Tickets for the initial dates of Billy Joel's first solo tour in almost seven years hit the box office over the weekend and quickly sold out in several markets.

Among the rapid sellouts was a Jan. 23 show on the New York-based musician's home turf. Organizers immediately extended Joel's stand at Madison Square Garden to three nights, with additional performances added for Jan. 26 and Feb. 2.

Also new to the itinerary is a March 13 show in Philadelphia, which was added on the fly after Joel's March 7 stop sold out.

No additional shows were unveiled, but more dates are expected, as the handful of shows announced so far are scattered from mid-January through early April. Details are included below.

Joel's upcoming tour marks his first major solo outing since his 1998-99 trek, during which he played for 1.1 million fans over the course of 64 shows, and grossed $47 million, according to a press release.

Since then, Joel's major concert appearances have generally been co-headlining dates with fellow singer/pianist Elton John. The two last toured together in 2003, and grossed $46 million from just 24 shows.

On Tuesday (11/22), Columbia Records issues "My Lives," a four-CD collection that chronicles Joel's career "from his early '60s Long Island bar bands through his biggest hits to his most recent classical compositions," the label said in a press release. The set clocks in at more than five hours, and includes demos, live cuts, alternate takes, covers and more.

Also included in "My Lives" is "A Voyage on the River of Dreams - Live from The River of Dreams Tour," a live DVD shot in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 18, 1994.

A deluxe booklet packaged with the set will feature in-depth liner notes written by Anthony DeCurtis, track-by-track annotations of the unreleased material and photos from Joel's archives.

Joel personally selected all of the tracks included in the set, according to his label.

"I wanted some more obscure things to be represented on this set," Joel said in a statement. "I said, 'Let's dig into the tapes, the B-sides, the recording sessions and movie songs, things that had never been released officially." More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Tuesday, November 22, 2005