He explains, "We're gonna keep the song in the set. Thanks Pink."

"My Life" singer Billy Joel says his stay in rehab was inevitable, because everyone in show business develops addiction problems sooner or later.

The 56 year-old singer, who is currently playing sold-out shows at New York City's famed Madison Square Garden, is enjoying being sober after years fighting alcoholism.

He explains, "How many people in the entertainment have gone into rehab? Just about everybody? Name me the people who haven't.

"It was my time to go. Everybody goes. It's like getting your teeth cleaned. You've got to go eventually. It's like 'mental' floss.'"

"How many people in the entertainment industry have gone into rehab?" Billy Joel said. "Just about everybody. I mean, name the people who haven't. So, it was my time to go, you know. You are going to go some day too!"

"Really?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, trust me," Billy said. "You're all gonna go, everybody goes."

"Everybody in this room, for real?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, yeah, it's, like, you know, getting your teeth cleaned, you got to go eventually," Billy laughed.

"Mom, Dad, I swear, he's wrong, he's wrong," Maria laughed.

"No, it's, like, mental floss, lets put it that way, like that," said Billy, imitating the motion of flossing your brain.

"How are you doing today, are you good?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Billy said.

Ten months after his rehab stint, Maria met Billy, his wife of more than a year, Katie Lee and their dogs backstage at the Garden.

"Hi baby," said Maria, petting the two pugs.

"This is Sabrina and Fionoula," Katie Lee told Maria.

"Tanoola?" Maria asked.

"Fionoula," Billy said.

"Fionoula with an 'F,'" Katie Lee said.

"Hey guys," Maria gushed.

Passing off the pups, Billy headed straight to the stage for a soundcheck.

He surveyed the set-up, then went over the 27-song list, killing the classic "Captain Jack" with the strike of a pen.

"I'm really excited because I got a copy of your set-list tonight," Maria told Billy.

"That might change," Billy laughed.

"Really?" Maria asked.

"That's kinda where we start, if I want to mess around, I mess around from there," Billy explained.

For over an hour, Billy tinkers, alternating between a grand piano center stage and a keyboard off to the side.

And Maria had a front row seat!

After a brief run-through with the horn section and several chats with the band – it's showtime!

At 56, Billy hasn't recorded a new pop album in 12 years, preferring to pass the torch to his 20 year-old daughter with Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray.

Alexa recently played a New York club.

"I kinda snuck in the back," Billy said. "I put the hood over my head, I kind of looked like Bono, you know, and nobody knew I was there and was just watching."

"Does she ever want to redo any of your songs?" Maria wondered.

"No, I think she's aware because of her name and who she is she is going to catch a certain amount of slings and arrows," Billy said. "People will be waiting for her with a knife and a fork, oh yeah."

"A bottle of red, a bottle of white/Perhaps a bottle of ginger ale tonight."

That's how Joel sang the opening line from his hit song "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" the other night at Madison Square Garden.

Suddenly the 56 year-old "Piano Man" is on a roll, his career magically rejuvenated.

The concert marked the beginning of an historic run of 12 concerts at New York City's famous arena, breaking the record of 10 set by Bruce Springsteen in 2000.

And so he had the confidence to tweak the lyrics to one of his most famous songs to poke fun at his new-found sobriety, following several years of alcohol addiction that kept him in and out of the gossip pages and out of the musical limelight.

It is a welcome return to form for the talented singer and pianist. But this renewed success has surprised many people.

"The industry always seems surprised at Billy's success, and I'm surprised when they're surprised," says Joel's longtime agent, Dennis Arfa.

"Billy's one of these great icons, up there with Springsteen, Buffett, U2, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John. There's a group and he's one of them."

Contribution

The truth is, many music critics have never really liked Joel, and they don't include him in the pantheon of great artists.

Serious rock writers have tended to consider him a "balladeer" with little of importance to say.

Joel never received much critical praise for his most famous songs, "Piano Man," "Just The Way You Are," and "Uptown Girl," to name but a few of his many hits.

He has long resented the critical black hole he's been placed in, famously ripping up negative reviews on stage to show his anger.

But the question remains: what is his contribution to music?

"If anything, he's the voice of the suburbs. He's one of the few musicians to write about the people whose lives aren't considered very interesting: white, middle-class people," says Debbie Geller, the author of "Billy Joel: An Illustrated Biography."

There are characters like Brenda & Eddie, for example, from his narrative song, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," who get married and buy "a couple of paintings from Sears," not to mention the big water bed that they "bought with the bread/They had saved for a couple of years."

