Whoa!'" Joel told this reporter two years later while promoting Storm Front . "You never could have told me I'd be playing rock 'n' roll in Russia. I'm a baby boomer. I grew up with them as the enemy, the devil. To go there and meet them as real people, not cartoon Commies, was one of the best experiences of my life."

UCR contributor Gary Graff was part of the media corps that traveled to the Soviet Union to cover Joel's 1987 shows. He also wrote liner notes for the 2014 box set A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia.

Billy Joel Albums Ranked

More from ultimate classic rock.

• Bahasa Indonesia
• Slovenščina
• Science & Tech
• Russian Kitchen

Why did Billy Joel destroy his piano when performing for Russians? (VIDEOS)

Billy Joel Has a Tantrum, wrote the New York Times of the epic, July 1987, show in Moscow, attended by over 20,000 people, one that would have Billy preside over a major cultural shift in Soviet-American relations. The man was the only person at the time who accepted an invitation from our Communist party to come and play a show for Soviet music fans. Not so much his fans, but fans of Western music, in general. 

The USSR was experiencing a long-awaited thaw in relations, and Mikhail Gorbachev (he and his wife were avid Elvis lovers themselves) thought a string of concerts would be a great idea to get this new reset in relations off to a good start. 

Rock star Billy Joel is helped by his wife Christie Brinkley, as he pretends to lift a piano suspended from the ceiling at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, June 3, 1988. Joel, donated the piano he used on his concert tour of the Soviet Union last year, to the cafe's collection of memorabilia.

Despite the Iron Curtain (called that for a good reason), Russians did have access to Western music from as early as the 1960s. One popular tactic practiced by bootleggers was fishing for x-ray scans in hospital dumpsters, and recording vinyl records right onto them, to then sell on street corners illegally - and with the threat of terrible punishment constantly hanging over their heads.

However, even toward the end of the Cold War - in practice - the all-out cultural exchange was still in its infancy. Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen all declined invitations to play. Nobody wanted anything to do with the Soviet Union. And who could blame them? It was uncharted territory, both geographically and culturally. You just didn’t know what to expect. 

But for a short-tempered boxer/musician from Long Island, the chance to perform for the Ruskies was one he could not pass up on, as we find out in 2014’s A Matter of Trust documentary that chronicles his USSR visit.

The grueling run-up to the Soviet tour

Joel was strung out. The USSR was to host the last of the shows of a grueling year-long tour. On tour with him were his then model wife and their infant daughter, as well as dozens of crew and musicians. Not only that, he put up $2,5 million of his own money to fund the series of technically demanding shows - six in total; money he knew he likely wouldn’t get back. 

His first point of arrival was Tbilisi, the capital of the Soviet Republic of Georgia. The Georgians didn’t disappoint: after a night of partying with food and wine and vodka, poor Joel was hoodwinked into an impromptu performance at the Georgian National Opera, which featured a sub-par PA and Joel having to really shout in order to enunciate some of the lyrics and reach the back rows. 

Billy Joel sings at the Olympiisky sport complex, Moscow

On top of being broken from 11 months of touring, Billy had now almost torn his vocal chords, and was in a sorry state - and certainly in no condition to pull off a stadium show in Moscow or St. Pete. Over in Russia, they quickly took him to a doctor, who inserted electrodes in his throat and handed him a box of Tic-Tacs. 

Joel knew the pressure was on even before the trip. Everyone in America who had anything to do with music journalism hated the idea. They thought he was a lousy ambassador for rock music, and wanted somebody else to be America’s representative to the USSR. Joel, to his credit, tried to play this down, and claimed earlier at a presser in May that, “I’m not a politician… I'm going there as a musician. I want to get more communication going between us. People over there like pop music, they like rock and roll."

Time to rock 

Finally, July 27 arrived. It was time to do the Olimpiskiy Stadium show in Moscow. Billy was grumpy and his throat was killing him. He would almost snap at people trying to ascertain whether he'd be able to pull off all the high notes in the huge setlist he had planned. He didn’t know what to tell them.

What awaited him once he took the stage was a bigger problem: all of the front rows were filled with members of the Soviet ‘politburo’. The men were as stiff as a board and really difficult to please. It’s anyone’s guess whether the Russians didn’t like the music, or simply tried to act in accordance with the view that Western music was a decadent influence on the USSR (a view, no doubt, held by some politicians of that era). It became apparent to Joel during the performance of ‘My Life’ and ‘Angry Young Man’... which is easy to imagine, because listen to how amazing the song is. Joel's skill as a pianist is contagious.

Thankfully, whether tired, or simply disinterested, many members of the Party got up and left their tickets to the mortals behind them. Now, with proper pop music fans up front, the party could begin. However, this was where the second problem emerged. Something was off: whenever the bright lights of his crew were turned away from the crowds, Joel could see the audience go insane and really be in the moment. The second they put them in focus, however, everyone froze - seemingly in fear of whatever kind of punishment awaited the boisterous among them. Observe 1991's Monsters of Rock show in Moscow - featuring Metallica, Pantera and a host of other big names - showing the extent of Soviet crowd control tactics. With more than a million people in attendance (!), the situation was pure chaos.

