Billy Joel releasing new pop song; ‘90210’ actor dies; ‘SNL’ highlights: Buzz

Billy Joel releasing new pop song

Billboard reports Billy Joel is set to release his first new pop song in nearly 20 years. The music legend said Monday that he will debut “Turn the Lights Back On” Feb. 1 on all digital platforms and a limited edition 7-inch vinyl. Joel, whose career included 33 Top 40 hits, co-wrote the song with Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector; Wexler produced the track. The “Piano Man” didn’t say if he’d release a full album; his last original single with words was 2007′s “All My Life” and his last pop LP was 1993′s “River of Dreams.”

“I’m not ruling out the possibility of writing songs again,” Joel told Billboard in 2007. “I suppose if I had the motivation to write a song, I’m not gonna stop myself from doing it. I just haven’t felt the compulsion to write songs in pop form. I guess these days I just think of myself as a composer.” Now at age 74, perhaps he’s changing his tune.

‘90210′ actor dies

“Beverly Hills, 90210″ actor David Gail is dead at 58, according to E! News. A cause of death has not ben announced. Gail played Stuart Carson, a love interest of Shannen Doherty’s character Brenda Walsh, in a recurring role on the ‘90s TV show that saw them get engaged and nearly elope in Las Vegas. Gail’s acting career also included appearances on “Growing Pains,” “Doogie Howser,” “Murder She Wrote,” and the “General Hospital” spinoff “Port Charles.”

‘SNL’ highlights

Jacob Elordi guest-hosted “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend and Renee Rapp was the musical guest, but the real star was Rachel McAdams. The original Regina George introduced the new “Mean Girls” movie musical star’s performance and appeared in a skit as a McAdams-lookalike named “Natalie Partman.” Other highlights included a spoof of Katt Williams’ interview with Shannon Sharpe, an Alaska Airlines ad, and a Trump cold open starring James Austin Johnson as the former president.

MORE BUZZ:

• SU alumna Ashley Iaconetti of ‘Bachelor Nation’ pregnant with 2nd child (E!)
• ‘How I Met Your Mother’ star Josh Radnor gets married in a blizzard (ET)
• Marlena Shaw, oft-sampled ‘California Soul’ singer, dies at 81 (RS)
• ‘Ripley’ trailer: Andrew Scott is a conman (SF)
• Jamie Dornan hospitalized with heart attack symptoms (ET)
• Grand Ole Opry apologizes for Elle King performance at Dolly tribute (BB)
• French prosecutors dismiss Gerard Depardieu sex assault complaint (RS)
• ‘Hit Man’ trailer: Glen Powell reunites with Richard Linklater (SF)
• Justin Timberlake debuts new song at Memphis theater (ET)

Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news about movies, TV, music and celebrities.