EntertainmentPosted at: Jun 6 2025 5:40PM


Billy Joel reveals he attempted suicide twice after having an affair with his best friend’s wife

London, June 6 (UNI) Opening up about the dark side of his life in his new documentary series, rock icon Billy Joel revealed that he attempted suicide twice, after having an affair with his best friend’s wife.
In ‘Billy Joel: And So It Goes’, Joel, 76, revealed that he tried taking his own life twice, and fell into a coma after he had an affair with his former bandmate's wife.
In his early 20s, Joel, who is known for songs such as ‘Vienna’, and ‘Just The Way You Are’, was in a band called Attila with his best friend Jon Small. At the time, he moved in with Small, Elizabeth Weber was Small's wife at the time.
"Bill and I spent a lot of time together," Elizabeth said in the documentary, adding that it was a "slow build". Then, Small realised something was up and Joel came to him with the truth: "I'm in love with your wife,” reports People.
"I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” the ‘Piano Man’ singer said.
“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."
Weber soon left after the incident, and Joel’s friendship with Small broke down, following the incident. That was both the end of Atilla and the beginning of a dark chapter in the singer’s history, who went into depression and began drinking heavily soon after, marking a downwards spiral in his life.
Joel later reconnected with Weber and got married to her, from 1973-1982.
“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 said 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 is and today sucks. So, I just thought I’d end it all."
Joel’ sister Judy Molinari was working as a medical assistant at the time, and prescribed him sleeping pills to counter his insomnia.
“But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days," she said in the documentary.
"I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet. I thought that I’d killed him,” she added tearfully.
Saying that he was very “selfish”, Joel confirmed that he wanted to do it again as soon as he woke up, having lost the will to live.
The next time, he drank a bottle of "lemon Pledge", Molinari revealed, and Small took him to the hospital.
“Even though our friendship was blowing up, Jon saved my life,” Joel said.
Small added, "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."
After the suicide attempts, the ‘We Didn't Start the Fire’ singer felt like a "lost soul" and checked himself into an "observation ward".
The harrowing experience marked a life-changing episode in Joel’s life, who was released within a couple of weeks.
"I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilise all those emotions to channel that stuff into music," he said.
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