Billy Joel depression caused by 9/11; New York State of State of Mind Singer Says “"My mind wasn't right”

Billy Joel’s depression caused his car accidents, not booze. Billy Joel, who wrote “New York State of Mind” says he’s been depressed since the 9/11 attacks on New York City.

Billy Joel’s depression was self-treated by the piano man who prescribed himself a steady intake of vodka.

Joel told the New York Times "I was kind of in a mental fog, and it had nothing to do with the booze. My mind wasn't right. I wasn't focused. I went into a deep, deep depression after 9/11. 9/11 just knocked the wind out of me, and I don't know even now if I've recovered from it. It really, really hurt that man could do that to man. And then there was a break-up with somebody, and it took me a while to get me back on my feet again ... I used booze as medication.”

Joel went into rehab for his drinking in 2005, but he doesn’t subscribe to the twelve-step Alcoholics Anonymous program. He still drinks "a glass of wine once in a while."

Recently Joel had to hire bodyguards for his daughter with supermodel Christie Brinkley (Joel’s former "Uptown Girl") after she admitted she was a victim of a campaign of harassment. The diminutive musician, 63, has a penchant for younger taller beauties. He was once married to, and later dated Elle Macpherson.

Billy Joel, who wrote “Uptown Girl", "Only the Good Die Young" and “Just the Way You Are” also explained why he hasn’t written a pop song in 20 years. He said, "I got tired of it. I got bored with it. I wanted to write something other than the three-minute pop tune." Not "out of fear or laziness," as Elton John has said about his sometime road partner. Elton John also said that Joel doesn’t take his rehab seriously.

Joel responded, "I think his heart is in the right place. He's kind of like a mom. He's got mom hair. He doesn't know anything about my private life. He's a very friendly, charming man, a nice fun guy, but we really never spent much time personally together ... I'd work with him again, sure."

Joel pulled out of a $3 million publishing deal for his memoirs two years ago when he found out that it would be marketed as "Divorce, Depression and Drinking.” Joel said "They wanted more sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, and there's not that much in my life."

 by Tony Sokol