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The new documentary, based on singer Billy Joel’s life, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, is offering rare insights into the "Piano Man" singer’s life and career. The film, which premiered on June 4 at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, also includes Joel’s first wife, Elizabeth Weber, who had largely remained out of the public eye after her divorce from the singer.
Billy Joel married Elizabeth Weber in 1973. Their marriage lasted till 1982, according to Metro.
During an exclusive conversation at the Tribeca Film Festival with People Magazine, the now 76-year-old Weber looked back at her marriage with Joel and said,
“It was great then, it's great whenever I think about it, and it's great now.”
Weber also told the publication that she was initially apprehensive about participating in the documentary as she hadn’t spoken out publicly about her marriage to Joel before. However, crediting her granddaughters and one of the directors of the film, Susan Lacy, Weber told People Magazine,
"Susan approached me in a very personal way, and it resonated with me, and Billy licensed the music, so I knew that there would be good music. So it felt right — and it still does.”
People Magazine also reported that the two-part documentary’s executive producer, Steve Cohen, a friend of Weber, spoke about her misgivings about participating in the film, and said,
“I will tell you, there was reluctance in the beginning because she's been out of the public eye and she's been maligned incredibly in the blogosphere.”
Billy Joel and Elizabeth Weber’s relationship, explored
Billy Joel and Elizabeth Weber first began a relationship when Joel was a young member of the band Attila. Weber was the wife of Joel’s bandmate, Jon Small, with whom she shared a son, as per Metro. The publication also noted that in the documentary, Joel comments on the guilt he felt when his relationship with Weber was made public. He said,
“I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker.”
That initial period in Joel’s life was extremely difficult for the artist, who attempted suicide twice, once by taking sleeping pills and falling into a coma, according to Metro. The news outlet also mentions that during the documentary, Joel reminisces that after his second suicide attempt, Small saved his life, and he was kept under observation, which is where he started to recover. He said,
“I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilise all those emotions to channel that stuff into music.”
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Hello Magazine noted that after Joel recovered, he and Weber reconnected and got married, with Weber also managing the singer’s career. According to the news outlet, in the documentary, Joel revealed that Weber was the one who convinced him to release Just The Way You Are as a single, the success of which led to Joel winning two Grammy awards. Weber was also Joel’s muse behind his hits like "She’s Always a Woman" and "The Stranger."
While Weber was a notable force behind the singer during his early career, Hello Magazine reports that as a consequence of Joel’s struggles with substance abuse, which led to a motor accident, his marriage to Weber ended by 1982.
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