Billy Joel doesn’t want to “dilute his legacy” by releasing music past his prime.
In a YouTube interview with music producer Rick Beato published Monday, the 77-year-old legendary musician explained why he stopped writing songs after his 1993 album River of Dreams.
“I’ve heard stories of artists who keep putting out records, but they’re actually done with it…” he says candidly. “They dilute their heritage.”
“Maybe they’re not as good as they used to be, or maybe they’re not as motivated as they used to be, but they end up slumping,” he continued. “I didn’t want to go like that.”
“It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s really hard to say no,” he added.
“I didn’t want to keep beating a dead horse and keep being played with because I’m Billy Joel,” he explained. “I wanted it to be good, but I realized I wasn’t as motivated as I was before, so I said, ‘Fuck it.'”
Joel said he felt “done” after writing his 12th studio album, River of Dreams, and noted that he was married to supermodel Christie Brinkley at the time and had a child. Joel was referring to his eldest daughter Alexa Joel, who is now 40 years old.
“I didn’t want to be stuck in a cave writing like a monk anymore,” he admitted. “I did it 12 times, and I was like, ‘You know what? The Beatles had 12 albums.’ And that was enough for me.”
The “Uptown Girl” singer recently revealed that she asked for help from her new band’s songwriters but couldn’t give them any.
“I said, ‘I can’t do it anymore, you fix it,'” he said. “I said, ‘You should learn how to stop writing songs, because it’s going to drive you crazy. It’s going to drive you crazy. You’re going to get to the point where you can’t do it anymore.'”
“‘You brought it out. You’ve reached such a high level that you can’t stand not reaching that level anymore and you start hating yourself,'” he continued. “You blamed yourself. I don’t want to torture myself any more.”
Joel and Brinkley split in 1994 after nine years of marriage, but the two remain on good terms.
In April, the model shared an update on Joel’s health, one year after he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a rare brain disease. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the disorder occurs when cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up within the skull, compressing the brain and disrupting cognitive function.
Brinkley, 72, said Joel was “in good spirits” at the time.
“I’m so proud of him,” she told Hello! magazine. “He’s such a warrior, so resilient, so committed to being healthy and active. He’s a fighter. He’s always been a fighter and he talks in the documentary about how life is like a battle.”
The Grammy-winning singer married his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick, in 2015 and they have two daughters, Della Rose, 10, and Remy Anne, 8.
