Prince let his music do the talking on Thursday when he faced the media at a news conference covering Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show.

The singer, clad in a tunic-style orange jump suit, eschewed questions about his Super set, instead launching into a pulsating three-song performance to preview what should be a high-energy break from the NFL championship game.

The pre-game entertainment will be provided by local pop singer Gloria Estefan and the acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil, while Billy Joel will sing the National Anthem.

Billy Joel's plan for the Super Bowl is not to forget the words. Prince's attitude is to say everything with music.

Joel and Prince separately met with reporters in advance of their Super Bowl performances. Joel will sing the National Anthem, and Prince will perform the halftime show.

Joel says he plans to stick to the basics with the anthem. He says it's a difficult song to begin with, and "stretching it beyond its recognition" is not his thing.

Prince told reporters that contrary to rumor, he would take questions. That's until someone asked one, and he immediately broke into a version of "Johnny B. Goode" and two other songs, then left without saying anything more.

Live Blog: Prince has wrapped after a three-song set here in the Super Bowl media center. Billy Joel has also come and gone as part of the Super Bowl entertainment media session. Here's what we were blogging as it happened:

Some weird stuff is showing up here:

Joel is singing the national anthem and Prince is performing the halftime show on Sunday.

The King has arrived at the Super Bowl. No, not Elvis. The Burger King...that strange larger-than-life icon that has become the face of the fast food franchise. He's been seen before a big-time defensive back and quarterback flattener in BK's commercials, so he's probably here to strut his stuff.

2:17pm: Question for Billy Joel from a Japanese reporter: Is performing similar to playing in the Super Bowl?

Joel: "I don't know. I never played on Super Sunday."

2:18pm: Joel is offering no predictions. "I root for New York teams," he says.

2:18pm: Joel says "America The Beautiful" is a better song than "The Star-Spangled Banner." The National Anthem, he says, "is kind of a slog."

2:20pm: Billy hasn't put out a new album, one reporter tells him. What's up with his creative juices?

Joel: "I don't know. I don't feel like writing an album right now," Joel responds.

2:22pm: Jets or Giants, Billy? He confesses: Giants.

2:24pm: Does he get nervous? Yes, the first night of a new tour. But when he walks on stage, or "his office," it goes away.

2:25pm: What goes through his mind when he walks onto the field Sunday? "Don't forget the words."

2:26pm: What Bill thinks of Prince: "I think he's brilliant. He's one of the most talented people in the industry."

2:27pm: Billy's portion has wrapped...very quickly. Prince is scheduled at 2:30pm and we wonder if the hurry to get Billy out has to do with keeping Prince happy and on time. Anyway, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told us earlier in the week that Prince will not speak during his portion of the press conference...but he will perform. Stay tuned.

2:28pm: While we wait for Prince... Billy Joel is singing the National Anthem for the second time at the Super Bowl. He is the first performer to accomplish that. He also honored America at Super Bowl XXIII, also in Miami, Florida.

2:30pm: They tell us 10 minutes until Prince appears.

2:33pm: The NFL has told our Scott Zucker that Prince actually rehearsed for this performance today. The Purple One is taking his turn in front of the football press corps very seriously.

2:43pm: Prince is beginning. He mumbled some very hard to understand words... I think he said he would take a few questions and then the band launched into music. Here we go.

2:44pm: Sounds like he's singing some variation of "Johnny B. Goode."

2:45pm: Prince is at center stage. He is wearing a bright orange suit. He has about 10 people in his band.

2:50pm: A man dressed as Howard Cosell just entered the room for the concert. He was had dark glasses, slicked-back dark hair, was decked out in a yellow blazer with an old-school ABC Sports logo on the pocket and carried what looked like a 10-inch cigar.

2:54pm: Prince has wrapped after playing three songs. About the same amount of songs and time he's likely to have on Sunday. He mumbled a few words before he walked off stage. It sounded like the last one was "Peace."

While Prince will tackle the half-time show at Miami's Dolphin Stadium, Sunday's Super Bowl XLI will kick off with the National Anthem sung by Billy Joel – who calls it "a tough song."

