Billy Joel pays tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, covering 'If You Could Read My Mind'

Billy Joel on Tuesday paid tribute to the acclaimed singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who died Monday in his native Canada at age 84 and whose hits included "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Carefree Highway" and the No. 1 single "Sundown."

"So sad to hear of the death of Gordon Lightfoot," the Hicksville-raised Joel, who turns 74 on May 9, wrote on Instagram and Facebook. "He was a lifelong musical hero of mine. His songs were the heart of Canada. R.I.P."

In an accompanying 44-second video, Joel performs an excerpt from Lightfoot's melancholy 1970 release "If You Could Read My Mind," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart in February 1971. Dressed in a black T-shirt and matching pants, wearing a baseball cap, sitting at a piano on a marble floor at the foot of a stairwell, he begins playing with no preamble. His heartfelt rendition continues up to the lyric "a ghost that you can't see."

"I love this. Do this more often Billy," commented one fan on Instagram. "So beautiful ... you definitely did Gordon proud with this version," wrote another. "Beautiful Billy. Gordon would love this!" said one more person. "Thank you for this beautiful tribute to a True Canadian Legend!"

Joel has been generous with praise toward musicians he admires. At his 86th Madison Square Garden residency concert on Jan. 15, he paid tribute to fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jeff Beck, who had died days earlier at age 78.

"A musician who I always, always loved. He was the best," Joel told the sold-out crowd in one of several audience videos online. "Jeff Beck just passed away recently. And I couldn't let the night go by without doing something by Jeff. This is a recording he did with Rod Stewart called 'People Get Ready.' " The band then launched into the somber yet soaring 1965 gospel-soul classic written by Curtis Mayfield and covered by Beck and guest vocalist Stewart on Beck's 1985 album, "Flash."

Later that month, in a Los Angeles Times interview, Joel lobbied for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Warren Zevon to be inducted this year. Zevon died in 2003.