Billy Joel tribute coming to Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb

Billy Nation: A Tribute to Billy Joel will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Egyptian Theatre in downtown DeKalb.

Adam Shapiro, who will perform as Joel, and his band will capture the look and energy of Joel’s live show. Audiences will feel like they are experiencing the Piano Man himself in his earlier years, bringing back the magic of that era.

According to a news release, Shapiro was born in The Bronx to a father who, like Billy Joel, was a professional pianist and vocalist in New York.

“I remember as a kid carrying my dad’s electric pianos and speakers to weddings, bar mitzvahs and bars, and wanting to be just like him. And the microphone did smell like a beer,” Shapiro said in the release.

Shapiro has spent the last 25 years performing with some heavy hitters in the music industry, including Huey Lewis & The News, Kool & The Gang and James Brown. He formed Billy Nation: A Tribute to Billy Joel in 2020.

“Billy Joel is not only one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, performing as Billy connects me to my late father, ‘the Piano Man,’” Shapiro said in the release.

Ticket prices start at $35. The show is appropriate for all ages.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit egyptiantheatre.org.

The Egyptian Theatre is at 135 N. Second St., DeKalb.