Billy Joel was 11 songs into his set at Madison Square Garden last week when he stopped to briefly address the crowd. “Coming out to do a song or two with us,” he said, “please welcome John Fogerty!” With that, the former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman ran out onstage as the band kicked into CCR’s 1970 hit “Up Around The Bend.” They followed it up with a powerful “Fortunate Son.” You can watch stellar fan-shot footage of the whole thing right here.
It’s the first time that Fogerty has guested with Joel at this Madison Square Garden residency, where he’s played with everyone from Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon to John Mayer, Steve Miller, Tony Bennett and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. Joel turns 70 on May 9th and he’s celebrating with a show at MSG where it feels practically inevitable that he’ll be joined by at least one or two surprise guests.
Fogerty, meanwhile, is resuming his residency at Wynn in Las Vegas on April 10th and is also booked to play Jazz Fest on May 5th and the Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 20th.
Fogerty was in New York City to appear at a press event at New York’s Electric Lady Studios to announce the lineup for Woodstock 50. He’s one of many vets from the original festival that will be returning. “I don’t expect it to be the same,” Fogerty told the media. “The mood in the country is different, similar in many respects, but different. I’m very glad that I’m able to be here 50 years later celebrating it. I hope to have a great time. I’m going to be playing most of the same songs that I played then. I’ve had a few more songs since then. But I think culturally, for me, it resonates because it was such a watershed moment in the time of my generation.”