logo
Billy Joel savagely slates 'half-assed' Beatles album

Billy Joel savagely slates 'half-assed' Beatles album

Metro4 days ago
Billy Joel has slammed one of The Beatles most acclaimed albums (Pictures: Getty)
Billy Joel has unexpectedly taken aim at The Beatles, calling one of their albums a 'collection of half-assed songs'.
In 1968, five years after the release of their debut album Please Please Me, the Liverpudlian band dropped their self-titled album, which also came to become known as the White Album.
The album featured 30 songs, including Blackbird, Helter Skelter and While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Topping record charts in Britain and the United States, the album has since been certified 24× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and labelled by some as one of the greatest albums of all time.
However nearly 60 years on, one of the band's contemporaries Billy, 76, has made it clear he is not a fan.
The White Album was written when the band – which included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – attended a Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India.
The American singer said the band's 1968 The White Album was a 'collection of half-assed songs' (Picture: Angela Weiss/ AFP via Getty Images)
The band's line up consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison (Picture: Jeff Hochberg/ Getty Images)
Reflecting on the release Billy – best known for his 1973 song Piano Man – didn't mince his words.
He suggested the Fab Four were 'too stoned' or 'didn't care anymore' when recording the string of songs.
'I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn't finish writing because they were too stoned, or they didn't care anymore,' he said on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, which was released this week.
'I think they had fragments and they put them on the album.'
Win tickets to see Tom Jones and Sugababes at Camp Bestival worth £1,172
We've teamed up with Camp Bestival Dorset to give one lucky Metro reader and their family the chance to win family weekend tickets, worth up to £1,172!
Created by families, for families, Camp Bestival combines all the fun of a fantastic family camping holiday with everything you would expect from a perfect and action-packed festival adventure. Headliners include music legend Sir Tom Jones, pop icons Sugababes, plus a carnival-filled live show from electronic music duo Basement Jaxx.
Simply enter your details here to be in with a chance of winning four tickets to this epic experience. You have until midnight on 23 July to enter. Good luck!
* Open to GB residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18+. Promotion opens at 18:01 on 16/7/25 and closes at 23:59 on 23/7/25. Entrant must submit their first and last name, email address, date of birth and postcode when prompted via the entry form available on Metro.co.uk (available here). 1 prize available of a family weekend camping ticket, including two (2) adult tickets and up to four (4) child and/or teen tickets in any combination as chosen by the winner to attend Camp Bestival (Lulworth Castle, Dorset) from 31st July 2025 to 3rd August 2025. Maximum 1 entry per person. Attendance is governed by the Camp Bestival Terms and Conditions. Full T&Cs apply, see here.
He went on to suggest that Lennon was 'disassociating at that point'.
'I think Paul was carrying the weight,' he said.
The White Album was a critical and commercial success
'Sometimes they were more prolific and sometimes they weren't, and I hear that in some of those things.'
During the recording of the album, the only Western instrument available to the band was an acoustic guitar, with the sound also scaled down and the band breaking with their tradition of incorporating several musical styles in one song.
Lennon – who was killed in 1980 – once famously quipped that 'the break-up of The Beatles can be heard on that album'. The band split two years later.
Meanwhile Sir Paul previously addressed criticism of the album, telling Radio Luxembourg: 'I'm not a great one for that whole, 'Y'know maybe it was too many of that'. What do you mean? It was great, it sold. It's the bloody Beatles White Album, shut up!'
Before Billy slated one of The Beatle's most acclaimed releases, earlier this year Sir Paul spoke about his admiration of the singer-songwriter.
Billy is best known for his 1973 hit Piano Man (Picture: Michael Putland/ Getty Images)
Speaking in the Billy Joel: And So It Goes documentary, he spoke about wishing he had penned Billy's 1997 single Just the Way You Are.
'When I first heard Billy, it was like 'Oh, wait a minute. He's good. Who's this?',' he recalled.
'You know, like you do, your ears prick up. The song that really made me know that that was happening was Just the Way You Are.
'And where I get asked, 'Is there a song that you wish you'd written?'. And I always…that's the one I always say.'
Got a story?
If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
Arrow MORE: Sir Tom Jones, 85, cancels gig hours before performance after sad health update
Arrow MORE: Oasis reassures cheating fans they are 'safe' after Coldplay kiss-cam saga
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Shaughna Phillips gives fresh details of second pregnancy shock with jailbird boyfriend
Shaughna Phillips gives fresh details of second pregnancy shock with jailbird boyfriend