Beloved

Joel has sold upwards of 78 million albums worldwide, although his last album of new material, "The River of Dreams," was released in 1993.

In 2002 he teamed up with choreographer Twyla Tharp to create a Broadway musical called "Movin' Out."

The show was a box-office hit, won two Tony awards and garnered widespread critical acclaim.

But that hasn't impressed the critics. One recent piece of bad press argued that Joel was born at the wrong time.

"Joel came of age in the post-Beatles era, when songwriters grew self-conscious about rock's aesthetic and social significance, and felt compelled to make statements.

"Alas, Joel is a leaden lyricist with nothing to say," wrote Jody Rosen, the music critic for the online magazine, Slate.

Obviously none of this matters to the crowds who are flocking to see the multi-platinum pop star.

Joel has always been a beloved figure in the New York area since he was born and raised in Hicksville, New York - a prototype American suburb on Long Island.

And even during the worst moments of his drinking crisis, Joel redeemed his offstage antics with a performance that cemented his status as a New York hero.

The poignant moment came during a telethon concert just after September 11th, 2001 when Joel sang "New York State of Mind" with a fallen fireman's helmet on his grand piano.

He has recently released a retrospective boxed set called "My Lives" - a career spanning collection of music.

The musician says he stopped writing pop music back in 1993. But that, he insists, doesn't mean he's retired from performing.

And his record-breaking series at Madison Square Garden might begin the second, or third chapter in Joel's unpredictable career.

"He's certainly a name everyone knows in virtually every generation," said Dr. Brad Ethington, director of the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music. "I think it's terrific to have a diversity of commencement speakers."

As a musician, Joel is at the top of his field. But he certainly has not been the model citizen. Then again, neither have most graduating seniors. "Only The Good Die Young," right?

Joel's speech won't bring protesters out such as when politicians Rudy Guiliani took the stage in 2001 or Alexander Haig in 1975. But he doesn't write about chimpanzees, either, like last year's commencement speaker Jane Goodall.

No, Joel writes quite often about what he knows: primarily women and booze. Like the old guy sitting next to him at the bar, "making love to his tonic and gin."

The class of 2006 can learn from Joel's exploits with women. At the age of just 21 he married Elizabeth Weber - a tale of young love for the graduating seniors. Or you could just marry a supermodel. Two years after his divorce from Weber, he married Christie Brinkley, a union that lasted for nine years.

Maybe a recent graduate can find his or her own millionaire-musician. Katie Lee did; she married Joel in 2004 shortly after her college graduation from Miami University of Ohio. Her commencement speaker was Andy Rooney, who "just may be the lunatic you're looking for."

Joel has also had some trouble with alcoholism in the past. In 2002 and again in 2005 he spent time in a clinic to solve the problem. But like a true rocker, he took it in stride. Joel said in an article last month picked up by various newspapers, "I don't know about total sobriety - I know a hell of a lot about drinking. Ultimately, I am surprised that people made a big deal about it. I mean, I'm in rock and roll. Going to rehab for people like me is like getting your teeth cleaned."

Joel exhibits another great quality for graduating seniors: that of never giving up. In 2002 he got into a one-car accident on his native Long Island. A few months later, a second crash, where he hit a tree. But Joel did not quit. In 2004, he slid into a house on a slick road. Even three crashes in two years couldn't slow down the "Piano Man." He "took the good times," and he's taken the bad times.

Not surprisingly, no one has been very vocal either way with the commencement choice. "There is not usually a lot of response to the choice. So far we haven't heard anything," said Mary Jane Nathan, executive director of the Office of Special Events.

So whether the Class of 2006 decides to "hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood," after graduation, at least Joel will be there to keep everyone in a New York state of mind.

"Call me a joker/Call me a fool/Right at this moment/I'm totally cool." - Billy Joel, "I Go To Extremes," 1989.

Moving from Long Island, New York to Delaware as a teenager and realizing Billy Joel isn't cool (no matter what the moment) was a bit of a shock.

The transition from thinking everyone liked Joel to realizing he's a guilty pleasure that you shouldn't admit to just anybody is still weird for me.

It's kind of like moving away from this area and realizing that the rest of the world thinks the Philadelphia Eagles are actually pretty lame.

So with that known, I will freely admit right now against my better judgment that I really like Billy Joel.

Sure, the guy's sold more than 100 million albums, cranking out hit after hit in between his 1971 debut "Cold Spring Harbor" and his "Famous Last Words" on 1993's swan song, "River of Dreams," but I still get a lot of concerned looks when I let out my dirty little secret.

