Nobody Expected David Lee Roth To Start Singing One Of Billy Joel’s Most Emotional Songs On Tour — But The Newly Surfaced Footage And The Surprising Van Halen Connection Behind It Are What Now Have Classic Rock Fans Completely Emotional

Two weeks after we first learned that David Lee Roth was covering “New York State of Mind” on his current North American tour, video of the Van Halen legend covering the 1976 Billy Joel song has finally hit YouTube.

You can watch Roth performing the song during his April 18 show at the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, Oregon below. You can also see Joel perform it during a 1978 appearance on the BBC program the Old Grey Whistle Test.

Although it wasn’t released as a single from his 1976 album Turnstiles, “New York State of Mind” has become one of Joel’s most popular and most frequently covered songs. SetList.fm lists it as his 11th most performed track, having been played at 628 shows.

Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett and Oleta Adams have all recorded their own versions of the track, and Joel has performed it live alongside peers such as Garth Brooks, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen.

Roth – who’s been spending his recent weekends hanging out with Teddy Swims at Coachella and Stagecoach – is next scheduled to perform live on Friday, May 1 in Memphis.

Another two months of steady touring will conclude with a July 9 show in Calgary, leaving just an Aug. 7 appearance at Sturgis on his calendar. You can get complete details at his official website.

How Eddie Van Halen Almost Produced a Billy Joel Album

In a 1990 interview, Joel revealed that he originally wanted Roth’s bandmate Eddie Van Halen to produce his 1989 album Storm Front. “I think he’s a fantastic musician,” Joel told Rolling Stone.

“And I like the energy in Van Halen records. Our schedules didn’t line up, but we had a fun meeting at this Italian restaurant in Manhattan. People would look at us and say, “Isn’t that him and him? What are they doing?”

The job instead went to Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, who also co-produced Van Halen’s 1986 album 5150.