Billy Joel closed out his historic run at Madison Square Garden with rock legend Axl Rose for a moving performance of Joel's 1980 hit "You May Be Right."
The duo also delivered a roaring performance of Guns N' Roses' "Live and Let Die" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" to the crowd gathered on Thursday, while also taking on Joel's own "Big Shot" from his 1978 album 52nd Street.
Rose previously performed "Big Shot" and the AC/DC song during Joel‘s 2017 concert at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium, while Joel had frequently covered "Highway to Hell" during his sets in past years, often recruiting his roadie "Chainsaw" for lead vocals.
The concert on Thursday was the piano man's 150th lifetime show at the iconic venue and wrapped his record-breaking 10-year residency at MSG. According to a representative for the artist, Joel has sold over 1.9 million tickets during his time at the famous arena.
The monthly residency began on Jan. 14, 2014, and was suspended only for Covid-19 and a handful of occasions when medical issues forced a delay. At the time, Joel promised to keep playing "as long as the demand continues," and the demand only grew as the years went by despite the fact it's now been 30 years since he released his last album of original pop songs.
"I've gone onstage and said, ‘I don't have anything new for you, so we're just going to play the old shit,'" Joel told Rolling Stone in 2019. "And the audience goes, ‘Yeah!' I'll be sitting in the stadium looking out at 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 people, thinking, ‘What the hell are they all doing here? Why now?' I guess, in a way, I'm an anachronism. There aren't that many of me left. There's a rarity to it, which gives it value."