The music legend spoke about the rift in his new documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes'. During the second part of the documentary, which premiered on Friday July 25th, Joel shared how the public comments that John made, saying he needed to go to rehab, strained their friendship.
"Elton had made a comment that he thought I needed real rehab," Joel shared in the documentary, referencing an interview John did with Rolling Stone in 2011, “He chalked it up to, ‘Oh, he’s a drunk.’ And that really hurt me.”
John told the publication in 2011, “When I went to rehab, I had to clean the floors,” adding: “He goes to rehab where they have TVs. I love you, Billy, and this is tough love. Billy, you have your demons and you’re not going to get rid of them at rehab light. You’ve got to be serious. People adore you, they love you and respect you. You should be able to do something better than what you’re doing now.” Joel responded to this comment in his documentary, "I said, wait a minute? Don’t you know me better than that?” he added. He admitted that there was bad blood between the two, “there was a dovetailing of things that happened during that time,” he said.
In the documentary, Joel expresses how the comments that John made about him was "rock bottom" for him. He previously went to rehab in 2005 after his wife at the time Katie Lee, issued him an ultimatum. The couple divorced four years later in 2009. The documentary also discusses how Joel tried to take his own life twice after having an affair with his best friends wife.
Joel expressed how he had felt attacked by the comments that John was making about him, “I was disillusioned with what I thought it was all supposed to mean,” Joel said. He explained that "it was like all the signs were pointing to me", eventually he realised that it was enough and he said he wrote a letter to his band saying "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm gonna stop."
Joel's new documentary had its first screening at the Tribeca Festival at the Beacon Theatre on June 4th of this year. However, he was unable to attend due to illness. Joel later announced that he had been diagnosed with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus. The singer had to cancel his upcoming shows when he got the news of his diagnosis. Joel recently gave an update on his health as he said that "it sounds a lot worse than what I am feeling."
