CBS released a statement on Monday, April 15 to apologize after the Billy Joel’s concert special, The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run of All Time was cut off during the end of Joel’s iconic song, “Piano Man.” The network aired the two-hour special (taped in March) in honor of Joel’s record-setting run at Madison Square Garden, which he began in January 2014 and will conclude on July 25. The special also marked the musician’s first-ever broadcast concert special.
Per Billboard, the network’s apology statement read: “A network programming timing error ended last night’s Billy Joel special approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central Time Zones. We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song. Due to the overwhelming demand from his legion of fans, BILLY JOEL: THE 100TH – LIVE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19th at 9:00PM ET/PT.”
Fans who tuned in were upset after the broadcast was delayed by 30 minutes due to the 2024 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. As a result, the network cut the end of Joel’s performance of ‘Piano Man’ to switch back to local news coverage at 11PM. Setlist.fm also notes that Joel played an additional five songs afterward as part of his encore, so viewers also missed out on performances of: “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “Uptown Girl,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Big Shot” and “You May Be Right.”
Joel’s next performance at MSG is set for Friday, April 26, and is currently sold out. Joel’s full performance on the “Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden” special is also available to stream on Paramount+
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