Billy Joel's career over the past 30 years has brought him many awards and accolades, from six Grammys to sales of more than 100 million albums. But for Super Bowl XLI, Joel is being honored in a way that is unique: He is the first performer to sing the National Anthem twice at the Super Bowl. His first time was in 1989.

In a conversation with The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, Joel talked about the Super Bowl and his special relationship with his concert audiences.

As he thought about performing the National Anthem for the second time at the Super Bowl, did Joel consider doing it differently - with a string section, for instance?

In 2005, Billy Joel, 57, wrote a ballad for his wife Katie Lee Joel, 25, to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Now, he's releasing that song, "All My Life," as a single – and People Magazine has the exclusive first listen. In honor of the occasion, the "Piano Man" spoke to People Magazine about the makings of a great love song.

Tell us a little about the song.

It's not a typical "Billy Joel song." I thought it would be great for Tony Bennett. I hope he does it, anyway. I recorded it with a full orchestra – a real old-fashioned session just like they did in the '50s. And I dressed like Frank Sinatra. I took on a whole other persona.

Why try a different kind of music?

I was always a little wary of being termed a balladeer. [But] at this point in my life, I don't care. I don't think a love song is substantial if it's all candy. There's a good deal of regret in this song. I have regrets in my life. Anyone who says they don't have regrets hasn't really lived.

Are you a fan of Valentine's Day?

It depends. When you're in love, it's great. When things aren't going well, it's a bah humbug day.

Joel also shared his five favorite love songs:

1.) "Whole Lotta Love," Led Zeppelin: "It's a slamming hot love song."
2.) "One For The Road," Frank Sinatra: "Even when I was a kid and heard that song, I got it."
3.) "Symphony No. 6," Beethoven: "You can hear that he was passionately in love when he wrote that."
4.) "In My Life," The Beatles: "I don't know why. It's like being in love. You don't know why. You just are."
5.) "Lay, Lady, Lay," Bob Dylan: "It's very languorous and he is such a great songwriter."

After more than four years off the road - which included a rather ill-fated renouncing of pop music for classical - Billy Joel returns to (what else?) woo us with his legendary catalogue of songs. Aw, why not? Joel's work came ready-made for nostalgia 30 years ago. The songs from his heyday ("Piano Man," "Honesty," "My Life," "Big Shot," and on and on) proved so catchy we felt they had been around forever. Despite his unfortunate penchant for "Uptown Girl"s, Joel has rightfully etched his songbook into the mass consciousness. And even pushing 60, the guy can still bring the fire to a live show (even if he didn't start it). His recent concert disc, "12 Gardens Live," is all the evidence you need. The Bronx native also has the grace and good sense to reach deep into his catalogue for every show, past the big hits, which makes his live gigs, as they say, worth the price of admission.

"All My Life"
Grade: C+

Billy Joel has returned to the pop-music fold. Only this time it's a return to the pop music of the 1940s. For his first nonclassical composition since 1993's "River of Dreams," Joel has set his sights on Ol' Blue Eyes, releasing a new Sinatra-aping ballad, "All My Life."

The single began as an anniversary gift for his third wife, Katie Lee Joel. It arrives just in time for Valentine's Day. It seems Joel is hoping to capitilize on the romantic inclinations of his boomer fans, as well as make them forget his pitch-challenged performance of the national anthem at the Super Bowl. A streaming version of "All My Life" can be heard at People.com - and it can also be sent as a Valentine's Day e-Card. How convenient. And it will become available for download on iTunes on February 20th, 2007.

Joel's Sinatra mimicry was bound to happen. Former rock and rollers have a nasty habit of heading toward crooner territory as they approach their 60s. Seems Joel, who turns 58 on May 9th, 2007, has fallen prey to the same affliction that struck Rod Stewart. But unlike Stewart, it doesn't appear Joel harbors any intention of releasing CDs of sentimental schlock. "All My Life" is allegedly one-off. Taken at face value it's not embarrassing - but it's not great, either.

With gushing strings, softly brushed drums, and a tinkling lounge piano behind him, Joel waxes philosophic on his philandering ways and the restorative powers of his new lady.

