Billy Joel has teased a new single, Turn The Lights Back, his first since 2007. In fact, this is only his second single since 1993, when he stepped back from songwriting and focused on playing live shows.
Joel’s self-imposed recording retirement is seemingly coming to an end, though; we’re told that Turn The Lights Back On “will be ushering in the next chapter of his story,” which suggests that more new material could also be on the way.
The new single will be released on 1 February on Columbia Records and be accompanied by a lyric video. It was produced by Freddy Wexler, who’s famed for his work with pop titans such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and Pink,, but promises to be “a classic Billy Joel-style tune, embodying the hallmarks of his signature sound.” The song was co-written by Wexler, Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector, and Joel.
Despite his lack of new music, Joel has remained a big draw on the live circuit (and also when playing discarded pianos on the street) and his name reached a new audience when it was referenced by Olivia Rodrigo in her 2021 single, Deja Vu. The pair would go on to perform both that song and Joel’s 1983 hit Uptown Girl together at Madison Square Garden.
Joel was also responsible for ‘breaking Taylor Swift’s brain’ in 2021 when he expressed his admiration and called her “that generation’s Beatles”.
