IT promises to be one hell of a homecoming.

Eastleigh’s own talented singer songwriter and piano player Elio Pace will be living the dream when he and his six piece band perform The Billy Joel Songbook on a nationwide tour.

Elio was invited by Billy Joel’s original touring band to fill Billy’s shoes, starring in five very special reunion concerts in the USA recreating the historic Sigma Sounds live recordings.

This incredible honour inspired Elio to fulfil a lifetime ambition of creating a theatre show showcasing the wonderful songbook of the six-time Grammy award winner, Billy Joel.

He put a homecoming gig at The Point on October 13 on sale this week and all the tickets were snapped up in just one day.

Elio told the Daily Echo: “I cannot believe I’ll be performing my Billy Joel Songbook show in the actual town centre where I grew up! The last time I performed on the stage of what was then Eastleigh Town Hall was in 1986 aged 18 playing Tony in an amateur production of West Side Story.

“I became a professional musician two years later in 1988 and left home for the bright lights of London and for one reason or another, I have never been back to the village green that I used to cycle to and around almost every day to meet my pals. It really is going to be a very special night personally and I hope many of those friends can come along. I’m seriously thinking of cycling to the gig from my Mum and Dad’s house!”

Elio, who now lives in Surrey, grew up in Eastleigh and attended Toynbee School in Chandlers Ford and Barton Peveril College.Since then, he has thrilled audiences around the world for over 25 years with his soulful voice and amazing piano playing.

Along the way he has performed with a wonderful array of stars including Queen’s Brian May, Huey Lewis, Katie Melua and Craig David. He even played for at Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock’s 30th birthday party, at which she got up and sung a duet with him.

He appeared live-on-air to millions as the featured artist on BBC Radio 2’s Weekend Wogan.