CBS rebroadcasts Billy Joel concert after 'Piano Man' disaster

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CBS just announced that the network will be bringing back the broadcast Billy Joel: The 100 – Live at Madison Square Garden A full special on Friday, April 19, after the show was interrupted on Sunday in some parts of the country as the singer was in the middle of his hit song “Piano Man.”

“A network programming timing error caused last night’s Billy Joel special to end approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central time zones,” CBS said in a statement. “We apologize to Mr. Joel, his fans, our affiliated stations, and our audience whose viewing experience was interrupted during the final song.

“Due to the overwhelming demand from its fans,” the statement continues.Billy Joel: The 100 – Live at Madison Square Garden It will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19 at 9:00 PM ET/PT.

The broadcast of the special program on Sunday in the eastern and central regions was cut off from local news at 11pm shortly before the song “la la la de das” ended. The ending went something like this: “And the piano sounds like a carnival / And the microphone smells like beer / And they sit in…”

Billy Joel: The 100 – Live at Madison Square Garden The special began late Sunday evening for a half-hour due to coverage of the 2024 Masters Tournament overtime.

Fans expressed their anger on social media. “You can't make a worse product than what CBS just did on the Billy Joel special,” one person tweeted. “Too many commercials, didn't play some of his best songs, went completely out of order in his set list, and then went on the local news in the middle of Piano Man?!? A complete fiasco by CBS.”

Another wrote, “@CBS, you can just reschedule the Billy Joel concert your affiliates cut short to go on the late night local news. We the fans are not happy. There are so many other TV viewing options than you….you need to bring it back.”

And another: “Are you kidding me? I recorded it for 3 hours because I knew it was late. Seriously cut to the news??? This is terrible.”

Sharing a clip of the excerpted song, Barstool Sports wrote, “How do you cut a Billy Joel concert in the middle of the Piano Man?!”

The concert was taped on March 28 at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the 100th show of his long (and final) residency in his hometown.

In addition to the CBS rebroadcast, the concert special – in its entirety – is available on Paramount+.

And in the unlikely event that you can't remember: “…hold the bread in my jar/And say, 'Man, what are you doing here?'