Billy Joel made sure his 150th and final residency show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden was a special one. The Piano Man was joined by none other than Axl Rose for three songs during the historic concert.
The Guns N’ Roses singer was introduced by Joel in the middle of the set, receiving a loud roar from the sold-out arena. After the two rock legends embraced, Joel and his band broke into a cover of Wings’ “Live and Let Die” (a song famously performed by GN’R), with Rose handling lead vocals.
They followed that up with a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” another song Rose is very familiar with, having fronted AC/DC back in 2016 when Brian Johnson had to step away from the band due to hearing issues.
The show resumed without Axl throughout the rest of the main set, but the GN’R frontman once again made an appearance during the final song of the encore, lending his vocals to “You May Be Right.”
After that, Joel brought out his two young daughters as he took his final bows, ending his record-breaking residency at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Earlier in the set, Jimmy Fallon presented Joel with a banner reading, “Billy Joel 150: Most Lifetime Performances by Any Artist,” which will be raised to the rafters of the arena.
See Axl Rose’s performances with Billy Joel in the fan-filmed videos below, as well as Fallon’s banner presentation, and the full 25-song setlist.
Though Joel may have concluded his run at MSG, he still has several upcoming concerts on his calendar, including co-upcoming tour dates with Sting. Get tickets here.
Setlist:
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Pressure
The Entertainer
Zanzibar
Vienna (Jimmy Fallon presents banner)
My Life
An Innocent Man (Start Me Up Intro)
The Downeaster “Alexa”
Don’t Ask Me Why
New York State of Mind
Allentown
This Is the Time
Live and Let Die (Wings cover) (with Axl Rose)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover) (with Axl Rose)
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
Only the Good Die Young
The River of Dreams
Nessun dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover)
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Piano Man
Encore:
We Didn’t Start the Fire
Uptown Girl
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
Big Shot
You May Be Right (with Axl Rose)