It was a classic Billy Joel moment. After finding himself seated with the music legend at Howard Stern’s wedding, Train frontman Pat Monahan was so struck by Joel’s down-to-earth nature that he boldly asked him to get up and sing. Monahan’s request? “She’s Always a Woman.”
“He was such a modest, humble, awesome guy that I asked him to sing a Billy Joel song,” Monahan, 57, recalls. “And he went up and sang a James Taylor song because he doesn’t have it in him to be presumptuous enough to think people would want to hear a Billy Joel song.”
“Dad’s really self-deprecating!” confirms his musician daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 40. “He’s always poking fun at himself and doesn’t lean into his fame or celebrity.”
“And So It Goes” that 18 years later, Monahan will take the stage, alongside Joel’s band, to perform “She’s Always a Woman” at The Music of Billy Joel, a star-studded tribute event at New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall on March 12. Presented by promoter Michael Dorf, the lineup features Alexa Ray, Rob Thomas, Wyclef Jean, Matt Nathanson, Gavin DeGraw, Bettye LaVette, Rufus Wainwright, Andrew McMahon, Marc Roberge, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tanya Tucker, The War and Treaty, Itzhak Perlman, Sammy Rae, Jon McLaughlin and Neal Francis.
As The Hollywood Reporter exclusively spoke to the performers, three common threads emerged from their stories — their admiration for the unassuming, unpretentious nature that compelled Monahan to request a spontaneous wedding performance, Joel’s profound impact on their artistry and the palpable enthusiasm that makes each musician just like any other raving Joel fan.
Nathanson would have “walked across a fucking desert then swam a fucking ocean” to honor Joel, who has paused touring while fighting a neurological condition. Thomas, meanwhile, lights up recalling how he approached “unbelievably charming” Joel at a restaurant in the ‘90s. “It was him and Don Henley having dinner, so I waited until they were done eating then said, ‘Hi, I’m —’ and he was like, ‘Rob! How you doing? You’re having a really good year.’ Then he told me to keep an eye on my money.”
It’s been a longtime love affair with Joel’s music for the performers. Nathanson discovered “Uptown Girl” through MTV before being dazzled by Songs in the Attic, while Monahan was drawn to “Allentown,” given his Pennsylvania roots. Wyclef Jean would croon “The Longest Time” weekly with Fugees bandmate Lauryn Hill, having discovered Joel as a kid. “I was working with my daddy at the Ramada Inn in New Jersey,” he says. “I’d hear the cover bands playing his songs and sing along to make time go faster. I loved it.”
Thomas fell down a Joel hole with 1980’s Glass Houses. “My vocal style was taken from Elton [John], Billy and Tracy Chapman,” says the Grammy winner. “I loved how he’d say certain words and that stayed in my brain. And if I wasn’t a Billy Joel fan, I probably would never have written [Matchbox Twenty’s] ‘Bright Lights.’”
Nathanson realised how heavily Joel, 76, infiltrated his musicianship while preparing to perform “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” on Thursday. Practicing on fans, they remarked how natural his rendition felt. “It’s not because I’m great — it’s because in my genetic makeup, Billy Joel has existed and shaped the way I view music,” says Nathanson, 52. “This guy’s a main building block of who I am as a musician.”
No one relates to that more than Alexa Ray, who credits Joel for the diverse musical tastes she’s developed and drawn upon. “I call him a Zelig — someone who can transform into a different voice and character,” she says. “He’s eclectic and can delve into all genres. I’m so lucky I get to learn from him and have my dad as my musical hero. He’s like this fountain of musical knowledge and genius.”
That endless well of lessons is something Thursday’s performers attest to. Notably, they’re still drawing their greatest musical education and inspiration from Joel — decades after becoming fans.
In what he calls an extraordinary “master class,” Nathanson dug deep into Joel’s artistry while recording Joel hits for his upcoming EP, Songs in the (M)attic. “‘Uptown Girl’ sounds effortless, then you take it apart and there’s modulations, chord changes and piano chords I’ve never seen on a guitar,” says Nathanson. “I have new appreciation for how much of a master the guy is.”
Thomas agrees. “His musicality is subtle. A lot of what he’s doing is so tricky, but he puts it into this pop format, so you don’t even realize you’re getting a masterclass in musicianship. He’s not trying to show you how much he knows — it’s just in the DNA.”
More than four decades after “Allentown” captured Monahan, he’s inspired by Joel “now more than ever.” It’s why Train’s upcoming single “Mad Dog in the Fog” draws on “Piano Man” and the vivid characters immortalized in the 1973 track.
“His lyric writing’s so personal,” says Monahan. “It sounds like every character and moment’s real. Did he really know a guy named Davy from the navy? It doesn’t matter because it sounds like he did. We all aspire to write like that.
