Billy Joel is honoring his history while looking ahead to the future.
PEOPLE can exclusively share the famous singer’s new video for “Turn the Lights Back On.” The film, his first in decades, shows the artist, 74, performing the tune across various decades of his life using innovative technology from Deep Voodoo, an artificial intelligence business.
The video, directed by Warren Fu and Freddy Wexler, opens with Joel going over a notebook page that contains the words to his song “Famous Last Words.”
When he notices a fresh dark page, he begins playing the piano to the tune of “Turn the Lights Back On.” When he starts singing, the video fades to an earlier shot of Joel.
The ballad is the renowned piano man’s first original song in 17 years. Freddy Wexler produced it, while Joel, Arthur Bacon, and Wayne Hector collaborated on the writing. Joel sang it live for the first time at the 2024 Grammy Awards, earning a standing ovation. A video ran before to the highly anticipated performance, stating that the song had been in the works for two years.
“I began doing what I do because it was a lot of fun. I kind of lost that after a time. “Freddy got me to rediscover the joy in it,” Joel remarked. During an interview with GRAMMY Live! from the Red Carpet, he discussed the writing process.
“I am going to go into my cave and become a caveman.” It’s not a pleasurable process for me; it’s really self-centered and lonely. It may be torturous at times. But later, I like having written,” he said.
Joel will complete his record-breaking Madison Square Garden stint on July 25. This will be his 150th appearance at the venue.
“After ten years, we’ve completed it. I hadn’t realized it would last ten years. And I’m not sure how many concerts there are; I’m sure someone is keeping count someplace, but I’m shocked that we’ve come this far, and I’m honored,” he told PEOPLE about the milestone in November 2023.
Joel has also announced additional North American tour dates, including his last appearance on September 27 in St. Louis, Missouri.
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