In the middle of his performance of ‘Just a Fantasy’, Billy had really had enough, and started lashing out at his crew - as well as the fans, whom he said had begun to resemble “an oil painting”. ''Why are you here?'' he screamed. ''You obviously don't want to be here!'' Billy shouted at the crowd that, in all fairness, wasn’t that different in its behavior to any Soviet rock show at the time: this was how people partied. And Joel hadn’t been made aware of this.

By the second verse, the singer shifted his anger to the film crew, inserting pleas to stop filming the crowd in-between the lyrics: "When am I gonna take control get a hold of my emotions," he sang, visibly agitated. "Stop lighting the audience!", he screamed during a brief interlude. "Why does it only seem to hit me in the middle of the night," he continued, followed by an enraged "STOP IT!" to the crew. The last line was cut short, interrupted by Joel going berserk on his Yamaha stage piano, with no one any the wiser: "You told me there's a number I can always dial (for assistance)"... and he was done: grabbing the piano by the base and flipping the instrument, he proceeded to destroy it with flying kicks - and his mic stand. The crowd just went on smiling, thinking it was all part of the show. The Soviets must have thought they finally understood why rock’n’roll shows were all the rage in America: you could see a man go nuts and kill his equipment on stage for 5 rubles. 

Joel later told the Associated Press: "I've been on the road for 11 months… It's difficult. I'm running ragged."

Against all odds, that cathartic moment proved to be somewhat therapeutic for Billy. Miraculously, he was “healed”. The rest of the shows didn’t just go without a hitch: Joel had finally synced with the vibes of his audience, and become so liberated with it that he’d be taking his shoes and socks off, jumping off-stage and crowd-surfing while draped in American and Soviet flags, and all manner of other antics. He became an instant favorite with the Soviet people. So much so, that scores of chairs were destroyed - some 200 at the Moscow show alone. 

By the end of that tour, Billy had fallen in love with the country, and they with him. Not only that, his visit had caused an immense cultural stir. His beautiful song 'Leningrad' sums up his feelings about growing to love the Russian people. In it he retells the stories he'd heard on tour, and remembers his own upbringing as a child of the Cold War.

Metallica, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Pantera (yes, the heavy Pantera!), Scorpions, Elton John, Jean-Michel Jarre and dozens of others would quickly follow in Joel’s footsteps. But it was him who set the tone of that cultural shift and paved the way for them. 

In 1992, the Berlin Wall finally came down. It’s considered to be the result of the work that was put in during the 1985 Geneva Summit, but these soldiers of culture in the final years of the Soviet Union, surely had a part to play. It was simply too late to do anything about art seeping into the USSR from beyond the Iron Curtain. It’s hard to guess how many more years it would have otherwise taken were Mikhail Gorbachev not a fan of the policies of ‘Glasnost’ and ‘Perestroika’. And rock music. At least some of us like to think so.

American entertainer Billy Joel answers questions backstage in Moscow, July 26, 1987, before the first concert in his six performance tour of the Soviet Union. He spoke of his visit to the grave of the famous Soviet musician Vladimir Vysotsky on the anniversary of his death on Saturday.

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

to our newsletter!

Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox

• Commemorating Vladimir Vysotsky - Russia's best-loved bard poet
• To Russia with love: 6 American songs about world’s biggest country
• Why do Russian developers use Soviet tech to produce awesome-sounding music?
• Why people adore the Soviet Polivoks synthesizer

This website uses cookies. Click here to find out more.

Join us on Social

Revisiting Billy Joel's Historic Bridge To Russia

Director Jim Brown and musician Mark Rivera discuss Joel's groundbreaking 1987 Russia concerts documented in new film, Billy Joel: A Matter Of Trust — The Bridge To Russia

Did rock and roll actually save the world from nuclear annihilation?

That case could be made with Billy Joel: A Matter Of Trust — The Bridge To Russia , a feature-length film that documents Joel's groundbreaking 1987 concerts in Moscow and Leningrad during a time when relations between the United States and the USSR were still dominated by Cold War tensions. The film, which premiered on Showtime Jan. 31 and was released on DVD May 19, mixes exhilarating concert footage with reflective interviews that tell Joel's story of being the first artist to stage a full-scale, high-production rock concert behind the Iron Curtain. Viewers can almost experience the Cold War chill melting away song by song as the extremely tentative Russian audiences learn to rock, and as Joel and his bandmates are repeatedly stunned by the openheartedness of a people they'd grown up fearing.

In an exclusive interview with GRAMMY.com, Emmy-winning film director Jim Brown, who is working on a forthcoming Cold War music documentary, Free To Rock , in partnership with the GRAMMY Museum ; and Mark Rivera, longtime saxist/multi-instrumentalist for Joel's band, discuss the new documentary and how Joel's concerts may have helped thaw the Cold War. Following the interview, watch an outtake from the film featuring Rivera revealing a piece of history from Joel's 1987 concerts.

There was a concert documentary and a TV special made about Billy Joel's Russia concerts in 1987. What was the main impetus for revisiting the concerts with a new film?

Jim Brown : At the time, it would have sounded very pretentious for Billy Joel to say that he wanted to thaw the Cold War with rock and roll. But that was the intent, and in reality, those concerts did a great deal to improve relations between the two countries, politically and musically. It wasn't long after Billy's shows that Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe were sharing a bill with Russian bands at the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival, and in '91 one of the biggest rock concerts in history ended up being Metallica's Monsters of Rock shows held outside of Moscow. In the new film, Billy could talk about his experiences with full hindsight.