The melody, while not exactly infectious, isn't the problem. What's awkward is the way Joel sings it. It's as if he feels the weight of all the crooners of the past boring into him as he gravely plows through the verses. Occasionally, glimpses of his former "Piano Man" self flash by, but most of the single sounds like a man trying to sound like someone else, namely Sinatra or Tony Bennett.

So far, reactions to the tune have been mixed. Amid the usual declarations of loyalty on fan-sites such as BillyJoelFan.com, there were gripes. One poster called it "the most boring original song ever for him."

No, "All My Life" isn’t the worst song Joel's ever done. But it’s not the spirited comeback his fans have been pining for.

It was the first night of his tour, and he admitted he's experimenting a bit to see what works and what doesn't.

The Set-Up: The round stage sat at one of the arena, with no backdrop. Every seat in the place, even those behind the stage looked full. Several electronic keyboards sat in the back next to the drums, but there was no piano. But then the lights went down, and Joel and his piano rose up front underneath the stage and kicked into "Prelude/Angry Young Man." Lights shined up on the ceiling, down on the stage and blindingly out into the crowd. He wore blue jeans and black sport coat over a black shirt. He's still short and bald.

The Music: Some of the songs seemed to be in a lower key to suit his aging voice, but that was the only concession to the passing years. His voice was strong, and he was in high energy and good spirits. His seven piece band was solid and he gave the horn players some nice solos.

After grabbing the crowd quickly with "Prelude/Angry Young Man," a superb version of "My Life" and "The Entertainer," Joel played the lesser known "Stop In Nevada," which didn't get as big a reaction. And he could tell. "A lot of you don't know that one. Maybe you know this one," he said as he kicked into "Allentown." He talked easily between songs early on in the concert, often introducing a song with the year and the album it was from.

Billy Joel started his 16-city tour in Jacksonville, Florida to an eager crowd of 13,000 inside the arena. They listened to songs like "Prelude/Angry Young Man," "An Innocent Man," and "We Didn't Start The Fire."

Joel has been in semi-retirement since the 1990s, but could be planning a comeback. Wednesday, he released his first single in 14 years called "All My Life," which was originally dedicated to his wife Katie Lee Joel.

This is Joel's second trip to the First Coast in a little over a year. He was here in January 2006.

Take his concert staple "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)." In that forward-looking rocker from his 1976 Turnstiles LP, Joel envisions moving to Florida.

Joel now has a 305 area code, having moved with third wife Katie Lee to a $13.5 million, 8,881-square foot house on Miami Beach's La Gorce Island.

''I'm getting a jump on being an old Jew now,'' the 57 year-old singer/songwriter joked in one of two expansive telephone conversations earlier this week. "I'm just starting 10 years before ["Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)].''

Another Joel pop hit comes to mind after his National Anthem performance Sunday at a rain-soaked Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium: "We Didn't Start The Fire."

Joel, it appears, has unleashed a firestorm over his performance of the anthem. Some have praised it. Some, Joel says, have been so outraged "they say they aren't going to buy tickets to a Billy Joel concert again.''

A Contra Costa writer pronounced Joel's rendition "the best I've heard in my five Super Bowls. Goosebumps.''

The Times in London called it "a model of musical detachment.''

What has Joel most distressed are rumors that CBS ran his voice through an ''auto-tuner,'' a pitch-control device. Joel, unlike most Super Bowl singers who are urged to pre-record the National Anthem and lip-sync, sang live and says he would never authorize the use of an auto-tuner on his vocals.

Don Mischer, producer and director of the Super Bowl's entertainment, said, "Unequivocably no. Nothing was done to his voice.''

This will come as some relief to Joel, who performs Monday at Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena on the eve of the release of his first pop single since 1993.

The man, born William Martin Joel in the Bronx, who spent a couple weeks in a Long Island hospital's pysch ward for depression at 21, who once tore up unfavorable reviews on stage and routinely ended his concerts with the command, ''Don't take any shit from anybody!'' has matured. The voice on the other end of the line is relaxed, forthright, amiable. In effect, a guy's guy. No pretense.

Question: Sony, your label, says you are concerned about your Super Bowl performance. What happened?

