Billy Joelranked his top five Billy Joel songs in a lengthy interview withThe Late Show With Stephen Colberton Monday.
The legendary singer-songwriter ticked off Vienna, And So It Goes, You May Be Right, Shes Right On Time and Scenes From an Italian Restaurant as his go-to picks. In a lighter turn, Joel and Stephen Colbert rattled off hilarious song theories in True Stories Behind the Hits. Joel cracked: Piano Man was originally a superhero character and I wanted to make a movie where he teamed up with Elton Johns Rocket Man to fight Bob Dylans Tambourine Man.'
Joel also recalled fond memories of listening to music in New York. He sneaked into a Jimi Hendrix concert by showing up to the gig with a friend, cables wrapped over their shoulders and using British accents to convince security they were roadies. While the pair managed to get inside the venue, they soon ran up against Hendrixs famed road manager, Keith Robertson who was so impressed with their work ethic, he had them set up the guitarists amps and let them watch the show.
Joel chatted about building motorcycles for Bruce Springsteen and also gave a spot-on impression of Tony Bennett as he recalled the liberties the crooner tends to take at the end of New York State of Mind when theyve performed it together.
Watch Joel perform with Jon Batiste and Stay Human on a bombastic rendition of Turnstilescloser, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) below.