Credit: Myrna SuarezBilly Joel will return to his alma mater — Hicksville High School in Hicksville, New York — on Saturday to help the Class of 2017 celebrate its graduation, Newsday reports.
The event is taking place 50 years after the Piano Man’s own commencement was originally scheduled, although he didn’t actually graduate, because he was shy one English credit. He finally received his diploma in 1992 during a return visit to the school.
Billy will be among the guest speakers at the 2017 ceremony, which will be held on the school’s athletic field. About 400 or so students are expected to graduate during the commencement.
“We’re hoping for good weather, but there seems a very good likelihood of rain,” a school representative tells Newsday, adding that if it does rain, the ceremony “will be in our gymnasium. If that’s the case, it’ll be the second time Joel has attended graduation in the gymnasium.”
According to Newsday, during Joel’s 1992 appearance at the school, he quipped, “Well, here I am, Mom. I’m actually going to get my high school diploma, and it’s only 25 years after everyone else got theirs. But Mom, don’t worry. I can finally pull myself out of this dead-end job I have and start working on a career with a real future.”
Meanwhile, Joel’s next concert will be a July 5 show that’s part of his ongoing residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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