I don’t know where the calling came from, but I really wanted to play piano. I can’t remember my early exposure to music, but my parents told me many, many times the story about how I kept asking them for a piano. I don’t know why, but I asked my parents for a piano when I was about six years old. I used to listen to the radio a lot when I was young, AM radio in those days. Tell me your first memory of hearing music as a child that really reached you. I want to go back and talk about your life. Other than that, I’ve been living here pretty much. I grew up in Edison and I’ve been here most of my life, but I went to school in Boston at the Berklee College of Music. I’m working on projects, writing music, and always trying to be creative. I’m fortunate to have a nice studio here in my house, so I’m able to be productive and creative the best I can. It’s definitely been a unique experience for everybody.
We called up Rosenthal at his New Jersey home to hear the whole saga. He’s also spent time gigging with Steve Vai, Cyndi Lauper, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Robert Palmer, and Enrique Iglesias in addition to his side career as a synth programmer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Lady Gaga, and many other major touring acts. “And who knew if I’d ever get to play there again?”Īt that point, it would have been unimaginable that he’d one day play Madison Square Garden more times than just about any musician in history, thanks to his 28-year (and counting) stint in Billy Joel’s band. “It was the biggest gig I’d ever done in my life,” he says. Much to his amazement, Rosenthal became one of those little ants on June 19th, 1982: That night, Rainbow, with Rosenthal on his first tour as the band’s keyboardist, headlined a show at MSG.