Watch Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon Cover the Rolling Stones’ ‘Beast of Burden’
Anyone who saw Billy Joel's name on the guest list for last night's episode of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon had to expect a few memorable musical moments, and the duo delivered with an affectionately tongue-in-cheek cover of the Rolling Stones classic "Beast of Burden."
You can watch the above clip, which starts with Fallon explaining that he thought it would be fun if they performed something as though they were being badgered by guests at a party — not necessarily one of Joel's songs, but just something everybody knows well enough for a drunken singalong.
Fallon went on to deliver his best Jagger impression, causing Joel to crack up as they traded vocal lines and he went from simply imitating the Stones singer's sound to getting up, strutting around the stage in Jagger fashion and eventually climbing on top of the piano. It was all part of an evening that also included Joel leading the band (and guest J.K. Simmons) through a bit of doo-wop during a commercial break.
Joel was influenced by the Stones and the Beatles as a young artist, and fans are familiar with Jagger as a sort of recurring footnote in Joel's catalog. He channeled Jagger for "Big Shot," a hit from 1978's 52nd Street LP that was inspired by a bad experience he had during a dinner with the Stones frontman and his wife Bianca, and he offered a Jagger impression of his own with 1980's "You May Be Right."
The coming year finds Joel continuing his residency at Madison Square Garden while working in a number of select dates in other parts of the world, including the U.S. and Europe. For further details and ticketing information, visit Joel's official site.
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