Listen to Billy Joel’s first new single in nearly 20 years, ‘Turn The Lights Back On’
Billy Joel has released ‘Turn The Lights Back On‘ – first new single in nearly two decades.
Produced by Freddy Wexler (Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Kanye West, Selena Gomez) and written by Joel, Wexler, Wayne Hector (Nicki Minaj, One Direction) and Arthur Bacon, the track is a love ballad that doubles as a love letter to fans who have waited for the ‘Piano Man’ singer to release new music.
It also acts as as a self-reflection for the singer, who asks himself if he had waited too long to turn the lights back on.
“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,” sings Joel in the chorus, acknowledging how long it has taken him to return to songwriting.
‘Turn The Lights Back On’ is now available on all streaming platforms as well as a limited-edition 7” vinyl which you can purchase here.
Joel will performing the track at this year’s Grammy Awards, marking his first time playing the ceremony in 22 years.
The ‘Vienna’ singer will join Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, Burna Boy, and Luke Combs as 2024 Grammy performers. This year’s ceremony is due to take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 4. It will mark Joel’s return to the ceremony’s stage since 2002 when he performed with Tony Bennett.
Joel began teasing new music, which would be his first new material in 17 years, in December; the singer launched an official TikTok account to share footage of him talking about new music on stage.
In the TikTok, he said: “I have good news, I have bad news, I’ll give you the bad news first. We don’t have anything new to play for you.The good news is you don’t have to sit through something you have no idea what it is! Although … we got a little something we’re working on you might hear some time.”
Last year, Joel announced that his decade-long monthly concert residency at Madison Square Garden was set to come to an end in July 2024. That show will mark the 104th show of the residency and Joel’s 150th overall at the venue.
This summer, he will play a huge stadium gig in Cardiff – marking his only show in Europe for 2024. He’ll be joined by support act Chris Isaak. Visit here to buy tickets.
2024 will also see Joel hit the road across North America alongside Stevie Nicks and Sting. It follows a co-headlining tour with Nicks in 2023.
See the tour dates below and buy tickets here.
FEBRUARY
09 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
24 – Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium %
MARCH
09 – Arlington, TX – AT&T Stadium ^
28 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
APRIL
13 – San Diego, CA – Petco Park %
26 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
MAY
09 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
24 – Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park
JUNE
08 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
21 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field ^
JULY
12 – Denver, CO – Coors Field
25 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
AUGUST
09 – Cardiff, UK – Cardiff Principality Stadium
SEPTEMBER
27 – St. Louis, MO – Busch Stadium %
% = w/ Sting
^ = w/ Stevie Nicks
The post Listen to Billy Joel’s first new single in nearly 20 years, ‘Turn The Lights Back On’ appeared first on NME.
Anagricel Duran
NME