Mark Rivera : I find the story more compelling now than ever before. Those concerts really had something to do with changing the whole political landscape. I'm still blown away by the fact that we were so afraid of these people for so long, and all they wanted was a taste of freedom.

The film makes it very clear that Joel rose to the occasion at a unique moment in history, when the Russian people were ready to embrace American music, and the Soviet government had loosened up just enough to let the concerts happen.

Brown : Billy went over at a "perfect storm"-like moment. For a long time, rock and roll was banned in Russia; it was thought to be an invention of the CIA. Then, music was allowed but was strictly controlled by the government. There was a slightly more open attitude toward American music in the "glasnost" era and the Soviets really allowed Billy to do whatever he wanted. Billy titled the film A Matter Of Trust , and that's absolutely right — he and the Russians proceeded down this path together. It only worked with both sides trusting each other.

Rivera : You can see the cultural transformation take place in the course of our six concerts. At the beginning, people are just sitting in their seats, not moving and not making a sound. Nobody knows what to do at a rock show. By the end, people are surging forward and pounding on the stage. At one show there was a young Russian soldier up front who took off his hat and handed it up to me onstage. It's still one of my most treasured possessions.

You know, when I saw the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan" as a kid, it felt like everything I knew had been turned upside down, musically and culturally. With Billy's band, we got to see that moment happen all over again with the Russian kids at our shows.

The Soviet Union is gone, but Billy Joel's still rocking. What do you think is the real legacy of the 1987 concerts?

Brown : I think you can see in the film that sometimes music gets to the truth faster than anything else. Billy's trip really raised the question that maybe much of the Cold War was a lie. He went over there and found that the "enemy" actually loved Americans. They loved seeing him and his family. They loved everything about the music. And in terms of technological sophistication, forget about them dominating us; they didn't even have enough toilet paper.

Rivera : They couldn't wipe let alone wipe us out. It was crazy. I remember there were two types of water in Russia then: green and brown. The green had the live parasites; the brown had the dead ones. We lived on warm Coca-Cola and vodka. But these people who had nothing were so generous to us and showed us nothing but love.

The giving of the music was actually the gift that we got back, because the Russian audiences' appreciation of our shows was one of the best feelings I've ever had as a musician. Billy actually managed to make the world smaller by bringing people together with music. That's an incredible legacy.

Placeholder for invalid migrated embed (See migrate logs for details).

(Chuck Crisafulli is an L.A.-based journalist and author whose most recent works include Go To Hell: A Heated History Of The Underworld , Me And A Guy Named Elvis and Elvis: My Best Man .)

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

How To Rewatch "The 100th: Billy Joel At Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run Of All Time"

"The 100th: Billy Joel At Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run Of All Time" aired Sunday, April 14 (9-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS, and be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Legendary singer/songwriter Billy Joel , a five-time GRAMMY winner with 23 nominations, has always remained in the Recording Academy's spotlight, even during his lengthy hiatus from pop/rock music.

At the 2024 GRAMMYs , Joel marked his grand comeback with his new single, "Turn the Lights Back On" — and it was like he never turned them off at all.

Now, the era of Billy Joel rolls on. Tonight, April 14, viewers can witness his record-breaking 100th consecutive performance at Madison Square Garden, a streak that started when his franchise run began on March 28. Joel holds the amazing distinction of selling out Madison Square Garden more than any other artist.

This is Joel's first-ever concert to air on a broadcast network — so don't miss the Piano Man at work, whether you watch on the night of, or stream it after the broadcast.

Here's how and when to watch "The 100th: Billy Joel At Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run Of All Time."

When Did The Special Initially Air?

The special aired Sunday, April 14 from 9-11:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network, and is available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. (A “network programming timing error” had cut off the last song.)

When Will The Special Air Again?

Now, you’ll have a chance to watch it again, on F riday, April 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. It will be rebroadcast in its entirety.

Where Else Will The Special Air?

Sling TV offers CBS in select regions. Paramount+ with Showtime is free for the first month and $11.99 per month after the trial period ends. Plus, you can access that platform via Prime Video.

Keep checking GRAMMY.com for more info on all things Billy Joel!

Freddy Wexler On Helping Billy Joel "Turn The Lights Back On" — At The 2024 GRAMMYs And Beyond

(L-R) Billy Joel, Freddy Wexler

"Part of what was so beautiful for me to see on GRAMMY night was the respect and adoration that people of all ages and from all genres have for Billy Joel," Wexler says of Joel's 2024 GRAMMYs performance of their co-written "Turn The Lights Back On."

They say to not meet your heroes. But when Freddy Wexler — a lifelong Billy Joel fan — did just that, it was as if Joel walked straight out of his record collection.

"I think the truth is none of it is that surprising," the 37-year-old songwriter and producer tells GRAMMY.com. "That's the best part. From his music, I would've thought this is a humble, brilliant everyman who probably walks around with a very grounded perspective, and that's exactly who he is."

