Billy Joel gets a little help from Paul McCartney at Shea concert

Billy Joel gets a little help from Paul McCartney at Shea concert
by The Associated Press Saturday July 19, 2008, 6:33 AM

NEW YORK - Billy Joel bade a stirring farewell to Shea Stadium on Friday during an electrifying, sold-out final show at the ballpark where the Beatles famously ushered in a new era in rock 'n' roll four decades ago.

He was joined by an all-star lineup of friends, including Paul McCartney, who told Joel, "Came here a long time ago. We had a blast that night and we're having another one tonight."

McCartney came on at the end. He sang "I Saw Her Standing There" while on guitar and "Let It Be" on piano -- the last song of the night. Joel sat on top of piano and sang backup.

Shea Stadium will be razed after the baseball season to make way for a new stadium across the street.

The show came 43 years after the Beatles' legendary show at Shea - the first concert at the ballpark. The concert came at the height of Beatlemania and demonstrated the sheer power of rock 'n' roll and the Beatles: 55,000 screaming fans at a U.S. ballpark was virtually unheard-of at the time, and the show gave the Fab Four even more cachet among the Beatle-crazed American public.

And as if the "Piano Man" playing the last concert at Shea wasn't thrilling enough, high-wattage guests turned up the excitement level.

Tony Bennett sang "New York State of Mind" with Joel on Friday, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler performed "Walk This Way," and Roger Daltrey of the Who did "My Generation. At the end of "My Generation," Joel smashed a guitar against the stage, breaking it in two.

Garth Brooks appeared on stage earlier wearing a Mets jersey, and in the audience, one of Joel's famous fans -- ex-wife Christie Brinkley -- sang along, word for word, to the chorus of "She's Always a Woman."