Organizer hoping for ‘special guests’ at The Music of Billy Joel tribute concert

Billy Joel is the subject of this year’s Music Of concert put on by New York entrepreneur Michael Dorf.

This is Dorf’s 21st Music Of charity concert, and he tells Rolling Stone it was the rocker’s documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, that finally pushed him to make the Piano Man this year’s honoree.

“I think there’s a lot of love for Billy, and a desire to hear his music,” Dorf says.

This year’s show will be held March 12 at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The lineup includes Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, Train’s Pat Monahan and others, with Joel’s eight-piece touring band serving as the house band.

“The fact that it is his band, that’s exciting for people,” Dorf says. “We sold out without a single artist mentioned who’s performing, and we got a great lineup, as people trusted. Fingers crossed, let’s see if we have any special guests.”

Of course fans would love for one of those special guests to be Joel, who canceled his 2025 tour in May after being diagnosed with a brain condition. The only time he’s performed since then was a surprise appearance with a Billy Joel cover band in Wellington, Florida, in January.

Dorf will only say that like all previous honorees, Joel has been invited to the concert.

“There’s a box for the band, and if we’re lucky and they want to jump on stage, great,” he tells the mag. “But it’s really for them as much as it is anybody.”

Money raised from the concert benefits music education programs. Previous concerts celebrated the music of Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Paul McCartney, Van Morrison and The Who.