Palm Beach Pops 2009

Michael Cavanaugh in Concert: The Music of Billy Joel & More
• April 4-5, 2011 at 8pm – Kravis
• April 7-9, 2011 at 8pm – FAU
• April 10, 2011 at 8pm – Eissey
Bob Lappin, Music Director and Conductor
Michael Cavanaugh, Guest Artist

Michael Cavanaugh

Michael Cavanaugh is the New Voice of the American Rock & Roll Songbook. A charismatic performer, musician and actor, made famous for his piano/lead vocals in the Broadway Musical Movin’ Out. Michael Cavanaugh was handpicked by Billy Joel to star in title role and evokes a style rivaling the Piano Man. Michael appeared in the show for 3 years and over 1200 performances, receiving accolade after accolade, which culminated in 2003 with both Grammy and Tony award nominations.  

Michael began playing at age 7, when his parents bought their first piano.  Encouraged by family and friends, and inspired by his hero Billy Joel, Michael formed his first band at age 10 and began playing local functions, fine-tuning the craft that would become his chosen career.

His first full time gig as a musician was an extended engagement in Orlando Florida at a piano bar called Blazing Pianos. In January of 1999, Michael received an offer that would unknowingly change his life, with an opportunity to play Las Vegas at the famed “New York, New York Hotel and Casino.” It was there that Billy Joel spotted Michael and joined him on stage one fateful night of February 2001.  It only took 2 songs before Billy was convinced that he had found his new Piano Man, Michael Cavanaugh. Michael moved to New York City to work alongside Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp, to shape the Broadway Musical that would be called “Movin’ Out”. 

With the close of Movin’ Out at the end of 2005, Michael began touring in his own right, creating a show that reinterprets the modern pop/rock songbook. Michael soon became one of the hottest artist’s in the corporate/events market.  He continues to perform worldwide for company and charity events as well as sporting events including PGA tour events, the US Open, the Indy 500.  It wasn’t long before Symphony Orchestras discovered Michael’s talents and audience appeal. He accepted his first orchestral booking, “Michael Cavanaugh - The Songs of Billy Joel and more” which debuted in April of 2008 with the Indianapolis Symphony and continues to tour.  In October 2008, he signed with Warner/ADA to distribute his first CD titled “In Color”. In June, 2010, Michael debuted his second symphony show in the "Generations of Rock" series entitled "Michael Cavanaugh: The Songs of Elton John & more" and  continues to tour both symphony productions.

Billy Joel

Although Billy Joel never was a critic's favorite, the pianist emerged as one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the latter half of the '70s. Joel's music consistently demonstrates an affection for Beatlesque hooks and a flair for Tin Pan Alley and Broadway melodies. His fusion of two distinct eras made him a superstar in the late '70s and '80s, as he racked an impressive string of multi-platinum albums and hit singles.

Born in the Bronx, Joel was raised in the Long Island suburb of Hicksville, where he learned to play piano as a child. As he approached his adolescence, Joel started to rebel, joining teenage street gangs and boxing as welterweight. He fought a total of 22 fights as a teenager, and during one of the fights, he broke his nose. For the early years of his adolescence, he divided his time between studying piano and fighting. Upon seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career and set about finding a local Long Island band to join. Eventually, he found the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes became a popular New York attraction, convincing him to quit high school to become a professional musician.

While still a member of the Echoes, Joel began playing recording sessions in 1965, when he was just 16 years old. Joel played piano on several recordings George "Shadow" Morton produced -- including the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" -- as well as several records released through Kama Sutra Productions. During this time, the Echoes started to play numerous late-night shows.

Joel signed a deal with Family Productions in 1971, where Joel refashioned himself as a sensitive singer/songwriter for his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor. By the end of 1973, Billy Joel's first album for Columbia Records, Piano Man, had been released. The record slowly worked its way up the charts, peaking at number 27 in the spring of 1974. The title track -- culled from experiences he had while singing at the Executive Room -- became a Top 40 hit single. Through songs like "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "New York State of Mind," Joel celebrated the move his 1976 album Turnstiles.

Joel's next album would prove to be the make-or-break point for his career, and the resulting album, The Stranger, catapulted him into superstardom. The Stranger was released in the fall of 1977. By the end of the year, it peaked at number two and had gone platinum, and within the course of a year, it would spawn the Top 40 singles "Just the Way You Are" -- which would win the 1978 Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year -- "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "She's Always a Woman," and "Only the Good Die Young." Joel followed The Stranger with 52nd Street, which was released in the fall of 1978. The album spawned the hit singles "My Life," "Big Shot," and "Honesty," and won the 1979 Grammy award for Album of the Year.

In the spring of 1980, Joel released Glass Houses, reaching number one in America, where it stayed for six weeks; the album spawned the Top 40 singles "You May Be Right" (number seven), "It's Still Rock'n'Roll to Me" (number one), "Don't Ask Me Why" (number 19), and "Sometimes a Fantasy" (number 36) and won the 1980 Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. In the fall of 1981, Joel released Songs in the Attic, a live album that concentrated on material written and recorded before he became a star in 1977. The album's "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "She's Got a Way" became Top 40 hits.

His album, The Nylon Curtain, was released in the 1992, spawning the Top 20 hits "Pressure" and "Allentown."  An Innocent Man restored Joel to his multi-platinum status, eventually selling over seven million copies and spawning the hit singles "Uptown Girl" (number three), "Tell Her About It" (number one), "An Innocent Man" (number ten), and "Keeping the Faith" (number 18). During 1983 and 1984, Joel became one of the first '70s stars to embrace MTV and music videos, shooting a number of clips for the album that were aired frequently on the network.

In 2002, Twyla Tharp choreographed and directed Movin' Out, a Broadway musical based on Joel's music, where her personally chose Michael Cavanaugh to play the lead role of ‘the Piano Man.’