After 17 years of recording silence, Billy Joel returned to the music scene with the song “Turn the Lights Back On” last February, followed by a brilliant performance of the song at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Since then, his followers have been awaiting the possible announcement of a new album, although the New York singer-songwriter has the clear answer: “No!”
“Who makes albums now anyway? I think the only people making new records nowadays are Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. I don’t know other people. “I don’t know what the marketing of that is like now,” she said in an interview with Variety.
The reason for his refusal? The composition process. The singer of hits like “Piano Man” and “Uptown Girl” explained that he doesn’t like to write, and even described it as “a form of torture”.
“There is a big black beast with 88 teeth that wants to bite my fingers off while I write. I go crazy. It’s just not as good as I would like,” she said in reference to the piano keys.
“It’s a lot of torture and I decided that I don’t want to go through that anymore. I used to have a drinking problem and all kinds of self-hatred when I wrote, because I set the bar very high. It’s not something I miss. I love making music,” she added.
It is not his only torment. In the conversation, Joel also expressed his dislike for music videos, despite having released one for “Turn the Lights Back On,” which uses artificial intelligence to revive his different looks over the years.
“I really didn’t want to do it. I don’t like being in front of the camera. I’m camera shy. I always feel like a geek because I’m static in front of the piano, I can’t move. I can’t use body language. I’m stuck in front of the piano. And it just doesn’t feel rock ‘n’ roll when you’re in front of the camera. You are simply locked in your place,” the artist admitted.
His disdain for television led him to feel uncomfortable during the filming of the CBS special: “Billy Joel: The 100th Live at Madison Square Garden – The Greatest Arena Run of All Time,” a historic concert he gave in April to conclude his decade-long residency on stage.
“I have never been passionate about making television. Anyway, I don’t think it’s telegenic. I think I am one of those artists who should be heard and not necessarily seen,” she said.
Billy Joel, who has sold more than 160 million records worldwide, is not ashamed of his reticence in front of the cameras, and mentioned as justification that he is a musician, “not a movie star.”
A big part of your strained relationship with television comes down to sound quality. Joel performed the National Anthem at two Super Bowls; On the second occasion, he couldn’t hear himself at all. “It was a disaster, and people thought he was using Auto-Tune or some kind of concealer, which he would never do,” he said. “That’s what happens on TV!”
Additionally, during the broadcast of his special, CBS accidentally cut the broadcast right in the middle of his performance of his biggest hit, “Piano Man.” Afterwards, they apologized.
“I wasn’t surprised,” he responded quickly when asked about the technical problem. “I’ve never been very happy with the way music is presented on television. I think for TV people, it’s all about the visual. If you look at a television, you will see the big screen and a small screen, that should tell you what their priorities are,” he concluded.
