Daily Podcasts Video Research

Why does Billy Joel always play the same tone-deaf song at New York benefit concerts?

JL;DR SUMMARY Billy Joel's repeated choice to perform his 1976 song "Miami 2017" during New York benefit concerts, especially amidst crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and post-9/11, is critiqued for being tone-deaf. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

New York CityCovid 19MusicCulture9/11Hurricane SandyBilly JoelCrisis ResponseMiami 2017New York Benefit Concerts

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"Billy Joel played his 1976 tune Miami 2017 accompanied by a light show on the Empire State Building and a King Kong-sized feed of his face over a barren Times Square."
Miami, Florida, United States
"In the song, the city decides theyd rather go bust, exploding bridges, sinking Manhattan out at sea and, in an act of clemency for Joels native Long Island, ruling that Queens could stay."

Support this source

This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 57124
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-07-17 05:31:20 UTC
Curated 2025-07-17 08:31:36 UTC