“I sent the song to him and asked if he’d help finish it and he was like, ‘It sounds done to me,’ which was a good blessing.”
Meanwhile, Alexa Ray’s new single, “Heavy Eyes,” pays homage to An Innocent Man. “It’s reminiscent of that album and ‘60s bop. Or if you listen to ‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood’ or ‘Until the Night,’ I tried to emulate that sound.”
The enduring impact of Joel on the artists is why Dorf felt they were perfect for the tribute. “Rob Thomas, Pat Monahan and Gavin DeGraw were clearly influenced by Billy and looked to songwriter icons like him,” says Dorf, founder of City Winery, which will host rehearsals and pre-show events. “That’s who they wanted to be when they grew up.”
Dorf himself was a “legitimate fanboy,” showing THR a 52nd Street vinyl from the collection he scours while deciding who to honor at the annual Carnegie Hall fundraiser. He was 15 in Milwaukee when the sounds of Joel engulfed him. “If you entered a grocery store or went to get jeans at Gimbels, Billy’s music was unavoidable. The songs were so catchy they ended up in your soul.”
Dorf was reminded of Joel’s power while watching HBO’s documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, so he dedicated his 21st annual “Music Of” event to the five-time Grammy winner. He was thrilled to learn the musician’s Joel Foundation already supports many of the youth music education programs his series benefits. “Whether it’s war, climate change or health scares, there’s constantly a new, topical issue asking for people’s money,” says Dorf. “And music education’s unfortunately the program that gets cut when there’s limited funds.”
Beneficiaries include Jazz House Kids and Grammy Museum Foundation. Events have averaged $120,000 but exceed $200,000 for Joel’s tribute.
Accompanied by Joel’s band (David Rosenthal, Mark Rivera, Crystal Taliefero, Tommy Byrnes, Andy Cichon, Chuck Burgi and Carl Fischer) and pianist Dan Orlando, the artists will cover 20 songs.
Thomas was quick to call dibs on “Vienna” and sees Thursday night as a “do-over” for that time he felt like he flubbed singing Joel’s “You May Be Right” at a MusiCares event. He’s been practicing nightly and performed the stirring song at a fundraiser for his animal rescue nonprofit Sidewalk Angels Foundation, where fans were brought to tears with the “outstanding” rendition.
Just as the Matchbox Twenty frontman serves fans unforgettable moments at such shows, Joel was the centerpiece of one of Thomas’ standout memories with his late dad Bill, who he took to a Madison Square Garden concert 20-plus years ago.
“Billy Joel at the Garden’s like seeing Springsteen in Jersey,” says Thomas. “There’s a million times he references New York, so a million times the audience explodes. Up until he died, it was part of what my dad considered his favorite weekend of his entire life. We saw Billy, then went to this bar and hung out with his band and there was a bunch of younger women fawning over my dad, like, ‘You’re so cute!’ He had a ball.”
Thursday’s celebration comes as Joel focuses on getting fighting fit while battling Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a brain disorder affecting balance, vision and hearing. After falling on stage in early 2025, he was diagnosed and cancelled remaining tour dates.
Alexa Ray’s “impressed” with how great Joel’s doing amid a health overhaul and has told him he can’t miss Thursday’s event. THR hears he plans to bring a famous friend. While it’s unknown whether he might jump on stage, few expect Joel to stay away from performing too long.
The way that Joel has, until now, continued to perform so frequently and whole-heartedly wows fans like Thomas. He’s busy commencing Matchbox Twenty’s 30th anniversary celebrations with new EP The North B-Sides, summer festivals, tentative fall engagements and a tour encompassing the U.S., Australia and possibly England and Brazil. Yet at 54, Thomas admits he tires from a few shows, let alone the steady runs Joel has managed into his seventies.
“He’s going up and playing for two hours, not promoting anything other than the nostalgia we have for the music,” says Thomas. “He does it every night with that zeal. It never looks like he doesn’t want to fucking play ‘Piano Man.’ You can’t do that without vicariously living through the fans you’re playing for. He truly appreciates how much fans still appreciate him.”
And those fans include Thursday’s entire lineup. “There’s very few people who can leave a legacy as wildly deep and long as Billy’s,” says Nathanson, who’s touring with Train this summer. “He’s a treasure of a musical human.”
Adds Monahan: “This is the greatest American artist of all time and I get to live on a planet at the same time with him. I hope we can continue showing younger artists the importance of Billy’s music. It should live on for a long time and if he’s incapable of performing it, we’ll carry the torch until he can come back and start knocking it out himself. Because he does it better than all of us.”
Just don’t ask him to do it at a wedding — he’s far too humble.
