Brian Harris presents "The Piano Men: Simply Billy & Simply Elton" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- October 5.

Saturday, October 5, 7 p.m.

Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL

With smash pop and rock hits performed by the intensely gifted tribute artist Brian Harris and his five-piece ensemble The Mad Hatters Band, the repertoires of two iconic artists will be celebrated at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse on October 5, with the stage event The Piano Men: Simply Billy & Simply Elton delivering a night of incredible music and showmanship by two of history's most venerable and beloved talents.

Born in the Bronx in 1949, Billy Joel took part in two short-lived bands, The Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and kicking off a solo career in 1971 with his first release Cold Spring Harbor. The following year, Joel captured the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of the song “Captain Jack” became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company and release his second album, Piano Man, in 1973. After Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles in 1974 and 1976, respectively, Joel released his critical and commercial breakthrough in 1977's The Stranger. The album became Columbia's best-selling release, sold more than 10 million copies, and spawned numerous hit singles including "Just the Way You Are." "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Only the Good Die Young," "She's Always a Woman," and "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," a number that Joel has called his personal favorite among his own songs.

Over the course of his solo career, Joel produced 33 top-40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote himself, and three of which – "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "Tell Her About It," and "We Didn't Start the Fire" – peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards, winning five of them including Album of the Year for 52nd Street, and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. A Broadway jukebox musical of his repertoire, Movin' Out, earned the artist and Stuart Malina 2003 Tony Awards for the show's orchestrations, and a decade later, Joel received a Kennedy Center Honors citation for influencing American culture through the arts.

Elton John is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 300 million records worldwide in a six-decade career in music. He has more than 50 top-40 hits in the U.K. Singles Chart and U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in the U.K. and U.S., as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the U.S. His 1973 double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and his 1974 Greatest Hits compilation album are among the best-selling albums worldwide. John's tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997," a rewritten version of his 1974 single in dedication to Diana, Princess of Wales, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2019, John was ranked by Billboard as the top solo artist in U.S. chart history (third overall), and the top Adult Contemporary artist of all time. Two years later, John became the first solo artist with U.K. top-10 singles across six decades.

During his remarkable career, John has received five Grammy Awards; five Brit Awards, including for Outstanding Contribution to Music; two Academy Awards; two Golden Globes; a Tony Award; a Laurence Olivier Award; a Disney Legends Award; and the Kennedy Center Honor. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him 49th on its list of 100 influential musicians of the rock-and-roll era. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy. John was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music and charitable services in 1998, while French President Emmanuel Macron presented John with France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'honneur, in 2019, calling John a "melodic genius" and praising his work on behalf of the LGBT community. That same year, a biographical music on John's life, Rocketman, earned John and his longtime friend and collaborator Bernie Taupin an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Tribute artist Brian Harris and the Mad Matters Band will bring The Piano Men: Simply Billy & Simply Elton to the Mt. Carroll venue on October 4, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $25-30, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.

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