Sports fans will argue which arena is the best in North America. Some will point to the amenities, others will point to how loud it can get inside to either rile up the home team or fluster the opposition. But when it comes to history, Madison Square Garden stands above the rest. After all, it's not called the "World's Most Famous Arena" for nothing.
The Rangers have called Madison Square Garden home for their entire existence. From the previous MSG on 8th Avenue in Manhattan from 1927 until 1968, to their current home at 4 Pennsylvania Plaza. Given the Rangers being one of the Original Six teams in the NHL, they have plenty of history. That is evident with the banners hanging up in the rafters inside MSG. The Rangers have their four Stanley Cup championship banners hanging in the rafters, along with the retired numbers of various franchise legends, such as Mark Messier, Henrik Lundqvist, and Rod Gilbert, just to name a couple.
But for some fans not in the know, or haven't made the trip to Madison Square Garden yet, there are some non-sports banners hanging up in the arena. One of them belongs to musician Billy Joel.
Billy Joel has multiple banners hanging up in Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden hosts numerous events throughout the year besides Rangers and Knicks game. Much like any arena, Madison Square Garden brings in a variety of musical performers to hold concerts in New York City. Joel has called MSG home for nearly have a century.
Joel held his first concert at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 24, 1978. Joel would head back to Madison Square Garden numerous times throughout his lengthy career. But on Jan. 27, 2014, Joel agreed to hold a residency at Madison Square Garden, where he held monthly concerts for over 10 years. Joel's residency ended on July 25, 2024, bringing the grand total of shows to 104.
Due to Joel's lengthy history at Madison Square Garden, the performer known as "the Piano Man" received two recognitions from the arena. Joel has a banner for "most lifetime performances by any artist" with 150, which he received at his final performance on July 25, 2024. That record was previously held by Elton John, who had 64 all-time performances at MSG. He also received a banner for "most consecutive performances by any artist," which sits at 104.
Phish breaks record for most consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden in 2017
Joel is just one of three musicians to receive a banner at Madison Square Garden. One of the other original recipients was rock band Phish. The band, known for blending a variety of different musical genres, had three Platinum records and eight Gold Records, while receiving two Grammy Nominations and a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2017, Phish held multiple concerts spanning from July 21 until Aug. 6, which was called "The Baker's Dozen." By performing 13 concerts in 17 nights, Phish broke the record for most consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden. Because of this, they received a banner on the final concert of that stretch.
This was a record they held for five years, until another musician broke it.
Harry Styles breaks Phish's record for most consecutive concerts at Madison Square Garden in 2022
It did not take long after Phish for another musician to break the record. That musician happened to be Harry Styles.
Styles, the former member of the hit band One Direction, branched into a successful solo act. He received 112 awards on 270 nominations. Three of those awards were Grammy's, one for Best Vocal Album in 2017 for Fine Line, and two in 2022 for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Harry's House.
In 2022, Styles held a residency at Madison Square Garden for his "Love on Tour," from Aug. 20 until Sept. 21 of that year. During that stretch, Styles performed for 15 consecutive nights, beating Phish's record by two. Styles received the recognition while on stage for his final performance. Styles was overcome with emotion when receiving the surprise gesture from Madison Square Garden.
"I just want to say from the bottom of my heart to each and every single one of you who came tonight… That's insane," said Styles, h/t PEOPLE. "To all of you who bought a ticket, thank you so, so much for your support. Things like this don't happen to people like me very often... and I just want to thank you all. You've changed my life each and every single one of you thank you so, so much."
So, Styles, Phish, and Joel are the only musical acts to receive banners at Madison Square Garden. It is entirely possible that more acts receive one, but as of this writing, these are the only three that hold the recoginition.
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