Christmas is all about family, and Billy Joel made that abundantly clear onstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City last week. Sure, his set list was peppered with holiday classics, but he also brought some adorable guests onstage to help him sing one of them: his youngest daughters, Della and Remy Joel.
In matching green dresses, the sisters belted out the classic “Jingle Bells” on Dec. 19 with dad backing them up on piano (and gently coaxing them to face the audience). It was the 97th show of the Piano Man’s residency at the famous NYC venue, and Joel honored the season by performing other Christmas hits like “Silent Night,” “Deck the Halls” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
The proud papa posted a few pictures on his Facebook page last Friday:
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Della Rose is 8, and Remy Anne is 6, and they charmed the venue with ease. They’ve got some experience, too, since Joel has been known to bring his daughters up on stage for cameos before. Della was only 3 when she performed a duet with her dad on “Don’t Ask Me Why” at Madison Square Garden in 2018, and his eldest daughter, Alexa Ray, sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” that same night.
Joel fathered Alexa (now 37) with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley, while Della and Remy are children from Joel’s fourth marriage, to Alexis Roderick, a former exec at Morgan Stanley.
Joel has been playing a residency at Madison Square Garden since 2014 and still holds the record for the artist who has performed there the most. The long-term engagement has increasingly become about family — and not just Joel’s own. His once-a-month concerts have let him spend more time with his family, and those who work on the show have also been able to enjoy being near family at this unusually stable job in the music business.
And while Joel has announced he’ll be ending that residency with his 150th show there on July 25, 2024, he’s not slowing down for these last few shows. On Dec. 19, he also brought on singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. The pair teamed up on “Allentown” and Costello’s 1978 hit “Pump it Up.”
The rest of the dates for his residency at the Garden are sold out, but he does have a few tour dates scheduled for 2024.
Billy Joel’s daughters, ages 6 and 8, joined him on stage for a Christmas song originally appeared on Simplemost.com, helping make the most out of life.
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