Iconic singer Billy Joel speaks candidly about attempting to take his own life

Billy Joel has spoken candidly in a new documentary about a dark period in his twenties when he tried to take his own life.

Billy Joel has spoken about past struggles with his mental health, revealing he attempted suicide twice in his early twenties.

The legendary music star revealed in the new documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes that he ended up in a coma after he tried to take his own life following an affair with a friend’s wife.

The affair began while Joel was living with his then bandmate Jon Small, Jon’s wife Elizabeth Weber, and their child.

Joel revealed that he eventually realised that he was in love with Weber, despite her being married to his bandmate.

“I was in love,” he said. The fallout was immediate and painful. “I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker. 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.”

Singer Billy Joel has spoken about his past mental health struggles in a new documentary. Picture: AFP.

The confrontation ended their band, Attila, and destroyed the men’s friendship. Weber left, and Joel’s mental health deteriorated rapidly. “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. “So I figured, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to live anymore.’”

Joel attempted suicide twice and his sister, Judy Molinari, tearfully recalled seeing him in hospital. “He was in a coma for days and days and days,” she said, “I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet.”

Joel was in his early 20s and later checked himself into a psychiatric observation ward. Picture: Getty.

Joel later checked himself into a psychiatric observation ward. The experience, he said, reshaped his life. “I got out … and I thought to myself, you can utilise all those emotions to channel that stuff into music.”

It comes after Joel announced that he has been diagnosed with a condition called Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

The disorder happens when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside a person’s skull and presses on the brain, disrupting their cognitive functions.

The symptoms tend to be similar to those suffered by dementia patients and include difficulty walking, cognitive issues like memory difficulties or emotional changes, and urinary issues.

Joel announced the news on social media last month, cancelling all his upcoming tour dates as a result.

Originally published as Iconic singer Billy Joel speaks candidly about attempting to take his own life