Billy Joel Welcomes Olivia Rodrigo For ‘Deja Vu,’ ‘Uptown Girl’ at Madison Square Garden

variety.com:

Jonathan Cohen Billy Joel welcomed surprise guest Olivia Rodrigo Wednesday night during his 82nd consecutive sold-out show at New York’s Madison Square Garden for runs through her hit single “Deja Vu” and his own 1983 smash “Uptown Girl,” released nearly 20 years before Rodrigo was even born.

Decked out in a plunging black top, a brown patterned skirt and black leather boots, Rodrigo saluted Joel’s influence on her songwriting with “Deja Vu,” which references both Joel and “Uptown Girl.” The pair embraced warmly following the latter.

Beyond a steady stream of hits such as “Just the Way You Are,” “Allentown,” “Only the Good Die Young” and “My Life,” Wednesday’s show included rarities such as the opening “A Matter of Trust” (played for the first time since 2019 and featuring Joel on electric guitar rather than piano), “I Go to Extremes” and “The Downeaster Alexa” (with a ripping solo by guitarist Tommy Byrnes).

Joel was in fine, self-deprecating form all night, warning the crowd that he might not reach a key high note in “An Innocent Man” (he hit it quite nicely) and thanking Harry Styles for “taking a night off” from his 15-show MSG residency “so we could squeeze in.” Rodrigo, 19, is no stranger to including covers in her own sets, mostly consisting of songs from inspirations such as Avril Lavigne (“Complicated”), Veruca Salt (“Seether”) or No Doubt (“Just a Girl”).