Now this is the way to make the most of a concert stop in Iowa…
Billy Joel certainly made the most of his downtime in Des Moines this week.
According to local papers, the Piano Man did a little shopping while he was in town for a concert… and when I say little I mean tiny in star terms.
Joel reportedly walked into a local shop that specializes in vintage sports and muscle cars and left with a burgundy 1973 VW Beetle. The classic Volkswagen Bug may be small, but shop owners say it came with a hefty price tag, though not as big as the shop’s most expensive car—a 1970 Chevelle LS6 listed for $150,000.
The shop’s owner refused to disclose how much Joel actually paid for his new ride, but he did reveal that the singer told him that he loved the vehicle’s color and said the Beetle would be a “great beach car.”
The owner also told news reporters that Joel mentioned that 1973 was the year his smash hit “Piano Man” was released.
In the end Joel got a new car and the dealer scored the sale and eight second-row concert tickets and backstage passes.
Not bad for a day’s work.
One star whose day didn’t go nearly as well is pop superstar Mariah Carey.
The record-breaking singer was met with a round of boos when she showed up at an autograph signing session on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Did I mention that she showed up two hours late and left before signing albums for fans who had waited eight hours to meet her?
In the hours since the ugly incident (hundreds of fans not only booed the pop diva, but they also reportedly trashed their copies of Carey’s CD and yelled profanities at her) the Internet has been flooded with angry accounts by fans of what took place at the signing.
One angry fan wrote: “The first 1,000 people who bought her album from (record store) FYE got a guaranteed meet and greet (wristband), but Mariah left with more than a hundred people still waiting.”
Perhaps Carey is looking to the sales of her new fitness video to help redeem herself…