Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the new documentary about The Piano Man, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 4, and it doesn’t gloss over the low points Joel experienced in his life.
Per People, the doc explores how Joel attempted suicide twice in the early ’70s. These attempts were due to Joel feeling immense guilt for having an affair with Elizabeth Weber, the wife of Jon Small, who was Joel’s bandmate in the group Attila. (Weber and Joel would later marry in 1973, but would divorce in 1982.)
The affair and the subsequent fallout led to the end of Attila. Around the time of this episode, Joel’s sister, who was a medical assistant, gave her brother some sleeping pills to help him sleep. Unfortunately, he ended up taking all of the pills, which resulted in him being in a coma for many days.
After coming out of the coma and being released from the hospital, Joel attempted to take his life again. This time, his attempt involved him drinking a bottle of “lemon Pledge.” Despite their fractured friendship, Small was the one to take Joel to the hospital on his second suicide attempt.
Small said in the film, “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.”
Billy Joel: And So It Goes is slated to premiere on HBO in July.
If you or someone you know needs support now, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or via chat at 988Lifeline.org.
