Billy Joel to Celebrate Last Madison Square Garden Show of 2014 with Arena Lighting

By: Dec. 17, 2014
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Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) announced today that Billy Joel's last sold out show of 2014 at "The World's Most Famous Arena" will be celebrated on Thursday, December 18th with a special lighting of the exterior of the arena. The iconic artist and his fans will be treated to a spectacular piano key-themed lighting of the exterior of Madison Square Garden. This will be Joel's 58th performance at Madison Square Garden. Billy Joel is the first-ever music franchise of Madison Square Garden and currently is scheduled to play shows through July 2015.

Following its three-year Transformation, Madison Square Garden unveiled a dynamic exterior LED lighting system in October that illuminates the exterior of the World's Most Famous Arena as never before. The lighting system was produced and installed by Philips, a world leader in lighting, and was designed by renowned lighting designer Al Borden, of The Lighting Practice, who also worked on the Empire State Building's Tower Lighting Replacement. The new lights bring the outside of the Garden to life by shining the team colors of the Knicks, Rangers, and Liberty on game nights, along with customized schemes for concerts, special events and holidays. 1,952 fixtures cover more than one mile of state-of-the-art LED lights that were installed in the building's exterior cove channels and around the rooftop ring.

Having sold 150 million records over the past quarter century, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in history. The singer/songwriter/composer is the sixth best-selling recording artist of all time, the third best-selling solo artist and is one of the highest grossing touring artists in the world.

Most recently, Billy Joel received both The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song which honors living musical artists' lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations, and the once-in-a-century ASCAP Centennial Award, which is presented to American music icons in recognition of their incomparable accomplishments in their respective music genres and beyond.

In December 2013, Joel received The Kennedy Center Honors, one of the United States' top cultural awards. He is also the recipient of six GRAMMY Awards, including the prestigious Grammy Legend Award. Joel has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has received numerous industry awards. "Movin' Out," a Broadway musical based on Joel's music choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp, took home two Tony Awards, including Best Orchestrations -- Joel's first Tony Award win -- and Best Choreography. For his accomplishments as a musician and as a humanitarian, Joel was honored as the 2002 MusiCares Person Of TheYear by the MusiCares Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Joel has also performed alongside other music greats at two of Madison Square Garden's most extraordinary benefit concerts -- "12-12-12, The Concert For Sandy Relief," which raised awareness and money for those affected by Hurricane Sandy and "The Concert for New York City," which was held to help aid 9/11 victims and heroes. Billy Joel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, adding another milestone to his extraordinary career. MSG now offers a rich visual history of Billy Joel and his many Garden performances through a scrollable timeline featuring archival images, video insights from Billy, sharable images and lyrics, plus direct links for ticketing. Visit billyjoelmsg.com for more information. Join the conversation with #BillyJoelMSG.

About The Madison Square Garden Company - The Madison Square Garden Company is comprised of three business segments: MSG Sports, MSG Media and MSG Entertainment and is built on a foundation of iconic venues and compelling content that the company creates, produces, presents and/or distributes through its programming networks and other media assets. MSG Sports owns and operates the following sports franchises: the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL), the New York Liberty (WNBA), the Westchester Knicks (NBADL) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). MSG Sports also features the presentation of a wide variety of live sporting events including professional boxing, college basketball, bull riding and tennis. MSG Media is a leader in production and content development for multiple distribution platforms, including content originating from the Company's venues. MSG Media's television networks consist of regional sports networks, MSG Network and MSG+, collectively referred to as MSG Networks. MSG Entertainment is one of the country's leaders in live entertainment. MSG Entertainment creates, produces and/or presents a variety of live productions, including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the New York Spring Spectacular, both featuring the Rockettes. MSG Entertainment also presents or hosts other live entertainment events such as concerts, family shows and special events in the Company's diverse collection of venues. These venues consist of Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre, the Forum in Inglewood, CA, The Chicago Theatre, and the Wang Theatre in Boston, MA. More information is available at www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com.


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