Billy Joel to Release First New Song in 17 Years as He Teases 'Turn the Lights Back On' on Instagram
The singer-songwriter's first new material since 2007 will be available to stream on Feb. 1
The Piano Man is gearing up to sing us a brand new song!
Billy Joel has officially announced the release of his first single in 17 years, “Turn the Lights Back On.”
The track — which he teased on Instagram on Monday — will be released on streaming platforms on Feb. 1, along with a lyric video. It will also be released on limited-edition 7-inch vinyl.
“Turn the Lights Back On” is the legendary singer-songwriter’s first new material since 2007, when he released one-off singles "All My Life,” which was penned for then-wife Katie Lee, and "Christmas in Fallujah” with musician Cass Dillon.
Related: Billy Joel Performs with Daughters Della and Remy at Madison Square Garden
Joel, 74, wrote the track with Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector and the song’s producer, Freddy Wexler, who has worked on songs for artists including Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Post Malone.
The Grammy winner teased it on stage last year, telling the audience, “We’ve got a little something we’ve been working on you might hear sometime.”
Prior to his 2007 singles, Joel had retired from songwriting altogether, only releasing covers — including Carole King’s “Hey Girl” and Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love” — since his 1993 album River of Dreams.
Reflecting on his decision to cease songwriting in a 2018 interview with Vulture, Joel simply said, “When I stopped writing songs it was time.”
“I couldn’t be as good as I wanted and that was driving me crazy. I was driving my loved ones crazy,” he told the outlet. “I thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ So I stopped.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the “Uptown Girl” singer revealed that drinking was “one of the reasons I stopped writing songs.”
“I would drink to try and ease the pain of not being as good as I wanted to be,” Joel told Vulture, adding that “it was a vicious cycle, so I stopped.”
Related: Billy Joel Reveals What He Thinks About Fall Out Boy's Cover of 'We Didn't Start the Fire'
During his 17-year songwriting hiatus, Joel has continued to take the stage to perform his massive — and massively successful — discography, which includes “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “Vienna,” “Movin' Out,” “The Longest Time” and “Only the Good Die Young.”
Recently, he announced a handful of massive stadium shows, including several dates with co-headliners Stevie Nicks and Sting.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Joel also recently revealed that his iconic, decade-long Madison Square Garden residency in New York City will come to a close this year. It will end after his 150th lifetime show at the venue on July 25.
"After 10 years, we've done it. I mean, I didn't realize it would last 10 years,” Joel told PEOPLE last November.
"And I don't know how many shows it is, I'm sure somebody's keeping track of it somewhere, but I'm amazed that we went this far, and I'm honored," he added.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.