Joel: Everything went great at rehearsal. When it came time to sing they didn't have my monitors turned on. I couldn't hear myself, the piano or my vocal, I didn't know what key I was in. I had to listen to the sound in the stadium on the stage I was on. I adjusted to the key once I heard it echoing back from the side of the stadium.

Question: We could tell. A bit flat at the beginning, stiff. But one aspect we liked is that it was sung straight, no wild vocal genuflections. And the reaction seems extreme.

Joel: I'm not a fancy singer. I think it's the kind of song that should be done straightforward. It's difficult to sing to begin with. You are given a certain time - 1:35 seconds - because of the jet flyover so...while not hearing my voice or piano and trying to get the pitch and trying to watch this stopwatch on my piano and finish in a minute and 35 it wasn't that I could concentrate on singing that song with finesse. I had to get through it.

Question: There's more to this, though, isn't there?

Joel: I made a comment at the press conference, 'It's a slog to do that kind of song.' I was meaning no disrespect. I was honored to be chosen. What the song represents is a wonderful thing. But ask any musician, it's not an easy song to sing. I never made believe I was a terrific singer to begin with.

I've sung it before [at the 1989 Super Bowl] so I know how difficult it is. It stirred up a hornet's nest: 'Billy Joel is no fan of the National Anthem.' I could see where people can get bugged by that but I never slogged the symbolism of it. It's the song itself, talking purely as a musician. If people want to make a tempest in a teapot let them. It's a big event on TV worldwide. I'm not trying to excuse a bad performance.

Question: Your new single, "All My Life," sounds like a standard but it's an original. This proves someone can write a new song in that style.

Joel: It's hard to top Sinatra. I don't know why anyone would have the audacity to try. I wanted to write in that genre because I was thinking of Tony Bennett recording that song. Not me. I wrote that for my wife on our first anniversary. I was doing a session on Tony's Duets album, and I figured I'll play this for Tony and hope he agrees to do it. Tony listened [adopts Bennett's accent] 'I love that song. Love to do that song. Really good, Billy. Thank you.'

Duets went on to be a big hit, and I didn't know when he was going to record that song, and it [the song] sat around, and our second anniversary was approaching. So I thought, 'I'll give Katie a recording of this.' A real basic track. Got a jazz section together. Recorded it and gave it to Katie. Happy anniversary.

Columbia knew I was doing this and said 'We'd like to make a finished recording with an orchestra' because that's what I had in mind when Tony was going to do it. [They] wanted to release it as a single. It's a misnomer because it leads one to believe there's an album as well. I don't have an album. This is all I've got. How will you market it?

Question: iTunes has made it a singles market anyway.

Joel: Yes, everyone is cherry-picking songs off the albums anyway.

It was kind of fun to get in the studio with a full orchestra session. I wore a Sinatra kinda hat and suit to get in the mood and made a film of it.

Question: Phil Ramone, who produced your biggest albums - from 1977's "The Stranger" through 1986's "The Bridge" - delivered an old-fashioned track.

Joel: One of the things I learned about writing that song is that it's a lot more difficult to write these kinds of songs.... It's much more complex than you'd imagine. There are a lot of chord changes people may not be aware of. That's the trick. There are eight key changes in the bridge alone but you don't want to see the rivets. Smoothing it out is the real challenge. And it has to have an economy of words. A lot of words have to have a double meaning. It can't be all flowers and candy and roses. There's an element of sadness and regret and longing, and that's what makes a good love song.

Question: Can you believe it's the 30th anniversary of "The Stranger?" Could you imagine still setting box office records for a series of concerts at Madison Square Garden last year?

Joel: I'm trying to imagine what I was thinking at the time while making the album at that time - in 30 years I'll be dead and gone, but I'm still doing those songs. I never would have imagined. I guess we figured we'd be out of business now, kicked out for being old geezers.

I love this job. It's the best job I ever had. People say, 'Why are you still doing it? Is it about the money?' No, that's not why I'm still doing it. I'm doing it because I can.

Question: Some of your peers have been writing some of their best work at this stage of their careers. Elton John, for instance, did "The Captain & The Kid" last year.

