Billy Joel and Rod Stewart will perform at Cleveland Browns Stadium this fall as part of an impressive musical double bill. At a news conference Thursday, officials announced they will perform on September 13 as co-headlining acts, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday, February 2 at 10 AM via LiveNation (with pre-sale available to concertgoers with Citi cards beginning Monday Jan 29).
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Browns owner Whitney Haslam Johnson, Destination Cleveland President and CEO David Gilbert and Live Nation Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sponsorship Sales Barry Gabel were on hand for the news conference to showcase how this concert will draw in huge numbers and help boost local businesses even during a time when so many major tours have forgoing Cleveland altogether.
It’s also good news for the Browns, as they look to build an audience to support them during the offseason concert series. Their non-football events had been losing money; by hosting concerts like this one and providing music performances during this concert, fans will have something other than games going on at their stadium during that period of time.
Both acts have enjoyed successful careers spanning more than 50 years. Both artists are multi-platinum artists; Joel selling over 160 million records worldwide to become the sixth best-selling solo artist ever; winning six Grammy Awards; inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (1999 as solo artist and 2012 with The Faces); receiving two inductions into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; as well as being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016.
Joel recently teased his new song, “Turn the Lights Back On,” with a social media post and recently wrapped up three years of performing at Madison Square Garden as part of a monthly residency, before leaving to perform at Cleveland’s arena next summer. 3News understands there are numerous moving parts involved when organizing such an event – dates, venue space availability, expenses related to staging it as well as travel costs must all come together seamlessly for such an endeavor to run smoothly.