Billy Joel is getting the world back in a New York state of mind. The piano man has dropped the music video for his first new track in 17 years, and it features a hefty dose of A.I.
The New York icon, 74, on Friday released the video for “Turn the Lights Back On,” which opens with the Grammy winner flipping through a notebook for the lyrics of his 1993 song “Famous Last Words” before landing on a blank page to start playing the new single.
The video, helmed by Warren Fu and Freddy Wexler, transitions to the Joel of today sitting at the piano before younger Joels perform the song. The video was made possible by artificial intelligence startup Deep Voodoo, People reports.
The nod to “Famous Last Words” — the last track off of the Bronx native’s last pop album, “River of Dreams” — was also featured last month when he announced last month that he’d be releasing “Turn the Lights Back On” on Feb. 1. The song was released just in time for him to perform it on the Grammys stage, at the end of the awards ceremony, with host Trevor Noah proclaiming it’d been “worth the wait.”
The New York native’s newest release comes as he’s preparing to close another chapter in his storied career.
At the end of July, Joel will conclude his more than decade-long residency at Madison Square Garden — with his 150th lifetime show at the venue.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve been able to do this for 10 years,” Joel said last summer. “It keeps selling and people keep coming and people keep buying tickets, and I’m now 74. I’ll be 75 next year. It seems like a nice number.”
Prior to “Turn the Lights Back On,” Joel last released 2007’s the jazzy “All My Life.”
