End of an Era: Billy Joel ends his historic run at Madison Square Garden on Thursday
NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's the end of an era for Billy Joel as he performs the final show of his record-breaking franchise run at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
The 75-year-old Bronx-born and Long Island native responsible for timeless hits like "Uptown Girl," "New York State of Mind," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "Only the Good Die Young" is taking his final bow at the legendary arena.
The concert will be his 150th lifetime show at the venue and will wrap his 10-year residency at the world's most famous arena.
The Piano Man became the Garden's first-ever music franchise, joining the New York Knicks and Rangers. Since then, he has played in front of more than 2 million people.
He played his first show at the venue in 1978 but he was introduced to the Garden as a young boy.
"It was a different location, it was a Christmas show, I saw Gene Autry singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I thought it was the biggest place I'd ever seen in my life," he said.
He began his unprecedented run -- one show a month for the better part of 10 years -- and said it was the fans that kept him coming back.
He loves the fans and the fans love him.
"I wanna thank them for coming for this long, for this much, it's hard to end even at 150 lifetime shows," Joel said.
In celebration of this historic residency and to cement Billy Joel's legacy at The Garden a "Defining Moments" exhibit will be on display on the sixth-floor concourse beginning with the final show and will feature memorabilia from his legendary run.
The exhibit will also feature special merchandise, a photo experience for fans as well as 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"-themed concession items like cannolis and chicken vodka parm heroes.
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