Summer of Legends: Billy Joel Tells All as MTV Reclaims Its Crown

Mia Reynolds, 6/25/2025This summer, Billy Joel's life gets the documentary treatment with HBO's "And So It Goes," featuring insights from music legends. Simultaneously, MTV, under Van Toffler, revives music videos and celebrates music culture during the VMAs, blending nostalgia with modernity.

Music's Past and Future Collide in Summer's Hottest Entertainment Events

Sometimes the stars align in peculiar ways. This summer, two major forces in music entertainment are orchestrating a fascinating dance between nostalgia and innovation — proving that great stories, like certain melodies, have a way of sticking around.

HBO's latest venture into musical storytelling arrives in the form of "Billy Joel: And So It Goes," a sprawling five-hour documentary split across two evenings. The project, landing on screens July 18 and 25, dives deep into the Piano Man's remarkable sixty-year adventure through American music — and yeah, it's about time someone gave Joel's story the epic treatment it deserves.

What makes this documentary particularly special? Well, besides the obvious draw of Joel himself, the project managed to wrangle an impressive lineup of musical heavyweights. Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Sting all show up to share their takes on Joel's impact — and let's be honest, when The Boss and a Beatle want to talk about your legacy, you've probably done something right.

The timing feels particularly poignant. Joel recently disclosed his diagnosis with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), though director Susan Lacy has been quick to reassure fans about his recovery. True to form, Joel hasn't lost his signature wit. "Getting old sucks," he recently quipped at the Tribeca Festival premiere, "but it's still preferable to getting cremated." Classic Billy.

Meanwhile, over in the land of music television, MTV is cooking up its own kind of revolution. Van Toffler — the executive who helped transform MTV from music video channel into cultural powerhouse — is making an unexpected return to oversee this year's Video Music Awards. Talk about a full-circle moment.

But Toffler isn't just producing another awards show. He's crafting what amounts to a week-long love letter to music television. Perhaps most intriguingly, MTV2 will temporarily revert to its original format, broadcasting music videos 24/7. Past VMA winners and MTV personalities will share their favorite videos — a programming choice that feels both nostalgic and somehow perfectly timed for 2025's streaming-saturated landscape.

"We're launching a celebration of music that spans one week, every screen and every generation," Toffler explained, his enthusiasm practically jumping off the page. The show's historic move to CBS suggests something bigger at play — a reimagining of what music television could mean for today's fractured audience.

There's something almost poetic about these two events landing simultaneously. The Joel documentary, with its intimate revelations and musical insights, somehow perfectly complements Toffler's grand vision for the VMAs. Both celebrate music's enduring power to tell stories that matter, while refusing to get stuck in the past.

In our current entertainment landscape, where everything seems to exist in its own carefully curated bubble, these parallel celebrations of musical legacy — one deeply personal, the other gloriously communal — remind us why we fell for music in the first place. They're not just smart programming moves; they're reminders that some stories deserve to be told again and again, each time finding new ears to enchant and new hearts to touch.

And maybe that's exactly what we need right now — a reminder that great music, like great storytelling, never really goes out of style. It just finds new ways to play on.

Music's Past and Future Collide in Summer's Hottest Entertainment EventsSometimes the stars align in peculiar ways. This summer, two major forces in music entertainment are orchestrating a fascinating dance between nostalgia and innovation — proving that great stories, like certain melodies, have a way of sticking around.HBO's latest venture into musical storytelling arrives in the form of "Billy Joel: And So It Goes," a sprawling five-hour documentary split across two evenings. The project, landing on screens July 18 and 25, dives deep into the Piano Man's remarkable sixty-year adventure through American music — and yeah, it's about time someone gave Joel's story the epic treatment it deserves.What makes this documentary particularly special? Well, besides the obvious draw of Joel himself, the project managed to wrangle an impressive lineup of musical heavyweights. Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Sting all show up to share their takes on Joel's impact — and let's be honest, when The Boss and a Beatle want to talk about your legacy, you've probably done something right.The timing feels particularly poignant. Joel recently disclosed his diagnosis with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), though director Susan Lacy has been quick to reassure fans about his recovery. True to form, Joel hasn't lost his signature wit. "Getting old sucks," he recently quipped at the Tribeca Festival premiere, "but it's still preferable to getting cremated." Classic Billy.Meanwhile, over in the land of music television, MTV is cooking up its own kind of revolution. Van Toffler — the executive who helped transform MTV from music video channel into cultural powerhouse — is making an unexpected return to oversee this year's Video Music Awards. Talk about a full-circle moment.But Toffler isn't just producing another awards show. He's crafting what amounts to a week-long love letter to music television. Perhaps most intriguingly, MTV2 will temporarily revert to its original format, broadcasting music videos 24/7. Past VMA winners and MTV personalities will share their favorite videos — a programming choice that feels both nostalgic and somehow perfectly timed for 2025's streaming-saturated landscape."We're launching a celebration of music that spans one week, every screen and every generation," Toffler explained, his enthusiasm practically jumping off the page. The show's historic move to CBS suggests something bigger at play — a reimagining of what music television could mean for today's fractured audience.There's something almost poetic about these two events landing simultaneously. The Joel documentary, with its intimate revelations and musical insights, somehow perfectly complements Toffler's grand vision for the VMAs. Both celebrate music's enduring power to tell stories that matter, while refusing to get stuck in the past.In our current entertainment landscape, where everything seems to exist in its own carefully curated bubble, these parallel celebrations of musical legacy — one deeply personal, the other gloriously communal — remind us why we fell for music in the first place. They're not just smart programming moves; they're reminders that some stories deserve to be told again and again, each time finding new ears to enchant and new hearts to touch.And maybe that's exactly what we need right now — a reminder that great music, like great storytelling, never really goes out of style. It just finds new ways to play on.