Earlier this week, Billy Joel announced “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new pop song since 2007. The single is out February 1, and, a few nights later, he’s going to take the stage at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Joel joins previously announced Grammys performers Burna Boy, Luke Combs, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, and Travis Scott.
The Grammys take place on Sunday, February 4, in Los Angeles. Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards throughout his career, and he’s taken home five trophies. His first two Grammy victories came in 1979 for The Stranger’s “Just the Way You Are.”
Joel wrote “Turn the Lights Back On” with Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector, and Freddy Wexler, the latter of whom also produced the track. It will mark the singer-songwriter’s first new music since the twin 2007 songs “All My Life” and “Christmas in Fallujah.”
Billy Joel signaled his retirement from original pop music with “Famous Last Words,” the closing track on 1993’s River of Dreams. He sings at the song’s end:
While he hasn’t released much rock or pop music since River of Dreams, Joel released the classical music album Fantasies & Delusions in 2001. He’s also toured relentlessly and played a residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden that comes to an end later this year.
