Billy Joel reveals exactly what Sir Elton John said that sparked 'bad blood' fallout
Billy Joel has revealed he was left "really hurt" by comments from Sir Elton John, despite their once friendly relationship. The Piano Man, 76, once toured with Sir Elton but things turned sour.
A rift came between Billy and the Rocketman hitmaker, 78, that took years to heal. Billy has now revealed he was hurt by Elton's comments in his new documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes.
The pair headed out on their Face to Face tour in 1994 but they suffered a number of cancelled shows. Sir Elton decided to address the reason for the shows not taking place, with Billy feeling he went a step too far.
"Elton had made a comment that he thought I needed real rehab," Billy said in the documentary. "He chalked it up to, 'Oh, he's a drunk.' And that really hurt me."
At the time, Sir Elton told the Rolling Stone: "He's going to hate me for this, but every time he goes to rehab they've been light." He said he had given Billy some "tough love".
Billy had been struggling with alcoholism and once admitted it destroyed his 10 year marriage to Christine Brinkley. The couple officially divorce around the same time as the Face to Face tour.
Speaking of the fallout with Sir Elton, Billy shared: "I said 'wait a minute? Don't you know me better than that?' And there was bad blood for a little while. There was a dovetailing of things that happened during that time."
He revealed he felt "clobbered" after the comments and hit rock bottom. His relationship with Sir Elton also suffered as a result.
"I was disillusioned with what I thought it was all supposed to mean," Billy said. "It was like all the signs were pointing to me: Enough. And I wrote this letter to the band. 'I don't want to do this anymore. I'm gonna stop'."
In 2005, Billy went to rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic after his wife Katie Lee insisted. They split up four years later but Billy decided to resume the Face to Face tour.
Billy performed throughout the 00s, with a stint in 2009 before wrapping again in 2010. He managed to patch things up with Sir Elton while on stage at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
While on stage Sir Elton reached out to Billy as he said: "Mr. Joel, I haven't seen you tonight, but I love you dearly." When Billy took the stage he decided to do the same as he said: "Is Elton still here? By the way, we're ok. Call me, it's the same phone number."
Billy recently confirmed he has now given up alcohol as he blamed his addiction for his normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis. According to the NHS, NPH is an uncommon and poorly understood condition that most often affects people over the age of 60.
It can sometimes develop after an injury or a stroke, but in most cases the cause is unknown. The main symptoms are mobility problems, dementia and urinary incontinence.
Billy was forced to cancel all his scheduled shows earlier this month due to the condition. He has been suffering with hearing, vision and balance problems following a number of previous performances.
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