For the first time, Billy Joel has publicly opened up about two suicide attempts amid intense emotional struggles. In his latest documentary, the iconic musician opens up about the personal challenges he faced following a complicated relationship. He also opened up about how these experiences shaped both his life and career.
Warning: The following contains discussions of suicide and mental health struggles.
Billy Joel opens up about two suicide attempts in new documentary
In the recently premiered documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the legendary singer-songwriter has delved into a troubled chapter of his early life, including two suicide attempts. The film, which debuted on June 4, 2025, at the Tribeca Festival in New York, gives an emotional insight into Joel’s struggles.
During his early 20s, Joel was a member of the band Attila and lived with his bandmate Jon Small, Small’s wife Elizabeth Weber, and their child. Over time, Joel developed feelings for Elizabeth and eventually confessed to Small, “I’m in love with your wife.” This confession shattered both the band and the friendship between Joel and Small. (via PEOPLE)
After the breakup, Joel’s life spiraled out of control. Homeless and overwhelmed by depression, he found himself sleeping in laundromats and battling suicidal thoughts. He recalls, “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.”
His sister Judy Molinari tried to help by giving him sleeping pills, but Joel took too many and fell into a coma that lasted several days. Despite surviving the first attempt, Joel’s struggles continued. On a second occasion, he ingested a bottle of lemon Pledge, but Small intervened and took him to the hospital. Joel reflected on this, saying, “Even though our friendship was blowing up, Jon saved my life.”
Following these attempts, Joel checked himself into a mental health facility for observation, a decision that became a turning point in his recovery. He said, “I got out of the observation ward, and I thought to myself, you can utilize all those emotions to channel that stuff into music.” The documentary is set to air on HBO in July.
Originally reported by Disheeta Maheshwari on ComingSoon.