Daily Mirror

time5 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

Shaughna Phillips gives fresh details of second pregnancy shock with jailbird boyfriend

Love Island star Shaughna Phillips has admitted she was stunned to fall pregnant so fast after agreeing to have a second child with boyfriend Billy Webb - who was jailed in 2023 for drugs crimes Shaughna Phillips has revealed she was shocked to learn she was pregnant a second time - as it all happened so fast. The 31-year-old is already a mother to two-year-old daughter Lucia - who she shares with former estate agent Billy Webb. ‌ Reality show fans will know Shaughna shot to fame in 2020 when she was a contestant on the sixth season of ITV's Love Island. She later fell for Billy - who was jailed in 2023 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine - worth at least £360,000. ‌ While Billy was sentenced to nine years behind bars - with his trial taking place in the thick of Shaughna's first pregnancy - he is soon to be given early release from his jail term. While behind bars, however, he and Shaughna have managed to conceive their second child - who is expected to arrive in November. ‌ Opening up about the conception, Shaughna has explained that she and Billy discussed their plans to expand their little family. However, the Love Island beauty was left stunned by just how quickly she fell pregnant the second time. In a new interview, she joked that she kept one pregnancy test company in business as she bought so many tests just to be ready to find out if she and Billy had been successful or not. And she also revealed she was stunned to see a positive result soon after they agreed to try a second time. ‌ She told The Sun:"I was trying. It was my first attempt at, I guess, getting pregnant, like actively trying. And so I knew that there was a chance, but I've probably kept Clear Blue in business. "If you saw my Amazon orders, I was ordering test after test after test. It was actually ridiculous. So, yeah, I knew that there was a chance. But I really didn't expect it to happen on the first try. Like, I'm very lucky in that sense." The reality star's latest interview comes after she already opened up to The Mirror about her second pregnancy plans. She revealed she had been tracking her ovulation to boost her chances of conceiving, and said she was stunned that her baby dream came true so quickly. ‌ 'It was the first time that my ovulation window coincided with Billy being home,' she told us when she was already four-and-a-half months pregnant. 'I was like, 'You know what? Why not? Let's just see'. And literally, the next day, I said to Billy, 'I think I'm pregnant.'' And she said: 'I found out very, very early on. I was doing maybe five tests a day. I'm not even exaggerating.' ‌ Shaughna said Billy was allowed out from jail on home visits for 'a few days' each month. And while she has so far been forced to raise her daughter as a single parent, she shared her hope that Billy will be released in time for their new arrival. 'I know the date that he's due to be home, but I'm not saying it just because anything could happen,' she admitted cautiously. 'But hopefully he will be fully home before my baby is due.' Last month, Shaughna discussed the gender of her unborn second child during a Q&A with her Instagram followers. One fan asked: "So pleased for you! Are you going to find out the gender?" Shaughna shared a screengrab of herself from a longer video where she was seen with her mouth wide open in shock. She wrote: "We do know the gender, this was my reaction." The star also revealed she will be undergoing a C-Section after having a 'rough' birth with daughter Lucia. Speaking about Lucia's birth, she said: "Induction, 2 days labour, pushed for an hour and she was not moving, She got really stressed and was rushed for forceps which FAILED because she turned around, and then she was rushed for an emergency C-Section and ended up with a postpartum haemorrhage."

I won Big Brother 10 years ago – here's what I really spent my £116k prize on & what I'm doing now
I won Big Brother 10 years ago – here's what I really spent my £116k prize on & what I'm doing now

Scottish Sun

time8 hours ago

  • Scottish Sun

I won Big Brother 10 years ago – here's what I really spent my £116k prize on & what I'm doing now

