Billy Joel Looks Back At September 11, 2001

We all remember where we were when the you know what hit the fan on September 11, 2001.

I was on the phone with my daughter that morning. She had the Today Show on and told me to put the television on. In a matter of moments, the two of us saw the second plane hit the second tower, live. I knew that was no accident.

Wild day. And the days and weeks after September 11 were surreal.

Here's Billy Joel and his account of that day, September 11, 2001, the days that followed and how he did what he could to help.

“We'll never forget. Nah, I don't think it'll be forgotten, but I think we've recovered a good deal. I know once they nailed (Osama) Bin Laden — that's another thing that put it behind us," Billy Joel has said.

"I don't know, this city has great resolution. There's a lot of resolve, there's a lot of character here. You're not gonna keep this place down.”

Hear more from Billy Joel here.

Billy Joel celebrates his birthday on May 9! While his long-running residency at New York City's Madison Square Garden has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's currently slated to pick back up in November 2021

Since his residency began in January 2014, Joel has always tried to keep fans guessing during his monthly MSG shows and has welcomed a variety of special guests. In honor of The Piano Man’s birthday, here are seven of our favorite residency cameos.

Joel’s August 2014 residency show saw him dust off “Uptown Girl,” which, of course, is about his ex-wife Brinkley, but the audience blew up once they saw the supermodel on the jumbotron in attendance.

The Tonight Show host joined Joel at his 25 residency gig in January 2016, where he did his best Mick Jagger impersonation for a performance of “Start Me Up.”  It’s equal parts ridiculous and fun.

Considering Johnson’s somewhat recent retirement from the stage, this performance of “You Shook Me All Night Long” from Joel’s December 2014 residency show is all the more poignant.

Indiana’s favorite son made his second guest appearance during Joel’s residency at the March 2017 show.  This time around, Mellencamp and Joel dueted on “Authority Song” to a raucous crowd.

During Joel's January 2018 MSG show, Gramm and Jones surprised the capacity crowd and performed two of their biggest hits, “Urgent" and “Cold As Ice.”

For Joel's 100th show ever at MSG, The Boss joined The Piano Man on stage performed “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Born To Run”

John Fogerty joined Joel for two songs during his March 2019 MSG gig: Creedence Clearwater Revival classics “Up Around The Bend” and “Fortunate Son.”