Live Nation teased a big concert coming to Salt Lake City. Here’s who it is

It was a pretty good crowd for a Thursday morning.
After 48 hours of anticipation and speculation, reporters gathered in the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium to hear what big show was worth its own special announcement and summoning the media.
Jason Farrell, president of Live Nation Utah, and the University of Utah Athletics’ director of broadcasting, Bill Riley, provided an answer at 10:15 a.m.: Billy Joel and Sting.
The two acts will co-headline a one-night only show at the 51,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium on May 23, 2025. They will also perform in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Syracuse, New York, next year (both cities also got their own Live Nation press conference Thursday). Farrell said the event “is sure to be one of the biggest concert experiences of 2025″ and noted that Utah has become a “destination for music artists of all sizes.”
“There’s a reason why, and it’s not just because Utah is a beautiful state, and it is,” he said. “But we in Utah have, hands down, the greatest fans in the entire world. Night after night I am told by artists coming off stage that it was the best show they’ve ever played, that it was the best crowd they’ve ever played in front of. And it’s not lip service, it’s not selling it to the audience. It’s the truth. There is a magic at these shows and there’s an energy that is created by community-minded fans that want to share an experience and then create something magical and unlike any other market on the world.”
And, Farrell said, that will likely continue with the arrival of Billy Joel and Sting. Tickets for the concert go on sale to the public Friday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. MDT.
It’s been a big year for Joel. With the release of “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first single in nearly two decades, the Piano Man has been announcing major concerts throughout the year.
Earlier this year, Live Nation held special press conferences in Chicago, St. Louis and Cleveland to announce Billy Joel concerts, along with co-headliners including Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart and Sting, as the Deseret News reported. In fact, Joel and Sting perform at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium tomorrow night.
An appearance from Joel in Salt Lake City continues the musician’s return to the spotlight. And you can apparently bank on Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham being in attendance. The longtime coach rode a motorcycle onto the field to declare his love for Joel, who he said he has been listening to the artist since “Piano Man” came out in 1973.
“Absolutely elated,” Whittingham said about the announcement, with a Billy Joel/Sting No. 25 Utes jersey on either side of him. “I’ve been a Billy Joel fan forever, so really exciting stuff. Can’t wait for the concert. I’ll be here, hopefully, if I can get tickets. Just couldn’t be more thrilled to have the Piano Man coming to Salt Lake City.”
Joel’s last Utah concert came seven years ago at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center. That concert on Nov. 29, 2017, marked 10 years to the day that he’d last performed a solo show at the arena, the Deseret News reported.
“If there were any fans at the show upset with the singer for neglecting the Beehive State for so long, Joel offered a sincere apology via a comprehensive and engaging show that took Utah fans on a journey through his dynamic career,” I wrote for the Deseret News at the time. “Let’s just hope his next performance won’t be in 2027.”
Sting’s last time in Utah is much more recent. The singer performed last year at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in West Valley City.
He also played the same venue in 2019, putting on a benefit concert for Zion National Park. That show gave fans a long string of hits and helped raise revenue for the Zion Forever Project, which pays for programs and projects not ordinarily covered by the National Park Service budget, the Deseret News reported at the time.
Backed by the Utah Symphony, Sting performed and told the stories behind the songs that have cemented his place in music history — hits like “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” “Fields of Gold,” “Desert Rose” and “Every Breath You Take.”
Rice-Eccles Stadium has drawn some big acts over the years, including U2, Kelly Clarkson and NSYNC. Recently, country music has been a major emphasis: Country superstar Garth Brooks performed there three times from the summer of 2021 through the summer of 2022. Luke Combs performed there earlier this year, and, most recently, country greats George Strait and Chris Stapleton co-headlined at the Salt Lake stadium.
“There’s so much history that’s taken place here,” Riley told reporters at the press conference, citing Mountain West and Pac-12 football games, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics. “Coming up in about 10 years or so, the world’s going to once again descend on Utah in this stadium as well for the opening and closing games of the 2034 Winter Olympiad.”