Plus, scroll down for the list of Big Brother winners from over the years CASH REALITY I won Big Brother 10 years ago – here's what I really spent my £116k prize on & what I'm doing now Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A DONCASTER lass won Big Brother a decade ago and has now revealed what she really spent her prize money on. Not only this, but Chloe Wilburn, who chose not to pursue a showbiz career, also got candid on what she's up to now. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 A Big Brother winner has opened up on what she spent her prize money on Credit: TikTok / chloejade105 4 As well as this, Chloe Wilburn also got candid on what she's up to now Credit: Getty Images - Getty 4 Chloe won Big Brother back in 2015 Credit: Handout 4 She got herself braces, paid off her mum's mortgage and bought a property outright Credit: TikTok / chloejade105 Prior to her Big Brother win back in 2015, the brunette beauty was a call centre worker. But after beating off tough competition and swooping a jaw-dropping prize of £116,100, Chloe returned home to Yorkshire. Now, speaking on social media, the mother got candid on what she paid for with her winnings, and it's sure to leave you surprised. Posting online, Chloe responded to a comment which read: 'Sorry to be nosey, but what did you spend it on?' To this, Chloe replied and acknowledged that rather than designer clothes and expensive holidays, she put the money to good use and not only treated herself to a set of braces, but ensured her mum was sorted out too. The down-to-earth woman confirmed: 'So I paid my mum's mortgage off, I got braces, because I had rank, crisscrossy teeth. 'I bought a house in Edlington, which is in Doncaster, outright. 'And then I did the house up, sold it and made a bit of money.' While two years ago it was reported that Chloe was running Surgery Sisters, a company that sells specialist post-surgery garments and vitamins, the star got candid on turning her back on celebrity life. After getting married to her boyfriend Dom Tasker and having a son together, the series 16 winner explained: 'Now I own a couple of houses and a dog grooming salon in Sprotbrough in Doncaster.' Big Brother's 7 unprecedented changes to season 27 revealed - as stars watched by 'very invasive' new cameras Chloe's TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @chloejade105, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly racked up 94,700 views, 1,812 likes and 48 comments. Big Brother fans eagerly raced to the comments to praise the humble winner and some even called her an 'inspiration.' One person said: 'Loved you on Big Brother, you were my winner from day one.' You deserve all of what you have received! TikTok user Another added: 'It makes me so happy to hear that someone has benefited from it. 'You're so normal and authentic, and it didn't go to your head! You should be so proud.' A third commented: 'Wow, well done babe.. an inspiration. I remember watching you and rooting for you to win.' Whilst someone else beamed: 'You deserve all of what you have received!' Meanwhile, another gushed: 'Nice to hear [you've] not wasted it.' At the same time, one user wrote: 'Fair play, I thought you [were] a dope.' In response, Chloe responded and joked: 'Haha think I must be some level of dope to go on reality TV, but thank you.' Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club

Here's my top 10 Edinburgh Festival picks not to be missed
Here's my top 10 Edinburgh Festival picks not to be missed

The Herald Scotland

time8 hours ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Here's my top 10 Edinburgh Festival picks not to be missed

