Billy Joel Opens Up About Affair, Suicide Attempts, and Emotional Recovery in New Documentary

Billy Joel, a pianist and singer-songwriter, talked candidly about the difficult and depressing stage of life. The legendary musician revealed that he had an affair with his former bandmate's wife, which led to two suicide attempts and a coma, following the Tribeca Festival premiere of his new documentary on 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes.

'A friendship destroyed by love Joel and his best friend Jon Small played together in the band Attila when he was in his early twenties. According to People, he then moved in with Elizabeth Weber, Small's wife, and their son.In the documentary, Elizabeth stated, "Bill and I spent a lot of time together," describing it as a "slow build." Joel told Small, "I'm in love with your wife," after Small realized something was wrong."I felt very, very guilty about it.

They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker," the singer added. "I was just in love with a woman, and I got punched in the nose, which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset."Attila and their friendship ended as a result of this dispute. Joel and Elizabeth reconnected years later, and they tied the knot from 1973 to 1982.Joel spiraling into depression and despair "I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats, and I was depressed, I think to the point of almost being psychotic," he claimed in the documentary.

"So I figured, 'That's it. I don't want to live anymore.' I was just in a lot of pain, and it was sort of like, why hang out? Tomorrow is going to be just like today, and today sucks. So, I just thought I'd end it all," people stated.Judy Molinari, Joel's sister who worked as a medical assistant, gave him sleeping pills to help him fall asleep.In the documentary, she stated, "But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them...

he was in a coma for days and days and days.” She added, "I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was lying there white as a sheet. I thought that I'd killed him.""He never really said anything to me," Small continued. "The only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually I forgave him."Joel’s redemption and emotional recoveryHe checked himself into an "observation ward" after the suicide attempts because he felt like a "lost soul." Joel's life was changed by the experience, and he was freed a few weeks later. According to People, he stated, "I got out of the observation ward, and I thought to myself, you can utilize all those emotions to channel that stuff into music," after leaving the observation ward.