“Who knew Billy could play guitar?” Billy Joel rocks a Strat with Axl Rose in surprise cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell
The pair also covered Wings’ Live and Let Die as Billy Joel rounded out his US tour with a little help from the Guns N’ Roses frontman’s steely pipes
2024 has delivered some weird and wonderful matchups – from Johnny Depp paying tribute to Jeff Beck with Andrea Bocelli to Matteo Mancuso and Joe Bonamasssa trading fiery licks. Now it has seen the return of another unlikely duo: Billy Joel and Axl Rose.
The pair performed together back in 2017, taking on AC/DC’s peerless driving anthem Highway To Hell, and last night (July 25) they did it again at Madison Square Garden.
Mr. Joel even donned a Fender Stratocaster for the occasion.
The combination of single coils and a barely overdriven, possibly chorus-tinted guitar tone doesn’t exactly match up to Angus Young’s iconic SG through a Marshall stack combination – and it would be hard to imagine Bon Scott or Brian Johnson in the sparkly blazer Axl Rose wore for the performance – but it’s great entertainment.
It was the final night of the US leg of the Piano Man’s current world tour, and Joel looked to bow out in style.
Granted, Axl Rose arguably sounded better when he performed with the band proper in 2016 when he was a surprising – and impressive – stand-in for Johnson, who was suffering from hearing difficulties.
The song was preceded by another cover, a take on Paul McCartney’s Bond theme Live and Let Die, which Guns N’ Roses famously reimagined on Use Your Illusion.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Joel was back behind the keys for that track, but it’s the slightly parallel universe vibes of their Highway To Hell cover, which, going off the video footage, definitely got butts off seats, that will live longest in the memory.
“Who knew Billy could play guitar?” quipped one commenter on YouTube.
However, it must be noted that Joel stuck strictly to rhythm duties, with touring guitarist Tommy Byrnes handling the guitar solo.
The pair then made it a triple-header, closing the show with one of Billy Joel’s own, You May Be Right, to ensure the MSG finale lived up to its billing.
Now, if only we could find out where to buy one of those jackets…
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
“I used my P-Bass in the studio and my Jazz Bass live, because it projected a little louder”: Originally recorded as a B-side, this riff-driven blues became a Jimi Hendrix classic – and bassist Billy Cox played a pivotal role
“There was a time you wouldn’t have touched a Superstrat, at least in my world – that was very illegal. It’s cool to be able to let go of those old feelings and those silly rules”: How Chris Shiflett learned to love his inner shredder