Pop music icon BILLY JOEL’s North American tour will resume in February 2007, following a wildly successful return to the concert stage last year. Live Nation is proud to announce BILLY JOEL’S triumphant return to Saint Paul/Minneapolis for one night only at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday, May 9 at 8:00pm. This will be the only Minnesota appearance of Billy Joel.

In 2006, BILLY JOEL launched a worldwide tour in which he performed in front of nearly three-quarters of a million people in North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. The tour broke house records along the way, including a record 22nd lifetime appearance at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford CT, a 6th record sellout at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse NY and, in what is sure to be a record not broken anytime soon, a historic and unprecedented 12 show, sold out run at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden.

The new BILLY JOEL tour dates will see the superstar revisit many markets for the first time since his fabled 1998-99 run, which, over the course of 64 shows, played to 1.1 million fans while grossing $47 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.

The exceptional run at Madison Square Garden yielded the Columbia Records collection 12 Gardens Live, in stores now, which features greatest hits and fan favorites alike.

In 2005, Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings released My Lives, a lavish five disc (4 CDs + 1 DVD) box-set chronicling BILLY JOEL’s extraordinary musical evolution, from his early 60s Long Island bar bands through his biggest hits to his most recent classical compositions. My Lives is also in stores now.

As part of his long-term commitment to music education, BILLY JOEL has recently launched an ongoing initiative to provide gifts of seed money, musical scholarships, and endowments to a variety of East Coast colleges, universities, and music schools.