(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- The Lords of 52nd Street, the legendary members of the Billy Joel band, will bring the famous sounds of the “Piano Man” to Monmouth University in a concert benefitting the School of Social Work’s SRF Suicide Prevention Research and Training Project. The performance will be held on Friday, December 8, 2017 at 7:30pm in the university’s Pollak Theatre, in West Long Branch, New Jersey. 

Lords members Liberty DeVitto, drummer, Russell Javors, guitarist, and Richie Cannata, saxophonist and keyboardist, imprinted their now-iconic sound on the runaway hits of Joel in the 1970s and 1980s. The band recorded and toured the world with Joel for more than a decade performing at some of the most famous venues on earth. The band members, along with the late bass guitarist DougStegmeyer, recorded Joel’s Turnstiles album before teaming up with the legendary producer Phil Ramone to record the smash hit, RIAA diamond certified (10x platinum) album The Stranger, which spawned multiple No.1 singles including Only The Good Die Young and Just The Way You Are. They continued to create many other successful albums including 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain.

In 2014, Javors, Cannata, and DeVitto (and Stegmeyer, posthumously) were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. At that time, they decided to reunite after a 30-year separation and began performing in front of live audiences together. Many fans have declared that the Lords’ live performances sound just like the original recordings with Billy Joel and the band continues to astound audiences from around the world!

According to lore, Joel and Ramone started calling the quartet “the Lords of 52nd Street” during the recording of The Stranger. Playing alongside the three living Lords will be David Clark, Ken Cino, Doug Kistner and Malcolm Gold.

The Lords of 52^nd Street are excited to be partnering with the SRF Suicide Prevention Project at Monmouth to help bring attention to how to save lives.  The band has been personally impacted by the loss of their bandmate, Doug Stegmeyer.  Liberty Devitto stated “I miss Doug every day. My hope is that by getting to the kids early, we can prevent this kind of problem for future generations. I hope that our involvement with this show and this great charity, we can get to someone who thinks there is no other option, because there is always another option.”

The show will open with a performance by New Jersey native Matt McAndrew, a singer songwriter who has drawn critical acclaim after his appearances on the NBC talent competition, “The Voice.”  His single, Wasted Love, debuted at No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the highest mark ever achieved by a “The Voice” artist.

The SRF Project at Monmouth works to prevent suicide by providing training and education to those who are in a position to help prevent suicide such as parents, coaches, mentors, school counselors and mental health professionals.  The SRF Project recently held its first event, Youth Suicide Prevention: Using the Media to Begin the Conversation, attended by more than 300 individuals from across the state.  The next conference, in early 2018, will advance the conversation by educating clinical professionals on suicide risk assessment and management techniques.

The proceeds from the concert will be used to develop and disseminate training materials to help people identify when a person is at risk for suicide and what to do and say if they are concerned.  The initial focus will be on the development of training materials for sports coaches in all year-round sport facilities (i.e. clubs/AAU programs).  

Tickets for this benefit concert are available online at www.monmouth.edu/mca or by calling the box office at 732-263-6889. Tickets range in price from $40 to $100.