Billy Joel Responds to Fall Out Boy’s Updated Cover of His Hit ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’

Billy Joel has apparently been waiting for someone to come along and update his 1989 single “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” In an interview with BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball following his headlining performance in Hyde Park last weekend, Joel praised Fall Out Boy for their recent take on the song.

“Everybody’s been wanting to know when there’s going to be an updated version of it, because my song started in ’49 and ended in ’89 — it was a 40-year span,” Joel told Ball. “Everybody said, ‘Well, aren’t you going to do a part two?’ I said, ‘Nah, I’ve already done part one.’ So, Fall Out Boy, go ahead. Great, take it away!”

The musician added that the single can be really tricky to perform live, as he has experienced in recent years.

“Sometimes I’m watching people sing along hoping they’ll guide me,” Joel said. “Because you can get one word wrong and it’s a train wreck. Which is what happened to me in Toronto when I forgot the words and then I just stopped the song… So, you know, it’s walking on a tightrope with that thing.”

Fall Out Boy’s cover of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” continues the story from 1989 to the present, tackling everything from Balloon Boy and Harry Potter to Trump’s two impeachments, Brexit, George Floyd, and Sandy Hook.

Unlike the Billy Joel original, Fall Out Boy don’t run through the events in chronological order. It begins with the Captain Planet cartoon series in 1990, jumps to the Arab Spring in 2010, the L.A. Riots in 1992, and the police assault on Rodney King in 1991. As the song continues, it touches on seismic global events (Brexit, the death of Queen Elizabeth, the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan), pop culture artifacts (Michael Keaton’s Batman, Twilight, Iron Man, SpongeBob Square Pants), and music moments (My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade, Woodstock 99).

Fall Out Boy is currently on the road in support of their new LP, So Much (for) Stardust. Joel recently announced he will play the final show of his Madison Square Garden residency in July 2024, over a decade after he kicked off the historic monthly concert series. The final gig will also mark his 150th career show at the New York City arena. He has brought numerous surprise guests onstage throughout the residency, although Fall Out Boy has yet to join him. 

From Rolling Stone US.