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Watch Billy Joel Surprise a Billy Joel Cover Band Live on Stage

It’s a cover band’s dream come true, right? For the actual artist to come out during your set and play a few tunes?

Well, that’s exactly what happened at a recent performance from Billy Joel cover band Big Shot. They were playing at the Paramount Theatre in New York, which happens to be near to where Joel lives. He got up on stage as a huge, unannounced surprise for the audience, and played three covers – With a Little Help From My Friends, originally by The Beatles but here a rendition of Joe Cocker’s version, Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones, and a kind of mash-up between Led Zeppelin’s Rock & Roll and Joel’s original single You May Be Right. 

To be clear, it wasn’t quite as surprising as this situation could get; when Big Shot aren’t a Billy Joel cover band, they are also Billy Joel’s actual backing band, and have been performing with the legendary singer-songwriter at his monthly residency at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. However, it was still a huge surprise for the band and audience, both apparently unaware of their special guest until right before he came up on stage.

Image: BillyJoel.com