Billy Joel denies hes had DUIs in new HBO…
The Piano Man is defending his fame.
In the newly launched second half of the HBO documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” the 76-year-old music icon responded to the longstanding rumor that he’s gotten a number of DUIs over the years.
“You know, along with fame comes a lot of gossip, rumors. I didn’t like the tabloid kind of press,” Joel mentioned in the doc. “For example, there’s this rumor that I have all these DUIs. That never happened, but people keep repeating the myth: ‘Oh, he’s got so many DUIs.””
Billy Joel performs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in Nov. 2024. Getty Images
“I never had a DUI,” he added, “so f–k you.”
Joel was first accused of consuming behind the wheel when he crashed a Mercedes-Benz in East Hampton, New York in June 2002. Less than a yr later, he drove into a tree in Sag Harbor and had to be airlifted to a hospital.
Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in NYC in June 2023. Getty Images
The “Uptown Girl” singer suffered one other accident in April 2004 when he crashed into a home in Long Island.
The rumors about Joel led to “Saturday Night Live” referencing his alleged drunk driving in a 2004 sketch that featured Horatio Sanz, who performed the singer, chugging a bottle of pineapple schnapps and crashing into a number of partitions and mailboxes while driving a group of women to a occasion.
However, Joel has repeatedly denied that he’s ever gotten a DUI.
Billy Joel performs in Melbourne, Australia in Dec. 2022. WireImage
“I had gone through a breakup and was really broken up about it, and I decided, ‘I’m drinking too much. I should go to rehab,’” Joel advised The New York Times Magazine in 2013. “But people made a connection, like, ‘Oh, he went there because he was in a car accident from drinking.’ No.”
“I never had a DUI in my life,” he said. “That’s another fallacy. Look at the police records.”
Billy Joel on Father’s Day 2025. billyjoel/Instagram
In his documentary, Joel referred to as the press “mean” and admitted that he doesn’t at all times take pleasure in being in the highlight.
“Having that much attention paid to you is not easy,” he mentioned.
In 2005, Joel entered rehab following what he referred to as an “ultimatum” from his then-wife, Katie Lee.
He entered the Betty Ford Center for a stint, then quickly stopped touring once his time at the middle was over.
Billy Joel attends MSG Entertainment and Billy Joel particular franchise announcement at Chase Square at Madison Square Garden. Getty Images
The “Honesty” singer has been sober for a number of years now.
“I stopped [drinking] a couple of years ago,” Joel advised the Los Angeles Times in 2023. “It wasn’t a big AA kick. I just got to a point where I’d had enough.”
Billy Joel at SiriusXM Studios in Los Angeles in Oct. 2024. Getty Images for SiriusXM
“I didn’t enjoy being completely inebriated, and it probably created more problems in my life than I needed,” he added.
Both components of “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” are now streaming on HBO Max.
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