Yes, That Was Billy Joel Riding the Long Island Rail Road

Actually, you are right. You might not be crazy. Because you really did see Billy Joel that one time on the Long Island Rail Road, which now serves as his preferred commute to and from his shows at Madison Square Garden. “I used to take a helicopter,” Joel told Newsday in a new interview, noting that the chopper life no longer appealed to him for safety reasons. (Nothing can humble a piano man quite like turbulence.) “People will sometimes look at me on the railroad and think, Look at this guy, trying to look like Billy Joel. He’s not kidding anybody. It’s still a great way to go.”

Granted, Joel’s team didn’t love the idea at first: “‘You’ll get recognized, blah, blah, blah,’ I’m turning it into a big megillah.” But as he explained to Stephen Colbert last month, not even a chauffeured car was a better solution. “For two and a half hours, you’re onstage, you’re Mussolini. They’re yelling your name, they’re clapping, they’re cheering, they’re loving,” Joel said. “Then you jump in a car and you drive into New York traffic and you’re just another schmuck in traffic. Wait a minute, I was just Mussolini, what happened to me? And some people can’t handle that transition.” Joel has five more shows in his MSG residency, or, in his terms, a Ten-Trip peak.

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