Singer and songwriter Billy Joel on Thursday released “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first release of new music since 2007.
The song has a lyric video on YouTube and is available for digital purchase or as a vinyl record through billyjoel.com. Mr. Joel will perform the song live at the Grammys on Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time on CBS, per an announcement on his website.
Mr. Joel’s website describes the song, produced by Grammy-nominated Freddy Wexler and written by Mr. Joel, Mr. Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector, as “a classic Billy Joel-style tune, embodying the hallmarks of his signature sound and ushering in the next chapter of his story.”
Before the release of “Turn the Lights Back On,” Mr. Joel’s last new singles were “All My Life” and “Christmas in Fallujah,” both released 17 years ago.
His last two new music albums were the classical “Fantasies & Delusions” in 2001 and the pop and rock “River of Dreams” in 1993.
Mr. Joel told Vulture in 2018 that the lack of radio play and singles sales for the tracks on “River of Dreams,” outside the hit title song, led him to stop making new music.
“I put a lot of work into ’River of Dreams,’ and it was as if the business had left me behind because there are substantial songs on that album that never went anywhere. So I said, “What’s the point of putting myself through writing and recording if it doesn’t mean what it’s supposed to mean out there in the world?’” he said.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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