Billy Joel Plays SunTrust Park On Friday

SMYRNA, GA -- Big-name artists come in and out of metro Atlanta all the time, but on Friday there was none bigger than Billy Joel, who serenaded SunTrust Park in the venue's first bona fide concert. The performance by the "Uptown Girl" artist came two weeks after the Atlanta Braves opened play at their new ballpark in Cobb County.

The singer last came to Atlanta in February 2015 for a concert that got rave reviews at Philips Arena. At the Braves new stadium, he hopes to surpass the effort.

“It is a thrill to have one of the greatest entertainers of our time perform the first concert at SunTrust Park,” Derek Schiller, Braves president, business, said in a news release obtained by WSB-TV. “We look forward to hosting Billy Joel and are eager to kick off the first of many concerts at SunTrust Park with such a legendary artist.”

Billy Joel was born in the Bronx and caught the music bug when he heard the Beatles.

"That one performance changed my life," he told CBS News a while back. "Up to that moment I'd never considered playing rock as a career. And when I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon's face -- and he looked like he was always saying: 'F--- you!' -- I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys.' This is what I'm going to do -- play in a rock band'."

“Atlanta has had an ongoing love affair with Billy Joel beginning with his performances at The Electric Ballroom, Great Southeast Music Hall and on to his sold out performances at The Omni and Philips Arena. There is nobody hotter in music than Billy Joel” Peter Conlon, president of Live Nation Atlanta, said, according to WSB.

Local 99X artist Andrew McMahon opened for Billy Joel, receiving rousing applause from the crowd.

There were staggered reports from fans on social media saying that the lighting inside the ballpark was terrible. Many of the concert's attendees were particularly upset that the Jumbotron was not used during the early part of Billy Joel's performance.

Image via Flickr /Wikimedia Creative Commons license