Joel: I heard it. It was great.

Question: ...But it's been 14 years since your last pop album, "River of Dreams." Didn't "All My Life" get you thinking about doing a full pop album?

Joel: Not really, because I was thinking of someone else singing it. I never considered it to be a Billy Joel song. I'm not disowning it. It's just not my kind of music really. I was most interested to write with someone else singing it.

Question: In a lot of instances your work has been written with a real journalistic eye - songs like "We Didn't Start The Fire," "Allentown," "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" - so it's curious that you sat out the Clinton and Bush administrations without passing comment in a pop lyric.

Joel: I don't have the objective vision of myself other people do. I suppose there's an element of Charles Dickens in what I was writing back in the Reagan era...but I'm very challenged by the music I'm writing now. It all goes back to the music I loved as a child, which is classical music.

I was listening to Beethoven symphonies 15 years ago and felt puny and insignificant but felt inspired and uplifted at the same time. That was the greatest music ever written. Not that I'm going to try and be Beethoven. I'm not near that.

Question: Do you watch "American Idol?"

Joel: I've seen it, and I think there are some talented people there and some people who are terrible. I suppose it's another form of discovering people. I hope people on the show who are finalists understand it's not just about singing a song on TV. 'American Idol' has defined someone who sings. What about someone who plays or writes and isn't all movie star pretty? If I had to rely on my looks I wouldn't have gotten anywhere.

It takes more than belting out a song that someone else has written unless you are Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett.

Question: Your 21 year-old daughter, Alexa Ray, has "Sketches," an EP out, and is readying the release of her own full album.

Joel: I keep asking her, 'Are you sure this is what you want to do?' Being famous can look glamorous but it's a pain in the ass. But she was musically inclined when she was tiny. She had perfect pitch. Sang herself to sleep. Played the piano when she was young. Writing songs. She's a natural at it. Someday I'll be known as her father.

At 57, he's more of an elder statesman of pop, but he and his vast catalogue of hits are more than enough to please an audience. Even if inescapable oldies such as "Just The Way You Are" and "Piano Man" aren't cutting edge, they come equipped with a mainstream appeal that defies generational boundaries.

The big, enthusiastic crowd on Saturday ranged from seniors to teenagers and Joel rewarded them with a generous, well-paced stroll down memory lane. Dressed in a black jacket, blue jeans and black shoes, he also was chatty:

Eight days after performing the National Anthem soaking wet before Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium, Billy Joel had the near-capacity crowd at downtown Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena in a "New York State of Mind" Monday night with a lively two-hour-plus tour through many of his greatest hits.

After a half-hour wait for the straggling crowd to grow beyond half-full - it might sound like a lame excuse, but it was actually true - the stage floor opened up, a baby grand piano rose, Joel hammered out the rapid-fire riffs to "Prelude/Angry Young Man," and the night was suddenly electric.

Joel, decked out in his trademark jeans and black sport coat, was in a jovial mood, mugging to the crowd and playing with the vocal phrasing of the next hit, the elegant yet muscular "My Life." ''Hi, I'm Billy's dad,'' he joked beforehand. "Billy's on his way."

Before launching into 1971's "Everybody Loves You Now," Joel acknowledged the poor souls in the nosebleed section, thanking them for buying seats ''way up in Fort Lauderdale'' and cracking, "I really need the money now.''

At 57, Joel's voice is a marvel, having lost little power or range over his four decades as a performer. He seemed to draw energy from his excellent band: The jazzy "Zanzibar" allowed Carl Fischer to show off his Maynard Ferguson-like prowess on the trumpet; Joel and Mark Rivera enjoyed an extended vocal-saxophone banter on "New York State of Mind"; and almost the entire crowd sang along to "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," with three harmonizing saxophones at the end drawing huge cheers.

Also outstanding were guitarist Tommy Byrnes, who bears a striking resemblance to Bruce Springsteen, and jack-of-all-trades Crystal Taliefero, who handled percussion, guitar, saxophone and backing vocals.

Many more of Joel's hits were represented - "Allentown," "Don't Ask Me Why," "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)," "An Innocent Man," "Keeping The Faith," "Big Shot,"