This “Big Shot” is a little smaller these days.
Billy Joel showed up to his first post-pandemic performance Nov. 5 at Madison Square Garden — where he’s been in residence since 2014 — about 50 pounds lighter.
Last month, the 72-year-old slimmed down “Piano Man” told Howard Stern that his shrinking frame was the unintentional result of back surgery.
“I had back surgery early this year and the pain afterward was so bad I lost my appetite,” he told Stern.
“I embraced that, I said, ‘OK, I won’t eat as much’ and I ate less and less and less and less and then there was just life aggravation and that tends to, you know, impact your appetite too.”
The married father of three added, “I had gotten kind of chunky. I was happy to lose the weight.”
And the weight loss seemed to have a positive impact on his stage presence.
As The Post’s music critic Chuck Arnold reported of his Friday show, Joel “displayed more energy and endurance, bouncing around the stage to ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire,’ ‘Uptown Girl’ and ‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’ in the encore.”