That groundedness made possible "Turn the Lights Back On" — the hit comeback single they co-wrote, and Wexler co-produced; Joel performed a resplendent version at the 2024 GRAMMYs with Laufey . Joel hadn't released a pop album since 1993's River of Dreams ; for him to return to the throne would take an awfully demonstrative song, true to his life.

"I think it's a very raw, honest, real perspective that is true to Billy," Wexler explains. "I think it's the first time we've heard him acknowledge mistakes and regret in quite this way."

Specifically, Joel's return highlights his regret over spending three decades mostly on the bench, largely absent from the pop scene. As Joel wonders aloud in the stirring, arpeggiated chorus, "Is there still time for forgiveness?"

"Forgiveness" is a curious word. Why would the five-time GRAMMY winner and 23-time nominee possibly need to seek forgiveness? Regardless — as the song goes — he's "tryin' to find the magic/ That we lost somehow." The song's message — an attempt to recapture a lost essence — transcends Joel's personal headspace, connecting with a universal longing and nostalgia.

Read on for an interview with Wexler about the impact of "Turn the Lights Back On," why he thinks Joel took such an extended sabbatical, the prospect of more new music, and much more.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

** You did a great interview with Rolling Stone ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs . Now, we're on the other side of it; you got to see how it went down on the telecast, and resonated with the audience and world. What was that like? **

It's why I make music — to hopefully make people feel something. This song has really resonated in such a big way. More than looking at its commercial success on the charts or on radio, which has been awesome to see, the comments on Instagram and YouTube have been the most rewarding part of it.

Why do you think it resonated? Beyond the king picking up his crown again?

I don't think the song is trying to be anything it's not. I think it's a very raw, honest, real perspective that is true to Billy. I think it's the first time we've heard him acknowledge mistakes and regret in quite this way. And to hear him do it in a hopeful way where he's asking, "Is it too late for forgiveness?" is just very moving, I think.

Forgiveness? That's interesting. What would any of us need to forgive him?

He has said in other interviews, "Sometimes people say they have no regrets at the end of their life." And he said, "I don't think that's possible. If you've lived a full life, of course you have regrets." He has said that he has many things he wishes he would've done differently. This is an opportunity to express that.

I think what's interesting about the song is it has found meaning in various ways with various people and listeners. Some people imagine Billy is singing to former lovers or friends. Other people imagine Billy is singing to his fans asking, "Did I wait too long to record again?" Other people wonder if Billy is singing to the songwriting Gods and muses. Did I wait too long to write again?

In Israel, where the song was number one — or is number one, I haven't checked today — I think the song's taken on the meaning of just wanting things to be normal, wanting hostages to come home and turn the lights back on. So, you never know where a song is going to resonate, but I think that Billy just found his own meaning with it.

You know the discography front to back. What lines can you draw from "Turn the Lights Back On" to past works?

I think it draws on various pieces of his catalog, right? "She's Always a Woman" has a sort of piano arpeggio in the chorus. To me, it feels like a natural progression. It feels like, on the one hand, it's a new song. On the other, it could have come out right after River of Dreams . To me, it just kind of feels natural.

** Back when you spoke with Rolling Stone , you said you couldn't wait to hear "Turn the Lights Back On" at Madison Square Garden. How'd it sound? **

Amazing. Billy is a consummate live performer. I think he's one of the few artists where everything is better live, and everything is always a little bit different each time it's played live.

It's been really cool to watch Billy and the band continue to change and improve the song and the song's dynamics for the show. He told me tonight that tomorrow night in Tampa, I think they're going to try to play with the key of the song, potentially — try it a half a step higher.

Those are the sort of things I think great artists do, right? It's different from being on a certain type of tour where every single song is the same, the set list is the same, the key is the same, the arrangements are the same.

With Billy, there's a lot of feeling and, "Hey, why don't we try it this way? Let's play it a little faster. Let's play it a little slower. Let's try it in a different key." I just think that's super cool. You have to be a really good musician to just do that on the fly.

What have you learned from him that applies to your music making, writ large?

I've learned so much from him. As Olivia Rodrigo said to us at GRAMMY rehearsals, "He's the blueprint when it comes to songwriting."

He has helped raise the bar for me when it comes to melodies and lyrics, but the thing I keep coming back to is he's reminded me that even the greatest artists and songwriters ever sometimes forget how great they are. I think we need to be careful not to give that inner voice and inner critic too much power.

Can you talk about how the music video came to be?

Well, I had a dream that Billy was singing the opening two lines of the song, but it was a 25-year-old version of Billy. It was arresting.

When I woke up, I sort of had the vision for the video, which was one set, an empty venue of some kind, and four Billy Joels. The Billy Joel that really exists today, but then three Billys from three iconic eras where each Billy would seamlessly pick up the song where the other left off.

The idea behind that was to sort of accentuate the question of the song — did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?

And so, to kind of take us through time and through all these years, I teamed up with an amazing co-director, Warren Fu, who's done everything from Dua Lipa to Daft Punk , and an artificial intelligence company called Deep Voodoo to make that vision possible.

What I'm driven by is the opportunity to create conversations, cultural moments, things that make people feel something. What was cool here is as scary as AI is — and I think it is scary in many ways — we were able to give an example of how you can use it in a positive way to execute a creative artistic vision that previously would've been impossible to execute.

