Billy Joel fans slam CBS for cutting singer off while he performed legendary song Piano Man during 100th Madison Square Garden concert to go to local news
Billy Joel fans were furious with CBS after their broadcast of the legend’s 100th consecutive Madison Square Garden concert was cut to make way for local news.
To make matters worse, the 74-year-old was in the middle of his most famous song, Piano Man, when the switch was made.
The channel had understandably put a lot of preparation into the broadcast of the special performance, but had to start airing it late after coverage of Scottie Scheffler’s victory in the Masters ran out.
While this is apparently not the case in all locations, viewers in Eastern and Central time zones also missed part of the end of the performance as Joel was about to launch into the final verse of his iconic hit, according to X account @awefulannouncing .
They came up with Joel’s lyrics to say, “Apparently CBS was no longer in the mood for a tune.”
Billy Joel fans have criticized CBS for cutting the legendary singer-songwriter during his most iconic song, Piano Man, at the end of their broadcast special of his 100th consecutive performance at Madison Square Garden (pictured)
In many regions, the broadcast – recorded on March 28 – switched to CBS local news services as Joel built up to the final verse of Piano Man.
One fuming X user wrote: ‘WTAF CBS! You cut the end of the Billy Joel special in the middle of Effing PIANO MAN to start the damn local news??? Sports games are long, all kinds of things are long and you cut it off halfway through the song IN THE FINAL??? WTH is wrong with you?! I turned it off
The broadcast was a recording of Joel’s March 28 MSG performance as he wrapped up “the greatest arena run of all time,” which he announced was coming to an end last summer.
Fans who couldn’t get a ticket to the show were left furious when their chance to see Piano Man in its entirety passed them by.
They said on X: ‘CBS has been promoting Billy Joel’s concert special every two minutes for weeks. So what better way to broadcast it than to anticipate it for half an hour and then shut it down? MID PIANO MAN? Come on guys…
“Okay, @CBS just pissed me off. I came home from practice and got to watch Billy Joel’s 100th residency show party at MSG… AND THEY CUT OFF “PIANO MAN”! Not with about five seconds left, but before the final chorus. To start the news at 11:30 am. I. Am. FURIOUS…
‘WTAF CBS! You cut the end of the Billy Joel special in the middle of Effing PIANO MAN to start the damn local news??? Sports games are long, all kinds of things are long and you cut it off halfway through the song IN THE FINAL??? WTH is wrong with you?! I turned it off…
“I still can’t believe CBS put its own Billy Joel special at Madison Square Garden on the local news while Piano Man was being sung and played. I understand that the special was postponed because the Masters ended too late, but that needs to be better programmed…
“WTF you can’t cut CBS in the middle of Piano Man for a promo for the 11pm news. A terrible ending to what was a great production for the Billy Joel concert. Terrible terrible work…
‘Billy, his band and the fans deserve better than CBS!…
The 74-year-old was in the middle of his most famous song when the switch was made
Many viewers who missed the chance to see the record-breaking performance as intended hoped that this would lead to the set being broadcast without advertisements in response.
“Sometimes I feel like a bad person, but at least I’m not the person at CBS who cut Billy Joel off mid-piano man…”
‘My 86-year-old mother looked forward to it all day and was so disappointed that he only saw him perform as a piano man at the end…
“You can’t produce a worse product than CBS just did on the Billy Joel special. Way too many commercials, didn’t play some of his best songs, went extremely out of line in his setlist and then went on the local news in the middle of Piano Man?!? A total flop from CBS…
“COME ON @CBS, you let me watch the guy win the Masters for 10 minutes and watch an amazing sunset, but you made Billy Joel cut out for commercials in the middle of “Piano Man”?!…
‘A painful #CBS broadcast. Network TV at its worst. Ten commercials after each song. Hopefully this will be broadcast somewhere commercial-free…
“CBS just pulled the plug on Billy Joel IN THE MIDDLE OF PIANO MAN?? The lack of respect.”
In the wake of the outrage, one of the anchors featured on the regional news broadcasts, Rex Smith, broke cover to apologize.
He wrote: ‘I apologize to the people who were enjoying Billy Joel singing on TV and then suddenly had to see my face. I would have chosen Billy Joel over me too. To be clear, we have no idea why that happened. I’m sure it will be looked into.’
Joel’s record-breaking 100th MSG concert was also streamed on Paramount+, whose viewers were seemingly unaffected by the issue.
The Bronx-born musician became emotional after it was announced that his residency will end in July 2024, after what will be his 150th show at the venue.
As of December 14, 1978, Joel has sold out MSG more than any other artist, and his permanent residency has seen him perform there every month since 2014.
Rex Smith, one of the local anchors caught in the storm, apologized for the accident, explaining that “we have no idea why that happened.”
Joel’s residency at MSG ends this July after ten years, with his 150th performance at the venue
The legendary musician cried as he made the emotional announcement in 2023
Joel said last July: “I’m quite baffled that it’s taken this long. My team tells me we can keep selling tickets, but ten years, 150 shows – already good!’
“I remember the first time we played Madison Square Garden was the highlight of my career. I thought, “My God, I’m the headliner at Madison Square Garden.”
“Everyone in the world knows that when you play The Garden, it’s not just about New York. I want to thank our audiences for coming to our shows.
“It’s hard to end, even after 150 lifetime shows. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful thing that has happened here.’
Joel currently holds Madison Square Garden’s only two performance-related records – one for ‘Most Lifetime Performances By Any Artist’, currently at 146 shows, and one for ‘Most Consecutive Performances By Any Artist’, now at 100 shows.
Despite being the longest-running resident at MSG, Joel transforms every performance for his audience.