Billy Joel picked to say goodbye to Shea Stadium

BY XANA O'NEILL
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Friday, February 8th 2008, 1:51 PM




Sing us a song, Piano Man!
Billy Joel will be the last performer to rock Shea Stadium before the Mets move to Citi Field next year.
"I'm a New York fan, and before this venue is gone, to have the opportunity to play here is really something else," the six-time Grammy winner proclaimed Thursday.
The concert - "The Last Play at Shea" - is slated for July 16. The Beatles began the stadium's rock tradition in 1965 when they performed the first major U.S. outdoor concert there.

Since then, the Mets' home field has hosted the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix.
Dave Howard, Mets vice president of baseball operations, said Joel, a native New Yorker, was a fitting finale to the list of high-profile musicians who have played at Shea.
"As we started talking about who would write that final chapter of the amazing rock 'n' roll history, we could think of no one better," he said.

Joel has played soldout shows in Giants Stadium, Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden. He said he wants to serenade fans at Shea with his classic songs and pay tribute to the Beatles. "Hopefully, we'll have something new to perform here, whether it's a song or a different kind of performance," he said.

Joel said he idolized the Beatles and recalled watching them play at Shea in 1965. "This is really an honor," he said. "This is something I never dreamed of back in the day."