Last night, talk-show savant Kevin Spacey told Jimmy Fallon about accompanying Billy Joel onstage when the Long Island legend was awarded the Gershwin Prize last November and Spacey was asked to sing at the event. Spacey had wanted to cover Joel’s iconic dive-bar downer “Piano Man,” scourge of karaoke nights everywhere, but was turned down. However, when Spacey asked if he could perform the harmonica on “Piano Man” with Joel, the musician agreed, with the only minor caveat being that Spacey could only “sort of” play the instrument. (Bruce Willis never has this problem.)
So Spacey taught himself how to play the song over a month, driving the House of Cards cast and crew crazy. “Every moment I was off-camera I was learning the harmonica part.”
Watch Spacey tell the story and convincingly rock a mouth harp below:
And here’s Spacey performing at the concert with Joel. It’s way better than House of Cards season two:
