If you were to ask me my favorite pianists/ keyboard players, I’d tell you names like Paul McCartney, Ray Manzarek, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, but the one that trumps them all is Billy Joel. After over half a century of his career as a singer-songwriter, the Piano Man himself is finally retiring from music and “Movin’ Out” to Florida.

Billy Joel, since my childhood, has been one of my top favorite artists that I listen to—you can check my Spotify Wrapped! As a New Yorker, you could only feel a sort of melancholic feeling knowing that this legend is ending his residency at Madison Square Garden. As of writing this piece, he only has two more shows left in his residency, which will conclude with his 150th lifetime concert at the Garden on July 25, 2024. I’ve only ever been to two concerts, and both of them were Billy Joel ones. My first one was in November 2021, his first time back at the Garden since COVID, and the other in April 2023 which was delayed to a Tuesday night due to a Rangers playoff game.

Back in February, Joel released a new song, his first one in 30 years, titled "Turn the Lights Back On." On the Howard Stern Show the day after its release, Joel was a guest on the show. Stern pressed Joel, begging to know what the song was about. Clearly, it was about his return to music, but Stern wanted to know about the girl he was referring to in the song, to which Joel refused to answer. It seems like Joel won’t reveal his secrets; however, the song may show a change in Joel’s career.

There is a significant difference between the new song and all his previous ones. In "Turn the Lights Back On," you can hear his emotion within it. He has clearly missed making music, but you also hear the labored tone within his voice. He is a tired, old man who is now reflecting on his life and, essentially, his relationship with his career. Now that he’s down in Florida and back into making music, there is potential that Joel could continue to produce new songs for the world to hear. He could also go back and finish all his old songs that were unused. In his 2004 compilation album My Lives, Joel released all his 1970s and 1980s demos, obscure B-sides, and other outtakes of songs that we all know and love.

Notable demos from this compilation include 1971’s "Only a Man," 1972’s "Josephine," 1973’s "Oyster Bay" and The Siegfried Line, 1974’s "Cross to Bear." Some of the other demos on this compilation were completed and turned into other songs, like the 1973 "Piano Man" demo with an obnoxious echo, the original reggae version of 1977’s "Only the Good Die Young," 1981’s "The Prime of Your Life" becoming his iconic (and my favorite song of his) 1983’s "The Longest Time."

It is just speculation; however, Joel’s post-New York career is still full of opportunities for him. He can complete these songs and put out finished versions of these demos, he can remaster his albums and release those, he can create Legacy Editions for other albums besides "Piano Man" and "The Stranger"...or he can enjoy his retirement.

Regardless of what he decides to do in the last chapter of his life, he will forever be remembered for the cultural impact he had many decades ago, continuing to be an icon of late ‘70s New York.