Washington, DC [US], June 6 : Singer-songwriter and pianist Billy Joel opened up about the dark and painful phase of life. After the premiere of his new documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, at the Tribeca Festival, the ace musician shared that he underwent two suicide attempts and fell into a coma after he had an affair with his former bandmate's wife.
In his early 20s, Joel was in a band called Attila with his best friend Jon Small. At the time, he moved in with Small, Elizabeth Weber -- Small's wife -- and their son, reported People.
"Bill and I spent a lot of time together," Elizabeth said in the documentary, adding that it was a "slow build." Then, Small realised something was up and Joel came to him with the truth: "I'm in love with your wife."
"I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker," the singer said, adding, "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."
This fight resulted in the end of Attila and the end of their friendship for some time. Years later, Elizabeth and Joel reconnected and were married from 1973-1982.
"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 in the documentary. "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," reported People.
Joel's sister, Judy Molinari, was working as a medical assistant, and she gave him sleeping pills to help him sleep.
"But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them... he was in a coma for days and days and days," she said in the documentary, adding, "I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet. I thought that I'd killed him."
Small added, "He never really said anything to me, the only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually I forgave him."
After the suicide attempts, he felt like a "lost soul" and checked himself into an "observation ward." The experience was life-changing for Joel, who was released within a couple of weeks. "I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilise all those emotions to channel that stuff into music," he said, reported People.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes is slated to hit HBO in July.