Credit: Myrna SuarezFor a guy who hasn’t released a new album in 24 years, Billy Joel manages to keep pretty busy: He’s got his monthly residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and also plays sold-out shows at stadiums all over the country. Although there’s no shortage of fans who want to see him, the Piano Man says it may be time to think about cutting back his schedule a bit.
“I don’t know that I’m going to be able to continue selling out shows at The Garden,” he tells Newsday, adding, “Eventually there has to be an end to the arc. It has to start dissipating, and when we get an indication of that we’ll probably fold the tent. I don’t know when that will be.”
He adds, “I’m probably going to start playing less and less gigs. Right now, we do a Garden show once a month and probably two other shows in other places around the country. I mean, I’ve got a new baby now and I’m trying to [spend more time] having a personal life. So I’m looking at less work.”
Joel and wife Alexis welcomed their first child, Della Rose, in 2015.
“It feels like I’m entitled,” he points out. “I’ve been working my whole life. It’s time to slow down.”
But that doesn’t mean Billy will stop for good. “As long as people want to see us, I suppose I should consider continuing,” he tells Newsday. “The only thing that would hinder me from doing it would be my own physicality, because there’s a lot of physicality involved.”
On April 5, Joel will play the first show at the newly remodeled Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in his native Long Island, New York.
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