Billy Joel Live Albums Ranked Worst to Best

For a guy who hasn’t released a mainstream pop album in over three decades, Billy Joel sure loves touring.

Since 1993’s River of Dreams became his de facto curtain call as a studio musician, Joel has packed arenas and stadiums around the world with his impressive catalog of piano-pounding hits. He’s often joined forces with megastars such as Elton John (on the multi-leg Face to Face Tour that dominated box offices in the ’90s and ’00s) and, more recently, Stevie Nicks and Sting. In 2024, he played his 150th career gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden, marking the conclusion of a residency that saw him selling out the home of the Knicks for more than a decade.

Joel’s lengthy live career — full of high-energy renditions of hits and fan favorites by a rotating assortment of bandmates — has always translated well in album form. The longer it’s been since he bade farewell to writing new material, the more he’s signed off on new concert recordings, along with a healthy offering of classic shows from the archives.

There’s a Joel live album for almost every era of his career, from his humble pre-fame origins to his chart-topping imperial phase to his tenure as a blockbuster legacy act. Taken as a whole, our list of Billy Joel Live Albums Ranked Worst to Best paints a portrait of an artist who, throughout his various career ups and downs, prided himself on delivering an engaging live show and refused to rest on his laurels.