BOOK EVENT Hanif Kureishi: Shattered but Unbroken Edinburgh International Book Festival, Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute, August 15, 3.15pm Author Hanif Kureish (Image: Getty Images) Some years ago (maybe around the time Gordon Brown was Prime Minister) I interviewed Hanif Kureishi at his home. He was a splendid, feisty, bullish interviewee, calling out my questions and taking the hump at times. In 2022 he suffered a fall that left him paralysed. He's now a tetraplegic. If anything, he might have become a better, braver writer as a result. Hosted by journalist Chitra Ramaswamy, this Book Festival event sees him appear remotely, but, such is the force of his personality even now, that shouldn't make any difference. CLASSICAL Best of Monteverdi Choir Edinburgh International Festival, Usher Hall, August 4 I do like a choir. And in this year's compact (or should that be financially constrained?) Edinburgh International Festival this is the performance I'm drawn to. Led by conductor Jonathan Sells, it should be a showcase for the choir and the English Baroque Soloists. The programme takes in Purcell and Bach (both JS and Johann Christoph) and culminates with a performance of Handel's Dixit Dominus. ART Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years Royal Scottish Academy, July 28-November 2 Stretched Canvas on Field, with mineral block removed, after a few days of sheep eating it, 1997 (Image: Andy Goldsworthy) Sometimes you can have enough of flyers and street jugglers and dingy comedy venues, right? That's the time to take in an exhibition. And this August you are spoiled for choice in Edinburgh. Resistance, curated by filmmaker Steve McQueen, continues at Modern Two for anyone seeking inspiration to be an activist. Dovecot Studios is home to an exhibition dedicated to the textile design of IKEA and the Scottish Gallery has a celebration of the artist Victoria Crowe on her 80th birthday. All well worth your time. And then there is Andy Goldsworthy taking over the Royal Academy. This exhibition includes more than 200 works by Scottish-based environmental artist, including an expansive new installation built in situ. Remarkable work from a remarkable man. TALK Tim Pope Fringe by the Sea, The Dome, North Berwick, August 2, 2.45pm It's tempting to forego [[Edinburgh]] all together this August and just decamp to North Berwick for the duration. Because this year's Fringe by the Sea programme contains everyone from Chris Hoy, Eddi Reader, Judy Murray and Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) to Hamish Hawk, the Bluebells and Dave from Blur. There's even an indie disco overseen by Scotland's pre-eminent musical Stuarts, Murdoch and Braithwaite. But can I single out this appearance by director Tim Pope? His work with The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, Talk Talk, Soft Cell, Strawberry Switchblade and even Wham! (he directed the video for Young Guns Go For It) made him one of the key visual artists of the 1980s. In this special event he's in conversation with Vic Galloway. FILM Grow Edinburgh International Film Festival, August 16-19, Cameo, Filmhouse, Vue, various times Grow with Nick Frost (Image: unknown) I suppose we should be grateful that we still have an [[Edinburgh]] International Film Festival at all after the collapse of CMI in 2022, but even before that it seemed to be struggling to match the buzz and the engagement found at the other end of the M8 at the annual Glasgow Film Festival. This is the second year of the revivied Film Festival under director Paul Ridd and it comes trailing some criticism that it's not Scottish enough. (Critic and journalist Siobhan Synnot has claimed that 90 per cent of the people selecting films for the festival live outside Scotland). Despite all that, there is much to see here. As well as a retrospective of Budd Boetticher westerns, there will be in-person conversations with directors Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank) and Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels and the upcoming 28 Years later sequel The Bone Temple), producer Jeremy Thomas, as well as premieres from directors including Paul Andrew Williams, Andrew Kotting, Helen Walsh and the Dardenne brothers. I'm intrigued to see Grow, the new film from Scottish director John McPhail (Anna and the Apocalypse), with a cast of familiar British comedy faces (including Jane Horrocks and Nick Frost) and a plot description that combines the phrases 'Scottish fantasy' and 'pumpkin-growing contest'. FILM Bulk Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cameo, August 14, 11.55pm And sticking with the film festival ... 'This is a midnight film through and through. Car chases, gun fights, sci-fi and romance,' director Ben Wheatley has said of his new film Bulk which is having its world premiere at this year's EIFF, part of the festival's Midnight Madness strand. Sounds fun. Wheatley's last outing was Generation Z, the Channel 4 TV horror series (the one with Anita Dobson and Sue Johnston as OAP zombies). Before that he gave us The Meg 2. But I'm hoping Bulk - which stars Sam Riley and Noah Taylor - might be fit to stand alongside his best films, Kill List and A Field in England, both of which belied small budgets to offer up potent, unheimlich horror thrillers. Here's hoping this is another one. If midnight is too late for you, there are screenings of the film on Friday, August 15 at the National Galleries and Vue, and there will be a special In Conversation event with Wheatley himself on August 15 at 1.30pm at the Tolcross Central Hall Auditorium. DANCE Journey of Flight: Kathryn Gordon DB3 @Dance Base, August 12-17, 2.30pm Intrigued by the sound of this dance performance based on the migration patterns of birds and the idea of place. Accompanied by live music from Jenny Sturgeon, Shetland-based dance artist and choreographer Kathryn Gordon's show combines bespoke visuals and avian-inspired movement and should offer a calm retreat from the hurlyburly of the Grassmarket. 'We've really explored what home is to us and that feeling of nostalgia and leaving and coming back,' Gordon says of the piece. It also involves paper planes. And who doesn't love paper planes? POETRY At What Point with Caitlin O'Ryan Spiegeltent, Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 19, 6pm Actor Caitlin O'Ryan was a regular in the TV series Outlander, but it's her spoken-word poetry that has really got her noticed. Last year her performance of her poem At What Point went viral and it wasn't hard to see why: an impassioned cri de coeur about violence against women, gender inequality and the challenges of female experience, it had echoes of Self Esteem's breakthrough hit I Do This All the Time. But, if anything, O'Ryan's words hit even harder. In this book festival event she talks to Holly McNish. COMEDY Zainab Johnson: Toxically Optimistic Pleasance Courtyard (Above), July 30-August 24 There is quite a lot of work-in-progress shows coming to Edinburgh this summer, Aisling Bea, the wonderful Ania Magliano, Laura Smyth and Larry Dean among them. Nothing wrong with that but usually Edinburgh is what you're progressing towards. Case in point. Zainab Johnson may have her own hit stand-up show on Amazon Prime (Hijabs Off), but here she is making her debut at the Fringe. Johnson's new show talks gun ownership (yes, she is American), relationships and, as the title suggests, optimism as a toxic trait. To purchase tickets for the Fringe, please click here

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store