A few weeks ago, a colleague originally from California drilled it home when he said, "When I moved to the East Coast, I was surprised there were so many seemingly normal people who thought Billy Joel was cool."

But, as we all know by now, I'm not alone.

For some, it's surprising to hear he will be doing five shows at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, starting Tuesday night. (Hopefully I'll be able to make it out there and check it out.) And even more jaws dropped when it was announced Joel had sold-out 12 Madison Square Garden shows, breaking the record of 10 set in 2000 by Bruce Springsteen.

But first, some personal history.

Joel is so ingrained in Long Island life that my middle school history teacher used "We Didn't Start The Fire" as a teaching tool.

For about a week, we listened to the song, examined the lyrics, and learned the history of Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley and Disneyland.

Even with all that great public education, I still don't know what "rock and roller cola wars" means.

On the Island, it was known that Joel regularly visited the local firehouse in his neighborhood, bringing firefighters a few cold beers and chatting them up. He's built up quite a reputation as an Everyman.

And long after I found myself a Billy Joel fan, he stepped up big time for working families like mine on Long Island, New York. My grandfather was a lobsterman when he moved to New York from Canada in the late 1960s, and both my father and my brother have followed in his footsteps, working the Long Island Sound ever since. In 1999, a mysterious die-off devastated the industry, and by 2000 Joel was pushing for federal aid to help the blue-collar fishermen.

So, there's quite a connection between Long Islanders and Joel, a connection intensified by Island-influenced songs like "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," "The Downeaster 'Alexa'," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," "The Ballad of Billy The Kid," and "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)."

Heck, he still lives out there, albeit in a mansion that would make Charles Cawley drool. He even has a strong attraction to Long Island's flora, crashing his car into trees and bushes there every couple of years.

I digress.

Even without my local connection to his music, there's still plenty about it to appreciate. A lot of his songs are actually well-crafted pop tunes, the result of studying and growing up on the Beatles.

And even though he hasn't put out a new album in 13 years and pretty much reduced himself to a 56 year-old nostalgia act, his old songs are so good, they have stuck with his fans, young and old, making even these blatant money-grabbing tours a draw for thousands.

So, sure it might be weird that there are tons of people like me who would pay $75 to see him play songs from the 1970s in a cavernous sports stadium, but the shows are a guaranteed good time for Joel fans.

And I grin when I think about how he somehow he escaped his own gloomy prediction, which he sang about on 1974's "The Entertainer." "I am the entertainer, the idol of my age/I make all kinds of money when I go on the stage/You've seen me in the papers, I've been in the magazines/But if I go cold, I won't get sold/I'll get put in the back in the discount rack/Like another can of beans."

"Selling concert tickets is about demand, and Billy hasn't been around in a while," said Billboard's touring editor, Ray Waddell. "He's a great entertainer with a whole lot of hits that people love. And he's a guy who has a lot of rapport with an audience."

Certainly, Joel has always commanded unusual loyalty from his fans. Tom Biltcliff, for instance, wouldn't miss opening night at the Wachovia Center. "I've liked different artists at certain points in my life," said the 44 year-old mayor of Topton, Pa. "But he's the only one I can listen to over and over. Billy's music I never seem to tire of."

This will be Biltcliff's 25th Billy Joel concert, but it has special significance for him: For the first time, he's bringing his two children.

"It's very neat that I can share one of the big parts of my life with them," said Biltcliff. He's hoping that his idol will play the somewhat obscure "All For Leyna" because Biltcliff's 6 year-old daughter is named after the song.

The mayor may get his wish. "In this series of shows, we're concentrating more on album tracks," Joel said. "I'm not just a singles artist. I'm trying to present a complete picture of my work."

Joel is in the midst of setting records at Madison Square Garden, too, with 12 sold-out shows, but he isn't the only past-his-prime rocker who's still raking it in. Billboard recently published a chart of the year's top moneymakers, tallying up album and digital sales as well as concert revenue. Seven of the top 10 - including Paul McCartney, Neil Diamond, the Eagles and Elton John - are what are now generously referred to as "legacy acts." (No one wants to be stuck with the "oldies" label.)

At halftime during the Super Bowl in Detroit last weekend, the Rolling Stones were introduced as "the greatest rock and roll band in the world." Surely, by this point, that familiar title should carry an asterisk to indicate senior division. Mick Jagger may still be spry at 62, but he's older than three sitting Supreme Court justices.

It used to be that artists toured in order to promote their latest album. Now, as rock has matured into an old man's game, most of the big arena acts are pushing their catalogs.

