How does Billy Joel get to Carnegie Hall

Photo from Lynn Goldsmith shot in 1980 at Madison Square Garden @lynngoldsmith

I am getting really excited about the next Carnegie Hall tribute in March of 2026-- this year honoring the Music of Billy Joel. VIP tickets went on sale last week with not a single performer listed and yet, we have sold more at this point than almost any of the previous 21 tribute concerts. The love for Billy is palpable.

The inspiration for honoring Billy came from watching the eye-opening documentary on him one night at home. Isn’t it amazing how many incredible documentaries are popping up these days? Maybe it’s the sheer volume of footage captured over the last few decades, but it’s the unique content and insights these filmmakers present that makes them truly captivating. I’m in the middle of watching the 5-part on Martin Scorsese by Rebecca Miller. Two episodes in and I’m hooked. Rethinking “Ragging Bull” after hearing and seeing Marty and Bobby (you know, our friend Robert De Niro) talk about their youth and then understanding the script deeper is wonderfully enlightening.

We seem to be in the golden age of documentaries focusing on everything from serial killers, athletes, political figures, and everyone in music from Jennifer Lopez to Dylan and DEVO. Perhaps it all started with Jazz on a Summer’s Day from Newport Jazz Festival in 1959. In a recent George Wein 100^th birthday I hosted, we incorporated some this footage into our evenings entertainment. It was so good. But from the “Summer of Soul” from a few years ago to Sly’s documentary last year, to my daughter’s favorite on the making of “We Are The World” and now Lilith Fair, there is so much to learn and discover from all this captured insight into our favorite artists. Meanwhile, please don’t sit home and only watch your music, go out and see it live. Be part of it. Come on down to City Winery. Live Live!

Anway, the Billy Joel documentary –“And So It Goes” is a two-part insight to his exploration of love, loss and his personal struggles of songwriting. Great interviews with ex-wives, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and a bunch of previously unseen archival footage. You fall all in love again with his hits, his so many hits and where they came from. Most importantly, you feel like you get to know Billy, you really like him. So much so, I got the initial urge to find a way to meet him, I was a new groupie! This was the catalyst for me to reach out to some of his long-time team and get permission to have him become our next honoree. They loved the idea of him being part of the series. We’ve had Bruce, Paul, Dylan, Joni, Prince, The Stones, Paul Simon, and the great songwriters of our era in the last 20 years, why not Billy. It’s his time. No more practice required.

And who knows, maybe he will show up. He has been public about his health issues and we NEVER insist on the honoree showing up. So, his appearing is NOT planned. It started with honoring Joni Mitchell who planned to come, but then her cat’s got sick. (that is another substack). It’s about the songs, the 20 artists interpreting in their own voices the 20 songs. It’s about raising money for a good cause and producing a seamless concert that people love. But at the same time, we don’t want to just cover the material, we seek to work with the honoree to make sure they are aware, they approve, they sometimes make a few suggestions, and sometimes, like Bruce or David Byrne or REM, they show up and do the encore. Or maybe they watch from the sidelines. But, the biggest honor for me to be able to see them and the audience enjoying our work of their work.

So Billy is coming back to Carnegie even if he is not there himself. He did perform there in 1977, three epic nights June 2, 3, & 4 as you can see in the documentary and this was one of the early inflection points in his career. The June 3^rd show was attended by the late great producer Phil Ramone to hear the new material for the Stranger Album. The historic concert was released on Vinyl and features a live orchestra. But I am confident our show on March 12, 2026, almost 50 years later, will be even better, or we will try.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me—here’s to an unforgettable night of music and raising money for music education. www.musicof.org