Billy Joel releases first new music in 17 years, 'Turn The Lights Back On'

1 February 2024, 15:53 | Updated: 30 September 2024, 12:06

Billy Joel has released a brand new song: 'Turn The Lights Back On'. Picture: Getty/Columbia

By Thomas Edward

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It's been 17 long years for Billy Joel fans.

But Billy Joel has now ended one of the longest droughts in pop music history by returning with a brand new single.

His first new music release since 2007, Joel has made a comeback with 'Turn The Lights Back On', a song he's been teasing for some weeks now.

What doubles as a message to his most ardent fanbase who have been waiting all these years for new material, the romantic ballad is trademark Billy Joel

Co-written and produced by Freddy Wexler - who has worked with a varied list of superstars like Céline Dion, Justin Bieber, and Pink - British songwriter Wayne Hector, and Arthur Bacon are also credited collaborators.

Joel sings: "I'm late. But I'm here right now / And I’m trying to find the magic / That we lost somehow / Maybe I was blind / But I see you now /As we're laying here in the darkness / Did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?"

By the sounds of this gorgeously crafted track, it seems not. Listen to 'Turn The Light Back On Below':

Billy Joel - Turn the Lights Back On (Official Lyric Video)

Joel has only released two songs in the past thirty years - 'All My Life', the love song he wrote as a Valentine’s Day gift to his then-wife Katie Lee and the protest tune 'Christmas in Fallujah'.

Both of these came in 2007, and prior to that, it was fourteen years before his previous release in 1993 album, River of Dreams.

It's fair to say that he defiantly writes at his own pace, telling Rolling Stone magazine in 2019: "It's really about the creative process that’s important to me, not about having records on the charts or selling a lot of recordings."

"I'm learning all the time, and you never stop learning. That's what’s good about the writing process. You always learn something new whenever you create."

At the time, he hinted there was plenty of music in the vault that may see the light of day at some point.

"I have a lot of music that no one’s ever heard and no one may ever hear if I don't decide to do something with it," he said in 2019.

"I'm never going to say never," he said. "I may come up with an idea that could become a song. I may write a movie soundtrack. I may write a symphony. I don’t know. Anything’s possible."

Billy Joel performing at his beloved Madison Square Garden in 2023. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

Despite his infrequency in terms of releasing new music, Billy Joel has been an ever-present on the stage throughout his entire career.

He'll bring his record-breaking run of concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden to a close un July 2024, along with a handful of other shows with Sting and Stevie Nicks.

UK fans will get the opportunity to see Billy Joel too - and his brand new song 'Turn The Lights Back On' - when he arrives in Cardiff to play the Principality Stadium on 9th August 2024.

Out on Columbia Records now, it's unconfirmed if Joel intends to release any new music soon, but it's a safe bet he'll keep you waiting regardless.