During his Thursday night (August 23rd) show at Madison Square Garden, Billy Joel welcomed Bryan Adams out as his special guest. Adams is in New York overseeing early days of the Pretty Woman Broadway musical, which features music by him and longtime collaborator Jim Vallance. Billy and Adams closed out the night with a one-two punch of ’80s classics wrapping up the encores with Adams’ 1984 signature tune “Summer Of ’69,” before ending with Billy’s Glass Houses opener “You May Be Right.”

Earlier in the evening, Billy and the band paid their respects to the late, great Aretha Franklin as they performed a cover of “Respect,” featuring Billy’s percussionist Crystal Taliefero supplying lead vocals.

Although no one would fault Billy Joel if he wanted to keep things mellow and just perform his single Madison Square Garden residence show every month, hitting the road and taking the stage just after eight p.m. has always been in his blood