Billy Joel Isn't Working And Hasn't Stopped Drinking -- Here's Why!

Billy Joel is a legend, and can write a mean pop song — so why hasn’t he really written anything since 1993?
Billy says it’s not that he hasn’t written anything, just that he’s written things that don’t really have lyrics! He’s been writing constantly, just music that isn’t considered pop! Here’s what he said:

‘I never stopped writing music. I├óΓé¼Γäóm still writing music ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ piano pieces, orchestral music, dramatic pieces ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ but they could become songs. Some of them are like hymns that I just don├óΓé¼Γäót have words for, but I might.
I wanted something more abstract, I wanted to write something other than the three-minute pop tune even though that├óΓé¼Γäós an art form unto itself. Gershwin was incredible, Cole Porter was incredible, Richard Rodgers, great stuff, Hoagy Carmichael and John Lennon, the three-minute symphony. For me, it was a box. I want to get out of the box. I never liked being put in a box.’

Wow! We wish we could hear even his most unusual stuff — especially the stuff that was coming out of him while he was pretty deep in the bottle, so we could compare it to what he’s writing now… even though he is NOT alcohol free!
Wait a minute, we thought he stopped drinking! He even went to rehab!
Here’s what he said:

I started with Dewars White Label Scotch and then, when I really got heavy into it, it was vodka. Vodka is a hard-core alky drink. I could take it in shots or I could just mix it with something. I can’t even smell the stuff anymore. It makes me sick. But it wasn’t consistent, it would be periods of time, during a divorce or something.
I have a glass of wine once in a while, and I don’t hide it. I have a glass of wine with a meal.

As long as he can control it, we guess… it just seems like he probably shouldn’t be playing with fire. There’s no real need to drink booze, even if a glass of wine is healthy for you. Nobody needs it!
We’re glad he’s in a better place he’s in now than where he was a decade or more ago when he was getting into car accidents and being constantly drunk — and we’d LOVE to hear his new music!
[Image via WENN.]