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2014 went out with a bang

Myself and a couple of friends decided to go down to try to meet Billy Joel who was performing in Orlando last night on New Years eve and all of us had very low expectations that it would ever happen because of who he is and the venue seats 20,000 and is very large but decided to give it a try anyway so we were all going to meet at the venue at 6 and we figured since he didn't go on until 10 we would just wait outside and maybe he would stop and be kind enough to sign a few on his way in. One of my friends got there a little earlier and talked to a few people and found out he was already inside and arrived around 2 pm. So myself and my other friend parked and walked to the venue and all three of us met up about 6:15 and not more than 5 minutes passed and out pops Billy Joel puffing on a cigar with a bodyguard in tow. I was in complete shock that he was standing 5 feet away from me and his body guard quickly jumped in front and told all of the 5 people standing out there to "back up keep moving back" and we asked him to sign and Billy was very nice about it and signed multiple items for the five of us and then said he was stopping and he backed up and someone asked for a picture with him and he said no pictures and after a couple of more puffs on his cigar he was gone. We waited a couple of more hours outside the entrance way to see if he would come back out and he didn't so we left. We all smiled and I'm sure we thought "Right place right time" and what a way to send 2014 packing and hello 2015.

3 members like this

Comment by Coachgd on January 1, 2015 at 11:37am: That is awesome! I would love to meet Billy Joel.

Comment by Barry S on January 1, 2015 at 5:42pm: You didn't see the show?

Comment by Steve Zarelli on January 1, 2015 at 6:50pm: Congratulations!

Comment by Dave Stein on January 1, 2015 at 10:53pm: Great story. Congrats on your brush with fame.

Comment by Brian Burger on January 2, 2015 at 9:07am: I did not see the show tickets were too expensive. I did not want to watch a giant screen from nosebleed and carry a telescope into the venue so I could see the stage. I know it kind of cheapens the experience a bit but if I wasn't standing where I was when I was I never would have met him.

Comment by Dave Stein on January 2, 2015 at 3:28pm: I don't understand that. If you couldn't afford the show, how did you even get past the front gate

,let alone to a backstage area. Maybe I have it wrong. Where exactly were you when you met Billy?

P.S: I recently bought an autograph photo of Billy Joel. He wrote "B J" and that was it. How did he sign yours? It's a rare picture of him playing a telecaster "rip-off" guitar. It comes with a Coa from PSA/DNA but I'm going to have it checked by Roger Epperson because that didn't come cheap. I think it was $300.00.

Dave S

Comment by Brian Burger on January 3, 2015 at 8:16pm: It was not inside the venue we were all standing outside the venue at a side entrance door when came the door we were all stunned. He was only outside 3-4 minutes tops to take a few drags on a cigar. Once he started signing and people started noticing the commotion he backed off and backed away and went back inside. We were very lucky and sometimes it's pure luck and not an exact science how these things happen.

Comment by Brian Burger on January 3, 2015 at 8:39pm: I posted photos of both an 8 x 10 and an album and the album is a much nicer autograph because there was a commotion and knew people started to recognize him as he was signing my photo at the time so it is a little hurried because after he signed my photo he quickly went back to the door he came out of took two more puffs on his cigar and then disappeared back into the venue. we waited by the door for two more hours to see if we could get a picture and he never came back out so we left.

Comment by Dave Stein on January 3, 2015 at 8:42pm: I understand now. Thanks for clarifying. I'm so happy that you were at the right place at the right time. Can you tell me did he sign it BJ? I bought his autograph. It was signed BJ. It was shown as real from JSA. Right now the autograph is on the way to Roger Epperson to hopefully get his blessing. I think I paid $300.00 for it. I'm so happy for you that you got one for free. If you sell it, sometime in the future, you will still need to get it authenticated. Very few, if any, potential buyers of the item will take your word for it. They need proof of authenticity. I sent Roger 11 autographs today/the bulk of my collection. I want to know what he thinks for my own piece of mind. They have all been Coa'd by PSA or JSA, so that's a great start. Roger works for JSA and he's their "music guy". If something comes back fake, it's time for me to fight with the seller over getting my money back/all of it/Roger's price included.