It wasn’t 9 o’clock on a Saturday, but the crowd that shuffled into New York’s Carnegie Hall at 8 p.m. on Thursday night were definitely in the mood for a melody — written by Billy Joel.
An all-star cast lined up to pay tribute to The Piano Man during the latest installment of the annual Music Of charity concert series, which raises money for music education for underserved youth. Thursday night’s show netted $225,000 for the cause.
While Billy himself didn’t take the stage, he did watch from the balcony, accompanied by his friend Pink and her teenage daughter, Willow Sage Hart. He smiled and waved as the adoring crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Billy!”
And speaking of daughters, Billy’s eldest, Alexa Ray Joel, was on hand to perform for her dad, who she called “my musical hero.” She thanked Billy — and her mom and “golden muse,” Christie Brinkley — “for making me,” before singing “This Night,” from Billy’s 1983 album An Innocent Man. She was backed by Billy’s longtime touring band, who accompanied every artist on the bill, and also took their own turn in the spotlight to play “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”
While many artists delivered faithful renditions of Billy’s songs, such as Rob Thomas singing “Vienna,” Gavin DeGraw rocking through “Big Shot” and Train’s Pat Monahan doing “She’s Always a Woman,” others offered their own interpretations. Former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant turned “Allentown” into a somber piano ballad, while jazz-pop singer Sammy Rae did “River of Dreams” solo, accompanied only by her own ukulele.
Matt Nathanson sang an introspective solo acoustic guitar version of Billy’s hard-driving 1990 rocker “I Go to Extremes,” and followed that with a full-band rendition of “Miami 2017,” earning him one of the night’s many standing ovations. Another ovation came when legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman accompanied O.A.R. frontman Marc Roberge on “The Downeaster ‘Alexa.'”
The night concluded with an all-star version of “You May Be Right,” which had fans literally dancing in the aisles.
Here’s who performed what:
Yola — “Movin’ Out”
Rob Thomas — “Vienna”
Pat Monahan — “She’s Always a Woman”
Mary Chapin Carpenter — “And So It Goes”
Matt Nathanson — “I Go to Extremes” and “Miami 2017”
Jon McLaughlin — “Everybody Loves You Now”
Alexa Ray Joel — “This Night”
Rufus Wainwright — “Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)”
Ledisi — “Turn the Lights Back On”
Marc Roberge & Itzhak Perlman — “The Downeaster ‘Alexa'”
Bettye LaVette — “(He’s) Got a Way”
David Rosenthal (Billy’s musical director) — “The Longest Time” piano sonata
Music Will students and Wyclef Jean — “My Life”
Neal Francis — “Stiletto”
Sammy Rae — “River of Dreams” and “Get It Right the First Time”
Natalie Merchant — “Allentown”
Billy Joel Band — “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”
Curtis Harding — “Uptown Girl”
Gavin DeGraw — “Big Shot”
Lawrence — “Only the Good Die Young”
Andrew McMahon — “Piano Man”
Ensemble — “You May Be Right”
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