Billy Joel Performs ‘Turn the Lights Back On’ at 2024 Grammys
Billy Joel took to the Grammy Awards stage for the first time in 30 years and performed “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new song in decades. The last…
Billy Joel took to the Grammy Awards stage for the first time in 30 years and performed "Turn the Lights Back On," his first new song in decades.
The last time Joel performed at the Grammy Awards was in 1994. He famously stopped during his performance of "River of Dreams" as a mini-protest against Grammy producers. Shortly before Joel's performance, producers cut Frank Sinatra's Grammy Legend Award speech short and went to commercial, thus, cutting off the Chairman of the Board's speech.
Joel released the track on Feb. 1. The stunning ballad depicts a couple that's been together for a number of years. One-half of that couple is expressing regret of, perhaps, getting complacent over their time together. The chorus evolves over the course of the song, but it initially states:
"I'm late, but I'm here right now
Though I used to be romantic
I forgot somehow
Time can make you blind
But I see you now
As we're laying in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?"
Joel's last new piece of music was 2007's "Christmas in Fallujah," a collaboration with Cass Dillon. The Piano Man's last studio album was 2001's Fantasies and Delusions, which was made up of all classical compositions. His last non-classical album, of course, was 1993's River of Dreams.
As an added bonus, Joel closed out the show performing his classic song "You May Be Right."
The End of Joel's Residency
In other Piano Man news: Joel announced last year that he would be ending his Madison Square Garden residency in July 2024. The final show has been announced for July 25, 2024, which will be Joel's 150th career performance at the legendary venue.
The remaining MSG residency shows are as follows:
-February 9, 2024
-March 28, 2024
-April 26, 2024
-May 9, 2024
-June 8, 2024
-July 25, 2024
Per Ultimate Classic Rock, Joel said during a June 2023 press conference about the end of his residency, "I'm kind of flabbergasted that it lasted as long as it did. My team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but ten years ... 150 shows -- all right already!"