Yeah, so I'm pleased with it and I'm thankful that Billy did a video. He didn't have to do one, but he liked the idea of it. He felt it was different, and I think he was moved by it as well.

What do you think is the next step here?

It's been a really rewarding process. And Billy is open-minded, which is really cool for an artist of that level, who's not a new artist by any stretch. To actually be described as being in a place in his life where he's open-minded, means anything is possible. I could tell you that I would love there to be more music.

I'd love to get your honest appraisal. And I know you're not him. But his last pop album was released 31 years ago. In that long interim, what do you think was going on with him, creatively?

Look, I'm not Billy Joel, but I think there were a number of factors going on with him. Somewhere along the way, I think he stopped having fun with music, which is the reason he got into it, or which is a big part of the reason he got into it. When it stopped being fun, I don't think he really wanted to do it anymore.

Another piece to it is that Billy is a perfectionist, and that perfectionism is evident in the caliber of his songwriting. Having always written 100 percent of his songs, Billy at some point probably found that process to be painstaking, to try to hit that bar where he's probably wondering in his head, What would Beethoven think of this? What would Leonard Bernstein think of this?

I think part of what was different here was that, perhaps, there was something liberating about "Turn the Lights Back On" being a seed that was brought to Billy. In this way, he could be a little disconnected from it, where maybe he didn't have to have the self-imposed pressure that he would if it was an idea that he'd been trying to finish for a while.

Ironically, he still made it. Well, there's no "ironically," but I think that's it. There's something to that.

Billy Joel's Biggest Songs: 15 Tracks That Best Showcase The Piano Man's Storytelling And Pop Hooks

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

10 Must-See Moments From The 2024 GRAMMYs: Taylor Swift Makes History, Billy Joel & Tracy Chapman Return, Boygenius Manifest Childhood Dreams

The 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards wrote another monumental chapter in music history with returns from legends like Celine Dion and wins by a promising new generation of artists like Victoria Monét.

Just like that, another GRAMMYs has come and gone — but the 2024 telecast brought many moments that will be immortalized in pop culture history.

It was the evening of legends, as Billy Joel and Tracy Chapman returned to the stage for the first time in decades and Joni Mitchell made her debut with a performance of her 1966 classic, "Both Sides, Now." Stevie Wonder and Celine Dion honored greats, both those we've lost and those who are dominating today. And Meryl Streep had two memorable moments at the show, making a fashionably late entrance and getting a hilarious GRAMMY lesson from Mark Ronson .

But it was the younger generation of artists who ultimately dominated the show. Boygenius — the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers , Lucy Dacus , and Julien Baker — won numerous awards in the Rock, Metal & Alternative Music Field. Billie Eilish and SZA scooped up a couple more golden gramophones, respectively, and Best New Artist winner Victoria Monét celebrated three wins in total, also winning Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Taylor Swift built on the momentum of her colossal year with more GRAMMY records and an unexpected announcement of her next studio album.

Check out the full list of winners here , and take a look at our top 10 highlights from another show-stopping installment of the GRAMMYs below.

Boygenius Run To Accept Their First GRAMMY Award

Boygenius won the first trophy of their careers during the Premiere Ceremony, and they were so ecstatic they sprinted through the crowds to get to the stage.

"Oh my God, I want to throw up," Lucy Dacus said as the group accepted their Best Rock Performance trophy for "Not Strong Enough."

Even though the trio was over the moon, they weren't entirely shocked by their win: "We were delusional enough as kids to think this would happen to us one day," she continued. Phoebe Bridgers would sing at a local Guitar Center "in hopes of getting discovered," while Julien Baker dreamed of performing in stadiums as she played in multiple bands, and Dacus has been perfecting her acceptance speech for years.

Their hard work was manifested three times over, as the trio also won Best Rock Song for "Not Strong Enough" and Best Alternative Music Album for the record .

Killer Mike Makes A Clean Sweep

Killer Mike had the largest GRAMMY night of his career, winning all three of the Rap Categories for which he was nominated: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS," and Best Rap Album for MICHAEL .

"I'm from the Southeast, like DJ Paul, and I'm a Black man in America. As a kid, I had a dream to become a part of music, and that 9-year-old is very excited right now," he cheered. "I want to thank everyone who dares to believe art can change the world."

Minutes after his sweep, the LAPD detained the Run the Jewels rapper. However, he was released and still able to celebrate his achievements, Killer Mike's lawyer told Variety .

Miley Cyrus Finally Receives Her "Flowers"

Miley Cyrus entered the GRAMMYs with six nominations for her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation . After she won Best Pop Solo Performance for "Flowers," she delivered a jubilant performance in celebration. "Started to cry, but then remembered, I just won my first GRAMMY !" she exclaimed at the song's bridge, throwing her hands in the air and joyfully jumping around the stage.

Cyrus' excitement brought a tangible energy to the performance, making for one of the night's most dynamic — and apparently one of Oprah Winfrey's favorites, as the camera caught the mogul dancing and singing along.

"Flowers" earned Cyrus a second GRAMMY later in the night, when the No. 1 hit was awarded Record Of The Year. 

