A lucky Long Island resident received an unexpected Billy Joel performance when the "Piano Man" himself played a piano that they'd planned on throwing out.
In the video taken at the end of June, the 71-year-old New York native seemingly couldn't resist banging out a ragtime-style tune on the piano that was left out in the trash in Huntington, Long Island.
As he finished playing, he said that the piano was still fine and would be in working condition with just some minor service. "Not bad. The action is good. It just needs tuning, and the finish is beat," he told the owners, not wanting to see the perfectly fine piano go to waste.
When one of the owners called the piano a "relic," Joel defended it while tapping on the high keys. "It's a perfectly good piano. It's a shame to throw it out," he said, while also suggesting donating it to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a local charitable organization, which runs thrift stores. When the owner says that there's a thrift store nearby, Joel responded, "They'd probably take it."
Before the short video cut out, Joel continued to test different parts of the piano, remarking that it had "laminated keys" and the pedals worked. "The action is great. The mechanics are perfect," he said before the clip ended.
One commenter on the YouTube video had a suggestion to help the thrift store bring in a few extra bucks. "Joel should help the guy take the piano over to the thrift store. Once the donation process is complete, he should sign and date the piano, and announce that he has done so on his social media. It would probably bring an additional $500 or $1000 to the thrift store," the person wrote.
Joel's agent and Columbia Records, Joel's record label, did not respond to Newsweek's emailed requests for comment in time for publication.
Like many other performers, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the musician to postpone most of his shows. According to the tour page on his website, Joel has shows for his monthly residency at New York's Madison Square Garden again beginning in September, but the shows from September to December are sold out. Many of Joel's concerts for this summer were postponed until 2021.
For fans missing out on upcoming Joel shows, the singer penned the foreword for his drummer Liberty DeVitto's upcoming memoir, Liberty: Life, Billy, and the Pursuit of Happiness, which is due out on July 17.
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