Billy Joel finally wrapped up his legendary 10-year residency at Madison Square Garden, and you know that he had to send it off with a bang, right? The Piano Man did just that by bringing on the one and only Axl Rose! The Guns N’ Roses frontman dropped in to sing the Paul McCartney classic “Live and Let Die,” which is a live staple for the Gunners.
Joel welcomed Rose onstage with a smile and a hug, as the crowd lost it at the sight of the rock icon. The Piano Man then held it down on piano while Rose rocked out in a dapper, sparkling black suit. The 62-year-old Rose looked stoked to be there and gave the crowd a little taste of his famous dance moves. The Music Man readers will know that it’s not easy to sing those notes after five decades in the business, but Rose was all over it!
Rose appeared at Joel’s July 25, 2024, performance at Madison Square Garden, which marked the end of The Piano Man’s long-lasting residency at the iconic venue. Rose is quite reclusive apart from Gunners activities, so for him to hoof it to New York City just to sing three songs really shows the high esteem that the singer has for Joel.
Joel treated the crowd to a 26-song set at the show. Rose appeared at the midway point to sing “Live and Let Die,” and then stayed onstage to sing AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” The frontman then returned for the final song of the night to sing Joel’s 1980 hit “You May Be Right.” You can hear Rose rock the mic on “Highway to Hell” below. Rose’s performance of the AC/DC classic comes as no surprise, as after all, he filled in as the lead singer for the Aussie rockers in 2016.
Paul McCartney wrote “Live and Let Die” with Linda McCartney in 1972. The Music Man readers may recall that the song became the theme song to the James Bond flick of the same name. This came about after the film’s producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli asked the Beatles’ main man to write a song for the film. McCartney first requested a copy of the Ian Fleming novel that inspired the film. He enjoyed the book, then got to work, later stating, “That afternoon I wrote the song and went in the next week and did it … It was a job of work for me in a way because writing a song around a title like that’s not the easiest thing going.”