Tracy Chapman Makes A Rare Appearance

Luke Combs breathed a second life into Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" when he released a cover of the track in April 2023. He quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard charts and received a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance at this year's show. Of course, it called for a special celebration — one that was meaningful for both Combs and GRAMMYs viewers.

Chapman joined the country star on stage for her first televised performance since 2015, trading off verses with Combs as he adoringly mouthed the words. The duet also marked Chapman's first appearance on the GRAMMY stage in 20 years, as she last performed "Give Me One Reason" at the 2004 GRAMMYs. (It also marked her second time singing "Fast Car" on the GRAMMYs stage; she performed it in 1989, the same year the song won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Chapman took home three awards total, including Best New Artist.)

Naturally, Chapman's return earned a standing ovation from the crowd. As Combs fittingly put it in an Instagram post thanking the Recording Academy for the opportunity, it was a "truly remarkable moment."

Read More: 2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Winners & Nominees List

Joni Mitchell Takes The GRAMMY Stage For The First Time At 80

In one of the most emotional parts of the night, Joni Mitchell performed on the GRAMMYs stage for the first time in her nearly 60-year career.

Accompanied by Brandi Carlile — who referred to Mitchell as "the matriarch of imagination" before the performance — Lucius , SistaStrings, Allison Russell , Blake Mills , and Jacob Collier , Mitchell sang a touching rendition of "Both Sides Now."

"Joni is one of the most influential and emotionally generous creators in human history," Carlile  added in her introduction. "Joni just turned 80, my friends, but we all know she's timeless!"

Mitchell also won her 10th golden gramophone at the 2024 GRAMMYs, as her live album Joni Mitchell at Newport was awarded Best Folk Album at the Premiere Ceremony.

Stevie Wonder Salutes The Late Tony Bennett, Duetted By His Hologram

Another heartfelt moment came during this year's In Memoriam segment , when Stevie Wonder memorialized his friend, Tony Bennett , who passed away from Alzheimer's disease in 2023.

"Tony, I'm going to miss you forever. I love you always, and God bless that He allowed us to have you in this time and space in our lives," Wonder proclaimed. Thanks to a hologram of Bennett, the two singers could duet "For Once in My Life" one last time.

This year's tribute also saw Annie Lennox covering Sinéad O'Connor 's "Nothing Compares 2 U," Jon Batiste's medley of Bill Withers ' hits, and Fantasia 's reimagining of Tina Turner 's "Proud Mary."

Meryl Streep Gets Educated On Album Vs. Record And Single

Mark Ronson presents with his mother-in-law Meryl Streep at the 2024 #Grammys pic.twitter.com/mueXlmJarX — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 5, 2024

Meryl Streep joined Mark Ronson — who happens to be her son-in-law — to announce the Record Of The Year winner, which sparked a funny interaction between the two when Streep thought she was announcing Album Of The Year.

"A record is an album!" Streep confidently declared, only for Ronson to give a quick 101 on the difference between Record, Song, and Album Of The Year.

"It's a really important award, and it's an award that recognizes everything that goes into making a great record — the producers, the recording engineer, and the artist, and all their contributions," Ronson explained of Record Of The Year.

"It's the Everything Award! It's the best," Streep smiled.

Celine Dion Surprises The World With A Special Cameo

Before the GRAMMYs commenced, producer Ben Winston told viewers they would be in for a treat because of a surprise presenter for the final award of the night, Album Of The Year. "They are an absolute global icon. I think jaws will drop to the floor. People will be on their feet," he shared.

It was none other than Celine Dion, who has largely been out of the limelight after her stiff person syndrome diagnosis.

"When I say that I'm happy to be here, I really mean it with my heart," Dion said. "It gives me great joy to present a GRAMMY award that two legends, Diana Ross and Sting , presented to me 27 years ago."

Dion is referring to her Album Of The Year win at the 39th GRAMMY Awards in 1997, when her smash LP Falling Into You won the honor. 

Taylor Swift Breaks The Record For Most AOTY Wins

It was a historic night for Taylor Swift in more ways than one.

She began the evening by winning her 13th GRAMMY for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights . To commemorate the milestone (13 is her lucky number), Swift announced her 11th studio album , The Tortured Poets Department , arriving on April 19.

She ended the evening with a coveted fourth Album Of The Year win , which made Swift the artist with the most AOTY nods in GRAMMY history.

"I would love to tell you this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song or crack the code to a bridge that I love or when I'm shot listing a music video or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show," she said. "The award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this."

Billy Joel Serves Double GRAMMY Duty

After Swift's momentous win, Billy Joel ended the ceremony with a feel-good performance of his 1980 single, "You May Be Right." Along with being a rousing show closer, it was also his second performance of the night; Joel performed his newest offering, "Turn the Lights Back On," before Album Of The Year was announced.

Joel's performances included three firsts: It was the debut live rendition of "Turn the Lights Back On," his first release since 2007, and the performances marked his first time playing on the GRAMMYs stage in more than two decades. It was a fitting finale for a history-making show, one that beautifully celebrated icons of the past, present and future.

A Timeline Of Taylor Swift's GRAMMYs History, From Skipping Senior Prom To Setting A Record With 'Midnights'

Image courtesy of the Recording Academy

Billy Joel Announced As Performer At The 2024 GRAMMY Awards On Sunday, Feb. 4

The five-time GRAMMY-winning Piano Man himself, Billy Joel, will perform at the 2024 GRAMMYs. He joins previously announced performers Billie Eilish, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, and Travis Scott.

