10 Photos Of Billy Joel & Olivia Rodrigo That Capture An Iconic Musical Crossover

When it comes to shout-able Olivia Rodrigo lyrics, “I'll bet that she knows Billy Joel / ‘Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl’” from “deja vu” have to be among the best, right? Well on Aug. 24, the shout-out led to a musical crossover at Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency.

According to a fan’s video, Joel first brought Rodrigo on stage for a performance of Rodrigo’s “deja vu,” for which Joel naturally served as (duh!) Piano Man.“Thank you so much for having me, Billy. I’m such a huge fan, and I couldn’t have written this next one without you.”

Last year, Joel actually reacted to Rodrigo’s “deja vu” nod in a USA Today interview. “When I was a kid, my generation didn’t take to my parents’ music ... there are a lot of younger people now looking backward and they like their parents’ music, which is a strange phenomenon.”

“I look out (in the crowd) and see so many young people,” he continued. “I’m grateful for it, especially because they make more noise. It’s a great mix.” However, as it turns out, the shout-out to Joel was actually not originally Rodrigo’s idea — but her co-writer, Dan Nigro’s.

“Dan actually came up with the Billy Joel lyric, too, which is probably my favorite lyric in the thing,” Rodrigo revealed to Rolling Stone last April. Of course, it doesn’t super matter — either way, Rodrigo’s love for her legendary duet partner was on full display at MSG.

The pair segued into an extremely fun performance of “Uptown Girl” next — and naturally, Rodrigo had to celebrate on social media after the crossover performance. “I SANG WITH BILLY JOEL AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN TODAY ARE U KIDDING,” she wrote on her Instagram story.

In another story post, Rodrigo confirmed that she was “still crying” after the duet, describing it as the “biggest honor ever” — which is obviously high praise for an artist who’s already earned three Grammys by the age of 19.

Rodrigo’s bestie Conan Gray also took some time to praise her performance with the legendary Long Island musician. “She knows billy joel for sure <3,” Gray wrote on his own story, referencing Rodrigo’s SOUR track.

There’s mutual admiration between Joel and Rodrigo, of course — in fact, earlier in the show, the “Vienna” singer confirmed that there’s more than one fan in his household. “She’s very talented,” he said. “I like her music, and so do my kids.”