"Look at who else is selling tickets," Billboard's Waddell said. "When's the last time the Rolling Stones had a number-one album? Or Paul McCartney? Concerts are less and less correlated to what's on the radio. It's become about the body of work."

Baby boomers still turn out in massive numbers to see their graying idols. "I talked to a woman who was going to see Billy Joel and she bought seats up in one of the luxury boxes," said Dwight DeWerth-Pallmeyer, director of communication studies at Widener University. "She said, 'I see maybe one concert every three years, so I'm going to spend the bucks.'

"Kids may go to shows at the Electric Factory every weekend," DeWerth-Pallmeyer continued. "But there are maybe 10 acts people my age will go see - people like James Taylor, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel."

If you've ever spent a concert seated behind a 50 year-old dentist who is rocking out, you know it's not a pretty sight. But you can't stop the Peter Pan generation.

"This group in their 40s and 50s is the first generation to refuse to grow up," said Steve Baron, an associate professor of social science at Montgomery County Community College. "There's an element of denial in their refusal to move toward the issues considered part of middle age."

For boomers, a concert ticket is like a hall pass to revisit their youth. "For middle-age people who are going to see Billy Joel, many of the people they grew up with aren't around anymore - whether parents or friends or entertainers," said Cory Bank, a psychotherapist in Abington. "A concert like this can be very comforting. It can stop time or even turn it back."

Joel, of course, is a special case with strong regional roots. He had his first taste of success in Philadelphia after disc jockey Ed Sciaky of WMMR-FM (93.3) began championing his music. Playing "Captain Jack," which he reserves exclusively for Philadelphia shows, is Joel's way of honoring that history.

"Would he be able to [sell out all these shows] in LA or Dallas or Miami?" asked Andre Gardner, DJ at WMGK-FM (102.9). "I don't think so. It's strictly a New Jersey Turnpike phenomenon - New York to Philly."

"When you look at the whole Northeast, there's this huge affinity for his music and his ability to tie that music in with the lifestyle and culture of this area," said John Page, a senior vice president and general manager at Comcast-Spectacor, which owns and runs the Wachovia Center. "They know Billy is going to give them their money's worth."

That's for sure. One of things that endears Joel to his fans is his insistence on capping ticket prices at a reasonable $77. Some of his contemporaries have been grabbing as much as the market will bear. Tickets to the Stones' recent shows at the Wachovia Center, by comparison, cost as much as $450.

So does Joel have anything special up his sleeve for this visit to his adopted hometown? "Certain of my songs have a Pennsylvania connotation. There's a reference to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 'You're My Home,' and 'Allentown' mentions the Jersey Shore. That always resonates with the Philadelphia crowd," he said. "And of course, 'Captain Jack.' We always play that in Philadelphia."

All together now: "But Captain Jack will get you high tonight/And take you to your special island..."

The Early Shows

Billy Joel wasn't always an arena act. Back in the day, he had to scramble for bookings in Philadelphia.

"I still have very vivid memories of playing the Main Point [then in Bryn Mawr]. I remember playing at a place called the Bijou [Cafe on Lombard Street]," he says.

"I remember playing the Academy of Music where they had that slanted stage. It's funny, the piano is always set up sideways and the stage at the academy is canted down toward the audience. Every time I played there, I felt like I was going to tip over. I swear, it had nothing to do with drinking."

"It's good to know there's still a lot of sick people in Philly," he joked.

Drummer Liberty DeVitto has been on every Billy Joel tour since 1974. So why wasn't he hammering the skins at the Piano Man's recent run at Madison Square Garden?

"Artistic differences," says Joel's rep.

"I guess that's what they call it when you try to tell a friend the truth," DeVitto tells us.

DeVitto, who has known Joel since they were teenagers, says their trouble started at the end of their last tour.

"I told him I was getting divorced, my ex-wife was getting everything, could he help me out? I helped him create hits, but I wasn't getting any royalties. The next day, he had the tour manager tell me, 'No way.'"

When Joel didn't invite him to his 2004 wedding to third wife, Kate Lee, DeVitto says, "I wrote him a letter, confronting him about his drinking and certain management issues. People said I discredited him. But then he went into rehab and proved me right."

Lately, DeVitto says, "Billy has said no one is allowed to talk to me." Seeking conversation, DeVitto has been talking to Mark Bego, whose Joel bio, "River of Dreams," is due out next December. (It's Bego's 50th book.)

Meanwhile, DeVitto has put together a smoking band, the NYC Hit Squad, featuring vets from Deep Purple, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, and the Asbury Dukes. They play The Cutting Room tonight.