GRAMMY Legend Award recipient Billy Joel — who’s won five GRAMMYs and has been nominated for a wildly impressive 23 GRAMMYs — will perform at the 2024 GRAMMYs , as announced today on social media. Joel’s been making the rounds lately: The one and only Piano Man recently announced the release of “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new single in decades, due out Feb. 1.

Joel now joins previously announced performers Billie Eilish , Burna Boy , Dua Lipa , Luke Combs , Olivia Rodrigo , and Travis Scott as 2024 GRAMMYs perfomers. Additional performers will be announced in the coming days and weeks. See the full list of performers and host at the 2024 GRAMMYs to date .

Read More: 2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List

2024 GRAMMYs: Explore More & Meet The Nominees

2024 GRAMMYs: See The Full Winners & Nominees List

How To Watch The 2024 GRAMMYs Live: GRAMMY Nominations, Performers, Air Date, Red Carpet, Streaming Channel & More

2024 GRAMMYs Performers: Burna Boy, Luke Combs And Travis Scott Announced

2024 GRAMMYs Performers: Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, And Olivia Rodrigo Announced

Get The Full 2024 GRAMMYs Experience On Live.GRAMMY.com: Performances, Interviews, Red Carpet, Backstage & More

Here Are The Album Of The Year Nominees At The 2024 GRAMMYs

Here Are The Song Of The Year Nominees At The 2024 GRAMMYs

Get To Know The Best New Artist Nominees At The 2024 GRAMMYs

Here Are The Record Of The Year Nominees At The 2024 GRAMMYs

The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards , will broadcast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.^ Prior to the Telecast, the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will broadcast live from the Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on live.GRAMMY.com . On GRAMMY Sunday, fans can access exclusive behind-the-scenes GRAMMY Awards content, including performances, acceptance speeches, interviews from the GRAMMY Live red-carpet special, and more via the Recording Academy's digital experience on live.GRAMMY.com .

Trevor Noah , the two-time GRAMMY-nominated comedian, actor, author, podcast host, and former "The Daily Show" host, returns to host the 2024 GRAMMYs for the fourth consecutive year; he is currently nominated at the 2024 GRAMMYs in the Best Comedy Album Category for his 2022 Netflix comedy special, I Wish You Would .

Learn More: How To Watch The 2024 GRAMMYs Live: GRAMMY Nominations Announcement, Air Date, Red Carpet, Streaming Channel & More

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@recordingacademy)

The 66th GRAMMY Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fourth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.

^Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on demand in the United States. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs in the U.S. only.

2024 GRAMMYs Ticket Giveaway: Enter For A Chance To Attend The 66th GRAMMY Awards In Los Angeles

• 1 Revisiting Billy Joel's Historic Bridge To Russia
• 2 How To Rewatch "The 100th: Billy Joel At Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run Of All Time"
• 3 Freddy Wexler On Helping Billy Joel "Turn The Lights Back On" — At The 2024 GRAMMYs And Beyond
• 4 10 Must-See Moments From The 2024 GRAMMYs: Taylor Swift Makes History, Billy Joel & Tracy Chapman Return, Boygenius Manifest Childhood Dreams
• 5 Billy Joel Announced As Performer At The 2024 GRAMMY Awards On Sunday, Feb. 4

Billy Joel Revisits 1987 Russian Tour On New CD/DVD: Sneak Peek

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Billy Joel fans will have the opportunity to revisit the singer’s historic 1987 Russian tour on May 20th with the release of A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia , which will be available as a two-CD set, a DVD/Blu-ray package or a deluxe edition that combines them both.

Billy Joel’s Garden Residency Begins With Salty Jokes and Sing-Alongs

Joel toured Russia near the end of the Cold War on his worldwide trek in support of The Bridge . The 1987 live album Kohuept featured 16 recordings from the tour, but A Matter of Trust: The Bridge To Russia: The Music has remastered sound and 12 previously unreleased tracks, including a rehearsal of The Beatles’ “She Loves You.”

Last month, Showtime debuted Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust – The Bridge to Russia , a new documentary by filmmaker Jim Brown that chronicles the entire tour. The deluxe edition of A Matter of Trust contains that documentary along with a book of rare photos and new liner notes. Check out a trailer for the film right here.

Billy Joel is in the middle of his first solo tour in five years. He’s also playing Madison Square Garden once a month for the indefinite future. He hasn’t released a new album in 21 years, but he’s reviving super deep cuts like “Blonde Over Blue” and “Where’s the Orchestra?” during these shows. He was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in December. 

Here is a complete track listing for A Matter Of Trust: The Bridge To Russia . 

A MATTER OF TRUST: THE BRIDGE TO RUSSIA: The Music ( 2CD)

Disc One: 1. Odoya 2. Prelude/Angry Young Man 3. Honesty 4. The Ballad of Billy the Kid – previously unreleased 5. She’s Always A Woman – previously unreleased 6. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – previously unreleased 7. Goodnight Saigon 8. Stiletto 9. Big Man On Mulberry Street 10. Baby Grand 11. What’s Your Name – previously unreleased 12. The Longest Time – previously unreleased 13. An Innocent Man

Editor’s picks

The 100 best tv episodes of all time, the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, 25 most influential creators of 2024.

