The first part of the new Billy Joel documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, premiered at Tribeca Festival in New York City on Wednesday, detailing a dark period in the singer’s life when he attempted suicide twice after he had an affair with his best friend and bandmate’s wife.
As reported by People, Joel — who did not attend the premiere after recently being diagnosed with a brain disorder — and his best friend Jon Small were in a band called Attila while he was in his 20s. After Joel moved in with Small, he gradually became close to Small’s wife, Elizabeth Weber, and their son.
“Bill and I spent a lot of time together,” Weber said in the documentary, describing their affair as a “slow build.” When Small suspected something was going on between the two, Joel confessed, “I’m in love with your wife.”
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“I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” Joel recalled. “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.”
This altercation led to Attila’s disbandment and Weber leaving Small — though Joel and Weber later reconnected and were married from 1973 to 1982. After the falling out, Joel started drinking heavily and entered a deep depression.
“I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed, I think to the point of almost being psychotic,” Joel said in the film. “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 is and today sucks. So, I just thought I’d end it all.”
In an attempt to help, Joel’s sister, Judy Molinari, gave him sleeping pills so he could get some rest. “But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days,” she remembered. “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.”
After waking up from the coma, Joel tried to commit suicide again by drinking the furniture polish lemon Pledge. Thankfully, Small was around to drive Joel to the hospital and save his life.
When asked about the incident, Small responded: “He never really said anything to me, the only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually, I forgave him.”
Following the two suicide attempts, Joel checked himself into an “observation ward” and was released a couple of weeks later.
As Billboard points out, Joel addressed this period of his life in 1971’s “Tomorrow Is Today” from his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor. On the track, he sings, “Make my bed, I’m gonna lie in it/ If you don’t come, I’m sure gonna die in it/ Too late, too much giving/ I’ve seen a lot of life/ And I’m damn sick of living it.”
Co-directed by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, Billy Joel: And So It Goes premieres on HBO in July and will also be available to stream on Max.
Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, you can contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, texting “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741, or chatting at 988lifeline.org.
Content shared from consequence.net.