After announcing the upcoming end of his residency at the Madison Square Garden during a press conference last month, Billy Joel sat down for a new interview with BBC Radio 2. He talked about The Beatles and revealed his regret about John Lennon when asked whether he ever met the late singer. The Piano Man said:
“I never met John, which is kind of sad because we live near each other. I used to drive my boat by his house, and I’d say, ‘There’s John’s house, but I’m not gonna bother the guy; I’m sure he gets bothered all the time!’ He used to do the same thing with me. So, we never bothered each other, which we should’ve done, actually.”
Mentioning his relationship with Paul McCartney, he added:
“Paul, I’ve met a few times… He’s great with the kids. ‘It’s your uncle Paulie,’ and he bounces them on the knee, and he’s a good dad, you know? He’s a real dad.”
In one part of the chat, Joel also touched on the band’s effect on him and the audience:
“We all felt like we were in this special group because you loved The Beatles. Everyone was on the same page. The Beatles built a sense of community, which I haven’t felt for a long time. When I’m on stage, and people are singing along, and I see all different ages, they’re singing all the words – they know the words! Which amazes me because I don’t remember half of them.”
The singer didn’t only sing The Beatles’ songs on stage but also got influenced by his relations with the band while writing some of his songs. For example, a chat between him and John Lennon’s son Sean inspired him to come up with ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire.’ Talking about the story in 2022, Joel told 60 Minutes Australia:
“You’ve got AIDS, there is crack, and there is this war and that one. I said, ‘Yeah, but we all felt the same when we were your age too.’ Sean said, ‘At least you grew up in the ’50s, and everybody knows nothing happened in the’ 50s.’ I said, ‘What you mean nothing happened? Harry Truman was the president, and Doris Day was a famous singer. Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China went communist.’ Some people think it’s a bunch of names and words spewed out, but it’s written chronologically. These were the headlines of my life.”
You can check out a part of Billy Joel’s interview here and listen to ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ below.
