Billy Joel Responds to ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ Update by Fall Out Boy
Billy Joel shared his thoughts on the Fall Out Boy update of his song “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
The Piano Man told BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball, “Everybody has been wanting to know when there is going to be an updated version of it … Everybody said, ‘Are you going to do part two? When are you going to do part two?’ And I said, ‘Nah, I’ve already done part one.’ So, Fall Out Boy, go ahead. Great. Take it away.”
Joel also touched on how difficult it is to sing “We Didn’t Start the Fire” live, because the lyrics are so complicated. He said he often looks to the crowd for guidance. He recalled a time he performed the song in Toronto, and he messed up the lyrics so bad that he stopped the song. The audience wasn’t exactly pleased, but Joel just rolled with it.
Fall Out Boy released their updated version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” about two weeks ago. Their version covers events from 1989-2023. While it covers a broad range of events and topics, there are certain moments that were omitted from the updated version. Keep scrolling to see which big moments were missing.
10 Moments Missing from Fall Out Boy's 'We Didn't Start The Fire'
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” received an update today (June 28) courtesy of Fall Out Boy. The original version by Billy Joel recounted notable historical moments from 1949-1989. Meanwhile, Fall Out Boy’s update highlights major events and figures from 1989-2023.
With the release of their updated version, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz said, “I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events- some that disappeared into the sands of time- others that changed the world forever. So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years- we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it…”
Fall Out Boy had a lot of ground to cover in the song, because a lot has happened in the past 34 years. The band did a great job featuring a diverse variety of topics. They namechecked Kurt Cobain, John Wayne Bobbit, 9/11, Balloon Boy, deep fakes, Kim Jong Un, Fyre Fest, Taylor Swift and so much more. However, there were some notable omissions from the song that we think were major moments of the past 30+ years.
Here are just ten major moments missing from Fall Out Boy’s update on “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights
