HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — The coronavirus pandemic may have put a damper on live music, but that didn’t stop Billy Joel from treating a few New Yorkers to a quick performance on a piano that had been left on a Long Island sidewalk.
According to Newsday, an onlooker captured the moment on video late last month and uploaded the clip to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 370,000 times.
In the video, the 71-year-old "Piano Man" musician plays a few bars of "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" by Shelton Brooks on the instrument, which had been left outside in Huntington, People magazine reported.
"It's a perfectly good piano," Joel, clad in motorcycle gear, says in the clip. "It's a shame to throw it out."
He then says someone should donate the instrument to a nearby thrift store.
"These are laminated keys," he adds. "The pedals work. The action is great."
A spokesperson for the singer-songwriter confirmed that Joel is the man in the video, People reported.