Billy Joel is opening up about a painful chapter from his past — including a moment when his marriage and his health collided — in the new HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes.
The legendary singer-songwriter reveals that his decision to enter rehab in 2005 came after an emotional ultimatum from then-wife Katie Lee.
“‘Either you do something about your drinking, or this isn’t going to work,’” Joel, now 76, recalls her saying. “At that point, the relationship wasn’t doing well.”
Joel ultimately agreed to seek help at the Betty Ford Center, but admits it wasn’t something he truly wanted. “You don’t go for someone else. You have to go for yourself,” he says in the film. “I didn’t want to do it.”
The “Piano Man” and Lee had married in 2004. At the time, Joel was living largely outside the spotlight, having stepped away from touring. But behind the scenes, he was struggling with anxiety and alcohol — and Lee, now 43, says she didn’t have the tools to handle it.
“I felt like he needed to be creating again — performing, writing — to ease that anxiety,” she says in the documentary. “And there were addiction issues I had never dealt with before. It was very hard to navigate.”
Lee says that while she believed rehab might help, Joel’s return home was marked by tension. “It was a fragile time,” she explains. “I think there was some resentment. In a lot of ways, it was hard to recover from that.”
The couple ultimately divorced in 2009. Lee went on to marry producer Ryan Biegel in 2018, while Joel wed Alexis Roderick in 2015. He is now a father to three daughters: Alexa Ray, 39 (with ex-wife Christie Brinkley), Della, 9, and Remy, 7.
In the documentary, Joel also reflects on how his relationship with alcohol changed over time. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2023, he said he had quit drinking altogether.
“I stopped a couple of years ago,” Joel shared. “It wasn’t some big AA moment. I just got to a point where I’d had enough. Being drunk didn’t feel good anymore — it created more problems than I needed. I don’t need it now.”
Despite his initial hesitation about participating in the documentary, Joel says the process became unexpectedly revealing.
“I didn’t know I’d end up learning so much about myself,” he told PEOPLE in a recent cover story. “But I did.”
Now, with his long-running Madison Square Garden residency behind him, Joel says he’s savoring this phase of life as a husband and father. “I’m really enjoying this time in my life,” he said.
His longtime agent, Dennis Arfa, agrees: “I’ve seen Billy face adversity, but I’ve also seen him find peace. I’m happy for him — and excited for what’s next.”
