Billy Joel is set to mark his return with the release of his first solo single in almost 20 years.
Joel has not released any new tracks since 2007 while his last pop album, River of Dreams, was released in 1993… more than 30 years ago.
Joel’s new single “Turn The Lights Back On” will be released with Columbia Records on February 1, 2024.
WATCH NOW: Billy Joel & Alexa Ray Joel sing Baby Grand. Article continues after video.
The song will be available on all digital providers and a limited edition 7″ vinyl.
The song will also be accompanied by a lyric video that will be uploaded to Joel’s YouTube channel.
The new single was produced by GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler and was written by Wexler, Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector as well as Joel himself.
Based on the snippet, the pop song includes the lyrics, “Did I wait too long … to turn the lights back on?”
The release of his new song has been talked about since December 19 when he shared the news to an audience while he was performing a show at Madison Square Garden.
“I have good news. I have bad news. I’ll give you the bad news first. We don’t have anything new to play for you. The good news is you don’t have to sit through something you have no idea what it is. Although we’ve got a little something we’ve been working on you might hear sometime,” he said.
Though there has been no confirmation as to whether or not “Turn the Lights Back On” is a one-off or if there will be more material to come, Joel has been open about the possibility in the past.
A few months following the release of his last solo song “All My Life” in 2007, Joel spoke to Billboard saying, “I’m not ruling out the possibility of writing songs again.”
“I suppose if I had the motivation to write a song, I’m not gonna stop myself from doing it. I just haven’t felt the compulsion to write songs in pop form. I guess these days I just think of myself as a composer.”
Joel teased the new song to TikTok which had fans getting very excited in the comment section.
“BILLY JOEL IS RELEASING A SINGLE IN MY LIFETIME,” one said.
Another shared: “Oh my god I cried”.
Another wrote: “BILLY JOEL DROPPING MUSIC IN MY LIFETIME IS WILD”.
“Couldn’t be more excited! Hope a new album is coming too!” one said.
Joel is one of the most influential artists of all time and has sold over 160 million albums across the globe.
Now 74, Joel has won five Grammy Awards over his career and has also received a Grammy Legend Award in 1991.
He is best known for his hit songs “Uptown Girl”, “Vienna”, “Piano Man”, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and “New York State of Mind,” however, his entire discography is widely popular, and has remained influential even to this day.
