The special will air on April 14th
CBS will celebrate Billy Joel’s 100th consecutive Madison Square Garden concert with a special on Sunday, April 14th. The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Graden – The Greatest Arena Run of All Time celebrates his historic franchise run which concludes in July with his 150th lifetime performance at the historic New York City venue.
The concert special will be shot at Joel’s record-breaking 100th consecutive performance at Madison Square Garden as part of his franchise run on March 28th. It marks his first broadcast network concert.
Joel has sold out every performance at the venue since making his debut in December 1978. The feat marks Joel as the artist with the most sell-outs at the famed Manhattan arena.
The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Graden – The Greatest Arena Run of All Time will also stream live and on demand on Paramount+. The special is a co-production of Sony Music Entertainment and Enliven Entertainment. Steve Cohen, Barry Ehrmann and Paul Dugdale are executive producers. The special will be directed by Emmy Award recipient Paul Dugdale. Sony Music Vision is the distributor.
Joel’s history with Madison Square Garden began with his first performance at The World’s Most Famous Arena on December 14, 1978. In 2006, with 12 consecutive performances, Joel set the record for “most consecutive performances by any artist.” To commemorate the historic moment, a banner stating “Joel – 12” was raised to The Garden rafters, making him the first entertainer in the venue’s history to accomplish this feat.
In December 2013, Joel was named Madison Square Garden’s first-ever music franchise, joining the ranks of the storied venue’s other original franchises – the New York Knicks and New York Rangers. The record-breaking residency began in January 2014 with Joel playing one show every month at The Garden for, as Joel said at the time, “as long as the demand continues.” In January 2015, Joel broke his own record of the “most consecutive performances by any artist” with the 13th show of the residency and a new banner was raised to The Garden’s rafters. In July 2015, with his 65th lifetime show, Joel broke another record for the “most lifetime performances by any artist,” for which another banner was raised. Both of Joel’s banners continue to hang at The Garden and are replaced each month with each performance.
On February 1st, the six-time Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Kennedy Center honoree released his first new single in decades. “Turn The Lights Back On” is available via Columbia Records and was produced by Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler and written by Wexler, Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector, and Joel.
The 74-year-old Piano Man will headline a series of stadiums throughout 2024. Solo dates and concerts with both Stevie Nicks and Sting are scheduled through the fall, including a one-off show at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Friday, August 9th, joined by special guest Chris Isaak.
