--- title: Billy Joel Calls Donald Trump 'Entertaining' After Concert description: Billy Joel described Donald Trump's presidential campaign as "very entertaining" on Saturday, after dedicating a song to him at his concert canonical: https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-28T17:33:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:54:35.370Z article:section: Politics og:title: Billy Joel: Donald Trump's Campaign ‘Very Entertaining’ og:description: "Who cares about the political opinions of a piano player?" og:url: https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7230206b2496f5a6/69889577524fc0d157df8337/billy-joel-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Billy Joel In Concert - New York, New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Billy Joel: Donald Trump's Campaign ‘Very Entertaining’ twitter:description: "Who cares about the political opinions of a piano player?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7230206b2496f5a6/69889577524fc0d157df8337/billy-joel-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Billy Joel: Donald Trump's Campaign ‘Very Entertaining’  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 28, 2016 5:33 PM UTC  Billy Joel performs in concert at Madison Square Garden on May 27 in New York City. Billy Joel performs in concert at Madison Square Garden on May 27 in New York City.Mike Coppola/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 28, 2016 5:33 PM UTC Acclaimed “Piano Man” Billy Joel described Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as “very entertaining” on Saturday, after dedicating a song to the [presumptive Republican nominee](http://time.com/4350376/donald-trump-rick-wiley-campaign-staffing/) at his Madison Square Garden concert in New York on Friday. Trump immediately accepted the shoutout as a compliment, while others quickly [speculated Joel might have meant it as a joke](http://fusion.net/story/307812/donald-trump-billy-joel-endorsement/). “Thank you [@**BillyJoel**](https://twitter.com/billyjoel) many friends just told me you gave a very kind shoutout at MSG,” Trump [posted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/736381305785581568) on Friday. “Appreciate it- love your music!” Joel said Trump’s campaign has been “very entertaining” but dismissed the notion that his own political opinion matters. “I’m in the entertainment business. Donald Trump’s campaign has been very entertaining,” Joel told TIME in an email on Saturday. “Aside from that, who cares about the political opinions of a piano player?” As he did on Friday, Joel has dedicated “The Entertainer” to Trump at several concerts in recent months. The song’s lyrics include: --- > “” --- On other occasions, Joel has also dedicated “New York State of Mind” to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after he made [disparaging comments](http://time.com/4182887/ted-cruz-new-york-values-donald-trump-republican-debate/) about “New York values.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/"},"headline":"Billy Joel: Donald Trump's Campaign ‘Very Entertaining’","datePublished":"2016-05-28T17:33:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:54:35.370Z","description":"Joel has repeatedly dedicated his song \"The Entertainer\" to Trump at concerts","url":"https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/","keywords":["Donald Trump","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7230206b2496f5a6/69889577524fc0d157df8337/billy-joel-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7230206b2496f5a6/69889577524fc0d157df8337/billy-joel-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Billy Joel In Concert - New York, New York","caption":"Billy Joel In Concert - New York, New York","creditText":"Mike Coppola/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4351400/billy-joel-donald-trump-concert-dedication/","name":"Billy Joel: Donald Trump's Campaign ‘Very Entertaining’"}}]}] ```