Billy Joel Fans Are Mad Over CBS Concert Special. Here’s Why (And We Don’t Blame Them)
Billy Joel fans are really mad at CBS over the airing of the legendary singer-songwriter’s highly anticipated concert special.
Per Billboard, the concert special was set to air on CBS from 9 PM – 11 PM EST. However, the conclusion of The Masters golf tournament pushed the special back. To make matters even worse, the live sports event led to Joel’s special being cut off at 11 PM in order for local news to air on schedule.
Oh, and this meant Joel’s special was cut off during “Piano Man,” which understandably made fans very upset. Seriously, here’s one feed that shows how abruptly the special was cut off. How anyone at CBS thought this was fine and no big deal is astounding.
WATCH: Viewers throughout the Eastern and Central Time Zones are fuming after CBS abruptly cut the broadcast of its Billy Joel concert, mid-Piano Man.
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) April 15, 2024
The program’s start time had been delayed because of extended Masters coverage on CBS. #BillyJoelOnCBS pic.twitter.com/YZPfksxvc6
After this truly remarkable error, fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustrations about the sudden ending. One fan wrote, “IDK whose decision it was to cut off the end of the #BillyJoel concert for local news (AFTER starting 30 min late!) but it’s unacceptable. #BillyJoel100 is an iconic moment in history, & all we wanted to do was “forget about life for a while” & you destroyed it.”
Truthfully, we’d like to include more fan reactions, but many of them have expletives, so we’ll pass. At the same time, we can’t f—ing blame them!
Details About Billy Joel’s Concert Special
The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden — The Greatest Arena Run of All Time was set up to be a wonderful tribute to a beloved musician. Joel’s special was first announced in February and was filmed on March 28. Believe it or not, this was also Joel’s first-ever broadcast network concert special.
Joel’s March 28 concert at Madison Square Garden was the 100th show in The Piano Man’s very lucrative residency at the iconic New York City venue.
He announced last year that he would be ending his Madison Square Garden residency in July 2024. The final show has been announced for July 25, 2024, which will be Joel’s 150th career performance at the legendary venue.
The remaining MSG residency shows are as follows:
-April 26, 2024
-May 9, 2024
-June 8, 2024
-July 25, 2024
Per Ultimate Classic Rock, Joel said during a June 2023 press conference about the end of his residency, “I’m kind of flabbergasted that it lasted as long as it did. My team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but ten years … 150 shows — all right already!”
Joel’s CBS special was all part of an eventful build-up to the end of his MSG residency. That build-up also included the Feb. 1 release of “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new song in decades.
