( CNN ) -- Billy Joel is definitely in a New York state of mind . The legendary singer has signed a deal to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City once a month , the venue announced on Tuesday . Joel will become the first musical artist to have such a franchise at the Garden . `` Since his first show in 1978 , Billy has performed 46 shows at Madison Square Garden , including an unprecedented 12 consecutive sold-out shows that have earned Billy a spot among the Garden greats with a banner raised in his honor , '' James L. Dolan , executive chairman of The Madison Square Garden Company said via a press release . `` Today , we take that relationship even further and are extremely honored to have Billy as The Garden 's first music franchise . '' `` Performing at Madison Square Garden is a thrilling experience , '' Joel said in a statement in the press release . `` I 've played different venues all over the world , but there 's no place like coming home to The Garden . Since my first show in 1978 , I 've always looked forward to the energy of the crowd . I 'm honored to be joining the Madison Square Garden family and look forward to taking the stage of the newly transformed Garden to create many more memorable nights . '' The singer will kick off his series of shows starting January 27 , 2014 . MSG had previously announced four Joel concerts -- January 27 , February 3 , March 21 and April 18 -- which are already sold out . A newly announced concert will be held on Joel 's 65th birthday , May 9 . Tickets for the May show will go on sale to the general public on December 7 .
Billy Joel will play concerts at the Garden once a month . The deal makes him the first musical franchise at Universal . His first show there was in September .