In the latest episode of NBC’s Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist, Billy Joel talked about whether he will stop performing live.
The singer said his monthly residency at Madison Square Garden kept him from performing elsewhere, but now he can play in other places. Then, he added:
“I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do. We have a whole schedule laid out into 2025, where we’re going to be playing.”
In February 2024, Joel released his first new song in over 16 years, called ‘Turn the Lights Back On.’ During the Sunday Today interview, he was asked if he plans to release a full album:
“No, not as far as I’m aware of.”
Joel’s Earlier Statement On Releasing A New Record
The rocker also previously revealed that he didn’t intend to work on a new album. Joel spoke with Variety last month and quickly responded about whether a new album is on the way:
“Nope!”
When he released a new song called ‘Turn the Lights Back On’ in February, fans hoped for a new album, but Joel said he wouldn’t be making one, explaining:
“Who makes albums anymore anyway? I think the only person making new albums these days is Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo. I don’t know other people who make albums. I don’t know what the marketing of that is like now.”
Writing songs is also a difficult process for the singer. He told WBLM-FM after releasing his new song:
“I had not wanted to do it. Because it was all my life. When I was writing songs. I was doing this by myself. And it’s a very lonely job. And the job started to become torment. If it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, I would tear myself to shreds.”
Joel didn’t want to make new songs, but his friends and colleagues kept urging him to return to the studio. He said that people like Rick Rubin, Clive Davis, and Elton John encouraged him to make more albums, but he wanted to make fewer.