Showbiz411

Here’s a cool video: at Vanderbilt University Billy Joel stopped in to do one of his master classes. He wound up letting Michael Pollack, a student and aspiring star, come up on stage and back him on piano on “New York State of Mind.” The kid is from Long Island, and told Billy he’d played with Richie Cannata in the past. Billy does these classes all the time. He’s turned into quite the lecturer/teacher. And this time it really worked out well! This year by the way marks 20 since “River of Dreams,” Billy’s last album. Isn’t it time for something new? Please?

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.