Billy Joel reveals Elton John’s 'hurtful' rehab comments sparked 'bad blood'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Billy Joel has opened up about a rough patch in his relationship with longtime friend and tourmate Elton John.

The two music icons, once frequent collaborators, found their friendship strained over comments made more than a decade ago. 

Billy Joel says Elton John's rehab comments ‘really hurt’ him

In the second part of 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes', the HBO documentary which aired on July 25, Billy Joel reflected on how his dynamic with Elton John shifted after a 2011 Rolling Stone interview.

"Elton had made a comment that he thought I needed real rehab," said the 76-year-old in the film. "He chalked it up to, 'Oh, he’s a drunk.' And that really hurt me."

Joel recalled how John's remarks led to a period of emotional distance between the two.

"I said, 'Wait a minute? Don’t you know me better than that?' And there was bad blood for a little while. There was a dovetailing of things that happened during that time," the 'Piano Man' hitmaker shared. 

Though Joel admitted in part one of the documentary that he "resented" comparisons with John, he later accepted them as the pair launched their "Face to Face" tour together in 1994.

Elton John said Billy Joel would ‘hate’ him for it but called it ‘tough love’

After their 2010 leg of the joint tour, Elton John spoke candidly to Rolling Stone, blaming canceled performances on "illnesses and various other things, alcoholism."

"He's going to hate me for this, but every time he goes to rehab they've been light. When I went to rehab, I had to clean the floors. He goes to rehab where they have TVs. I love you Billy, and this is tough love," John said during that interview, referencing Joel’s rehab stint in 2005. 

"Billy, you have your demons and you’re not going to get rid of them at rehab light," the 'Sacrifice' crooner added. 

Joel said those comments struck a nerve. "It was like all the signs were pointing to me: Enough. And I wrote this letter to the band. 'I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m gonna stop,'" he recalled in the documentary.

Billy Joel entered rehab due to an ‘ultimatum’ from his then-wife Katie Lee

Billy Joel entered the Betty Ford Center in 2005 following pressure from then-wife Katie Lee, whom he married in 2004 and divorced in 2009.

“‘Either you do something about your drinking or this isn’t gonna work out,’” Joel remembered Lee telling him.

“At that point, yeah, the relationship wasn’t doing well," he said. Though he entered rehab, Joel admits it wasn’t on his own terms.

"With the rehab, you don’t go for somebody else. You have to go for yourself. You have to want to do it," he said. "I didn’t want to do it."

Joel stepped back from the spotlight following his clinic stay and eventually quit drinking entirely.

"I stopped a couple of years ago," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2023.

"It wasn’t a big AA kick. I just got to a point where I’d had enough. I didn’t enjoy being completely inebriated, and it probably created more problems in my life than I needed," the 'Honesty' singer further mentioned at the time.