Disc Two: 1. Pressure – previously unreleased 2. Allentown 3. A Matter Of Trust 4. Only The Good Die Young 5. It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – previously unreleased 6. Sometimes A Fantasy 7. You May Be Right – previously unreleased 8. Uptown Girl 9. Big Shot 10. Back In The U.S.S.R. 11. The Times They Are A Changin’ 12. She Loves You – previously unreleased Russian concerts rehearsal recording 13. New York State Of Mind – previously unreleased 14. Piano Man – previously unreleased 

A MATTER OF TRUST: THE BRIDGE TO RUSSIA: The Concert (DVD or Blu-ray)

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Has Been Indicted on Federal Criminal Charges

Sean combs' history of controversies and allegations, kim porter's 'memoir' is number one on amazon. its 'author' can't say it's real, trumpworld scrambles to assess how much ‘dumbass’ mark robinson will hurt them.

Prelude/Angry Young Man Honesty – previously unreleased The Ballad of Billy the Kid – previously unreleased She’s Always A Woman – previously unreleased Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – previously unreleased Allentown Goodnight Saigon Stiletto – previously unreleased Big Man On Mulberry Street (includes Rhapsody In Blue) Baby Grand An Innocent Man – previously unreleased The Longest Time – previously unreleased A Matter Of Trust Only The Good Die Young It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – previously unreleased Sometimes A Fantasy – previously unreleased You May Be Right – previously unreleased Uptown Girl Tell Her About It – previously unreleased Big Shot Back In The U.S.S.R. The Times They Are A Changin’ – previously unreleased

Radiohead Revisit 'Hail to the Thief' for Stage Production of 'Hamlet'

• To Be or Not to Be
• By Emily Zemler

Watch Raye's Orchestral Performance of 'Genesis' on 'The Daily Show'

• Late-Night TV

Macklemore Explains 'F-ck America' Comment, Is 'Unwavering' in 'Support for a Free Palestine'

• 'Don't Think I'm Alone'
• By Charisma Madarang

Bad Bunny Buys Billboards Slamming Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party

• Vote for Change
• By Kalia Richardson

Ann Wilson Shares She's Completed Chemotherapy: Results Were 'The Good Kind'

• 'A Happy Ending'

Most Popular

'monsters: the lyle and erik menendez story' cast guide: meet the actors portraying the menendez family, hollywood can’t ditch its teslas fast enough: “they're destroying their leases and walking away” , diddy’s frantic text to cassie after hotel assault read aloud during bail appeal, archaeologists solve mystery behind black tombstone found in jamestown carrying an english knight, you might also like, taskovski picks up ‘to close your eyes and see fire’ ahead of zurich premiere (exclusive), rare diamond neglige necklace linked to marie antoinette’s downfall and french revolution comes to sotheby’s auction, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, indiewire announces future of filmmaking summit for november 2 in los angeles, celtics’ jaylen brown launches shoe brand after nike spat.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Billy Joel's History-Making Tour To Russia, Remembered In 'A Matter Of Trust - The Bridge To Russia' (EXCLUSIVE CLIP)

It's Billy Joel night on BBC4, with a documentary looking back on a special time when the Piano Man helped break down huge cultural and political barriers.

Billy Joel has been the Piano Man for nearly half a century now, selling more than 150 million albums, playing rock and roll on the road all over the the world, and, even in the last year, taking an unprecedented spot as artist in residence at Madison Square Garden.

However, until 1987, his music had seldom been heard beyond the Iron Curtain. That all changed when the Kremlin, influenced by the open-minded Mikhail Gorbachev, decided to satisfy the younger Russians' cultural cravings, and started looking to the west for musical influences.

Billy Joel in Moscow's Red Square in 1987

The result - an historical invitation to Billy Joel to perform in the Soviet Union. And so, the boy from the Bronx became one of American pop's pioneering musical ambassadors, bringing the Russians their first fully-staged high-energy rock show. You can see the stunning effect this had on his fans on 'Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust - Bridge to Russia' DVD, being released by Columbia Records this month to celebrate Billy's landmark anniversary year.

EXCLUSIVE CLIP: Watch above Billy Joel's history-making press conference in Russia

The Russian tour began with a small acoustic concert in Tbilisi, followed by three stadium shows in Moscow and three shows in Leningrad.

Billy's visit to Russia became a worldwide news event, with journalists and writers covering the tour, its progress, and the effect Billy, his band and his family were having on the Russian people.

Billy Joel on stage in Russia

The entire tour was professionally filmed and the concerts were simulcast on radio worldwide. During their stay, Billy and his family, along with musicians, staff, and a huge press entourage spent their days interacting with the Russian people, and making friends along the way.

'Billy Joel: The Bridge to Russia - A Matter of Trust' is on BBC4 tonight at 9pm.

'A Matter of Trust - The Bridge to Russia' available on DVD/Blu-ray Concert Film, 2CD Live Album and Deluxe Box SetDVD/Blu-ray Concert Film, 2CD Live Album and Deluxe Box Set - all available from 19 May. Click here to pre-order...

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

More In Entertainment