Live on WMMR
​(1972) (released 2011)
Live at The Great
American Music Hall
(1975) (released 2021)
Live at Carnegie Hall
(1977) (released 2008)
Live at Yankee Stadium
(1990)
Live from The River of Dreams
(1993-1994)
2000 Years:
​The Millennium Concert
(2000)
Live Through The Years
​(2019)
(Fictional album)
Live in Miami
(2017)
The Vinyl Collection, Volume 1, Released
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Billy Joel:  The Vinyl Collection, Vol. I, was released in November 2021.  It contains his first six studio albums, from Cold Spring Harbor to 52nd Street, as well Songs In The Attic and a new album, Live at the Great American Music Hall from a concert in 1975.   Read more about it on the official site.
     BILLY JOEL is a dynamic live performer as can be seen in the video to the right, Billy Joel: Live Through The Years. In the early 1970s, he was accompanied by Larry Russell, Rhys Clark and Don Evans. During the mid 1970s, his band consisted of Liberty Devitto, Richie Cannata, Russell Javors, Doug Stegmeyer, and Howie Emerson. Guitarist David Brown joined in 1980. Saxophonist Mark Rivera joined in 1982. Over the years, Billy's band has included others such as David Lebolt, Mindy Jostyn, and Schuyler Deale. The current band consists of Tommy Byrnes, Chuck Burghi, David Rosenthal, Mark Rivera, Crystal Taliefero, Andy Cichon, Carl Fischer, and Mike DelGuidice. See Wikipedia.

     Supporting Billy for over 40 years are his longtime sound producer, Brian Ruggles, and lighting director Steve Cohen. Dennis Arfa has worked as Billy's booking agent for just as long and has helped make Billy's concerts some of the most sought after concerts in the music industry.
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     The list below consists of albums of Billy's live concerts and performances that were officially released in the United States (except the fictional "Live in Miami" (2017)). Also, the first two albums  listed below, Live on WMMR and Live at Carnegie Hall were not released as separate albums but were released with the Legacy Editions of Piano Man (2011) and The Stranger (2008), respectively.   UPDATE:  A vinyl version of Live at Carnegie Hall was released in 2019.
Billy performing live through years.
Mark Rivera, Crystal Taliefero, and Carl Fischer (2007).  
Photo:  Mike Kurman.
Some other live recordings that have been officially released include:
  • Souvenir (1977)
    This promotional album contains four songs recorded from Billy's 1976 concert at Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College. The concert was released on VHS as Billy Joel Tonight (s    ee the Videos & DVDs page). It also contained studio versions of other songs.
  • Live at CW Post/Greenvale (1977)
    For many years, this concert was a bootleg taken from a radio broadcast of Billy's concert on May 6, 1977 at CW Post (Long Island community college). In 2019, however, it was apparently re-mastered and officially released in digital format only as "Greenvale 1977" on Spotify and Amazon Prime.
  • Live at Nassau Coliseum (1977)
    This was a Best Buy-only bonus CD that came with The Stranger Legacy Edition, Box Set, it contained live versions of "Just The Way Your Are," "Vienna," "The Ballad of Billy The Kid," "Get It Right The First Time," and "Summer, Highland Falls" from a November 1977 concert at Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum that was broadcast on the radio.
  • That's Not Her Style: The Storm Front Tour CD (1990). This promotional CD for the Storm Front tour had studio and live versions of 16 songs. The live versions are "Allentown," "Prelude/Angry Young Man," and "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" (from a radio broadcast concert at Wembley Arena on May 25, 1990) as well as "The Downeaster Alexa" (from a concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on April 6, 1990)
  • ​2000 Years: The Millennium Concert Bonus Tracks (2000)
    ​This is a two-song bonus track CD with live performances of "No Man's Land' and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)."
  • 12 Gardens Bonus Tracks (2006)
    iTunes had two bonus tracks for 12 Gardens Live, namely, "Stiletto" and "Honesty," while Sony Music Direct had "You're My Home," and "Sleeping with the Television On."
  • All My Life CD Single (2007)
    The mini-CD of the release of "All My Life" contained 3 live versions of songs from 12 Gardens Live performances, "You're My Home," "Honesty," and "Stiletto."
  • The Stranger Live (2008)
    PBS issued a special CD of live versions of the songs from The Stranger when the 30th Anniversary Edition of The Stranger was released in 2008. The CD had live versions of each song except for "Everybody Has A Dream," plus a live version of "Piano Man."
  • Live at Carnegie Hall (1977/2019)
    The Live at Carnegie Hall album, first available on CD in The Stranger: Legacy Edition in 2008, was released on vinyl for Record Store Day in 2019 with a new cover and artwork, and limited to 3,000 copies.

Billy's box set of B-side and rarities, My Lives (2005), also has several previously unreleased live tracks or ones only available as B-sides. And the all-star concert albums such as America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) and The Concert for New York City (2001), and 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief, contain live performances as well. Billy's set at the Concert for Sandy Relief was considered something of a comeback for him, and his set was widely considered the most energetic and applauded.

In addition to these official releases, there are of course many bootleg CDs and cassettes out there including some of Billy's more famous concerts from the 1970s such as Live at Hempstead's Ultrasonic Studios (1971), Live at the Boarding House San Francisco (1971), Mar Y Sol Festival (1972), Live at the Great American Music Hall (SF) (1975), Live at the Bottom Line (1976), Live at Sydney Opera House (1976), Live at The Capitol Theater (1976) , Live at C.W. Post (Long Island University) (1977) (update: a re-mastered digital version of this concert was released as Billy Joel: Greenvale 1977 in 2019), and Storm Arena: Live at Wembley Arena (1990) (radio broadcast). Unfortunately Billy's Face to Face concerts with Elton John have never been officially released on DVD or CD in the United States. There are, however, several other live concert videos and DVDs. See the DVDs & Videos page. One can also find videos of Billy Joel concerts on YouTube, see Concerts on YouTube.
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Update:   A new version of Live At Yankee Stadium, both the video (DVD) and audio (CD), was announced in August 2022 and set for release in November 2022.   The new DVD has the same songs as the prior one, with the addition of "Uptown Girl."  However, the video and audio quality have been greatly improved, and the video has been re-edited to make it less "jumpy" like the original one from 1990.   The concert film will be shown at theaters on October 5 and 9, 2022.  See link.   As to audio (CD), this is a two disc set with 22 songs.  There was no prior official CD of the concerts, except for the five-song CD that was part of the Australian package. 
DISCLAIMER: This site, One Final Serenade, is an unofficial fan site commenting on the music and lyrics of Billy Joel.  It is not affiliated with Billy Joel, Sony Music, or Universal Music Group.  See the Disclaimer at the bottom of the Home page.  Visit the Official Site at BillyJoel.com. ​

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PicturePublicity photo (1981)
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