{"id":8825,"date":"2026-07-14T20:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/billy-joel-reveals-why-he-quit-writing-music\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T20:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:30:18","slug":"billy-joel-reveals-why-he-quit-writing-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/billy-joel-reveals-why-he-quit-writing-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel reveals why he quit writing music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F07%2F134371228.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Billy Joel doesn\u2019t want to \u201cdilute his legacy\u201d by putting out music past his prime.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary musician, 77, explained why he quit writing songs after his 1993 album \u201cRiver of Dreams\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q1Bebf3Y2rk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a YouTube interview<\/a> with music producer Rick Beato released Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard artists who keep putting out records and, really, they\u2019re past\u2026\u201d he candidly said. \u201cThey dilute their legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe they\u2019re not as good as they used to be or they\u2019re not as motivated as they were, but it ends up trailing off,\u201d he continued. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to go like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Billy Joel said in a new YouTube interview Tuesday (screenshot seen above) he stopped writing music after his 1993 album \u201cRiver of Dreams\u201d because he wanted to quit while he was on top. <span class=\"credit\">Rick Beato\/Youtube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The iconic musician (seen with music producer Rick Beato) said he saw other artists who kept putting music out that wasn\u2019t as good as their previous work. <span class=\"credit\">Rick Beato\/Youtube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>He added, \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to do. Saying no sometimes is really hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to just keep beating a dead horse and being played because I was Billy Joel,\u201d he explained. \u201cI wanted it to be good, and I recognized that I didn\u2019t have the same motivation I used to have, so I said, \u2018Stop.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joel said he felt \u201cdone\u201d after writing \u201cRiver of Dreams\u201d \u2014 his 12th studio album \u2014 noting he was married to supermodel Christie Brinkley at the time and they had a child. Joel was referring to his eldest daughter, Alexa Joel, now 40.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to lock myself in a cave and devote myself like a monk to writing anymore,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI had done it 12 times and I thought, \u2018You know what? The Beatles had 12 albums.\u2019 And that was just enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cUptown Girl\u201d singer (seen here performing in November 2024) stressed that he \u201cdid not want to go like that.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joel (pictured here in February 2024) said he\u2019s been careful to not \u201cdilute\u201d his legacy. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_19-0\">The \u201cUptown Girl\u201d singer shared that he recently couldn\u2019t even give a songwriter from a new band any help when he asked for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI go, \u2018Well you\u2019re gonna have to fix it because I can\u2019t do it anymore,&#8217;\u201d he noted. \u201c\u2018You better learn how to stop songwriting because it\u2019s gonna drive you crazy. You\u2019ll go insane. You get to a point you can\u2019t do it anymore.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_21-0\">\u201c\u2018You\u2019ve tapped it out, you reached such a high level that you can\u2019t stand not reaching that level anymore and you hate yourself,&#8217;\u201d he continued. \u201cYou beat yourself up, and I don\u2019t want to put myself through that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Grammy winner (seen here in October 2024) revealed he recently couldn\u2019t even give advice to a younger songwriter who asked him to help him with his music because he was tapped out. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for SiriusXM<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joel is currently married to his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick. The couple is seen here with their two daughters \u2014 Della Rose and Remy Anne \u2014 in February 2024. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Though Joel and Brinkley split in 1994 following nine years of marriage, the two are still on good terms.<\/p>\n<p>In April, the model <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/04\/25\/celebrity-news\/christie-brinkley-shares-health-update-on-ex-billy-joel\/\">shared a health update on Joel<\/a> a year after he was <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/03\/12\/celebrity-news\/billy-joels-daughter-gives-health-update-on-singer-after-scary-brain-disorder\/\">diagnosed with the rare brain disorder<\/a> Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). The disorder occurs when cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain, disrupting cognitive functioning, <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/15849-normal-pressure-hydrocephalus-nph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">per the Cleveland Clinic.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brinkley, 72, said Joel was \u201cdoing well\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m so proud of him,\u201d she told Hello! Magazine. \u201cHe\u2019s such a trooper, so resilient and committed to being healthy and proactive. He\u2019s a fighter. He\u2019s always been a fighter and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/08\/03\/entertainment\/what-billy-joel-really-thinks-about-his-new-hbo-documentary\/\">talks\u00a0in his documentary<\/a>\u00a0about how life\u2019s like a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Grammy-winning singer <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2015\/07\/05\/billy-joel-marries-fourth-wife-during-fourth-of-july-surprise\/\">married his fourth wife<\/a>, Alexis Roderick, in 2015. They share two daughters together \u2014 Della Rose, 10, and Remy Anne, 8.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/07\/14\/entertainment\/billy-joel-reveals-why-he-quit-writing-music\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Billy Joel doesn\u2019t want to \u201cdilute his legacy\u201d by putting out music past his prime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/134371228.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}