RELEASED IN THEATRES OCT. 21, 2010

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD!

About the Film

The Last Play at Shea is a unique documentary concept intended to escape the traditional narrative and current trend of biographical rock documentaries. Through the prism of Billy Joel’s extraordinary career and blue collar perspective, The Last Play at Shea will chronicle the waning days of Shea Stadium through a tapestry of performance, historical documentary and personal journey while at the same time providing audiences with a pop-culture snapshot of a seminal era in New York history.

The film weaves interviews with players and performers and exclusive concert footage—featuring guests like Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, John Mayer and Roger Daltrey, among others. 

The Last Play at Shea world premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and is directed by Paul Crowder and produced by Nigel Sinclair and Steve Cohen, in cooperation with Billy Joel’s Maritime Pictures.

About the Artist

Having sold more than 100 million records in a career spanning over 40 years,  Billy Joel ranks as one of the most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world.

Mr. Joel has had 33 Top 40 hits and 23 Grammy nominations since signing his first solo recording contract in 1972. He received the Recording Industry Association of America Diamond Award, presented for albums that have sold over 10 million copies, for his Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II. His other musical ventures include Movin’ Out, a Broadway musical based on Mr. Joel’s music, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp, which garnered Mr. Joel his first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

Most recently,  Mr. Joel became the final artist to perform at the Legendary Shea Stadium. He performed to 110,000 people at the historic “The Last Play at Shea” concert on July 16 and 18, 2008. The shows sold out in record-breaking 45 minutes. This marked the Bronx-born Long Island-raised show business legend as the only artist to perform at Yankee, Giants and Shea Stadium. In 2006,  Mr. Joel broke the Madison Square Garden record for the longest sequence of sold-out shows by a single artist. On April 24, 2006, at the twelfth show of that same sold-out MSG run, Billy broke his own record and Madison Square Garden celebrated the event in true New York style, raising a banner to emblazoned with “#12″ to the venue’s rafters. Mr. Joel became the first non-athlete ever to be honored with a “retired” number on the rafters of the Garden.

Mr. Joel received Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1978 for his song “Just the Way You Are”; Album of the Year in 1979 for 52nd Street; and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1979 for 52nd Street and in 1980 for Glass Houses. In 1990 Mr. Joel was presented with a Grammy Legend Award. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, he was also presented with the Johnny Mercer Award in 2001. In 1999 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His other awards include the ASCAP Founders Award, the BMI Career Achievement Award, the American Music Awards Award of Merit, and the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal.