NEWSBilly Joel Fell Into a Coma After Attempting Suicide Twice in His 20s Following Affair With Best Friend's Wife: 'Thought I'd End It All'
Billy Joel almost ended his life in his early 20s.
Billy Joel is lucky to be alive today after attempting to take his own life twice more than 50 years ago.
The famed singer candidly opened up about his difficult and dark past during the first part of his new documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes — which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on Wednesday, June 4.
The project is scheduled to debut on HBO in July and be available for streaming on Max around the same time.
Billy Joel's new documentary will be available to stream this summer.
Although he was physically absent from his documentary's premiere on Wednesday, viewers were able to watch as the "Vienna" singer, 76, recalled attempting suicide twice in his early 20s after he had an affair with his former bandmate Jon Small's wife.
Joel and his best friend were in the band Attila at the time and the "Piano Man" hitmaker moved in with Small, his then-spouse, Elizabeth Weber, and the couple's son.
Weber herself appeared in the documentary and reflected on her extramarital relationship with Joel, which she called a "slow build," admitting: "Bill and I spent a lot of time together."
Billy Joel Felt 'Guilty' About Affair
Billy Joel fell 'in love' with his best friend's wife.
Eventually, Small started to suspect something was going on behind his back and Joel confessed, "I'm in love with your wife."
"I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker," the "We Didn't Start the Fire" crooner emotionally shared. "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."
The affair caused the end of Attila and severed the band members' friendship for quite some time.
Weber went her separate ways from both of the men for years and Joel began drinking away his pain.
Billy Joel Was Left Homeless
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"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 detailed. "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."
Amid his depression, Joel's sister, Judy Molinari, had been working as a medical assistant and provided her brother with sleeping pills to help him get better rest.
Billy Joel Wanted to Die
Billy Joel was in a coma for days after his first suicide attempt.
"But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days," she revealed. "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."
Referring to himself as "very selfish" at the time, Joel remembered waking up in the hospital after the sleeping pill incident and thinking about how he wanted to try taking his own life again — but this time do it "right."
For his second suicide attempt, Joel drank an entire bottle of "lemon Pledge," his sister shared. Small was the one who brought Joel to the hospital "even though our friendship was blowing up."
"Jon saved my life," the "Uptown Girl" singer said. Small also had a cameo in the documentary, as the pair have since mended their friendship.
Billy Joel Turned to Music
Billy Joel found comfort in music after trying to take his own life.
"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," Small expressed.
Following both suicide attempts, Joel felt like a "lost soul" and admitted himself into an "observation ward."
"I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilize all those emotions to channel that stuff into music," he declared.
Joel and Weber later reconnected and were married from 1973 until 1982.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
