An Interview With Billy Joel

The interview covers his drinking issues, his bad business partners that cost him millions, and other dark parts of his life.  It doesn't touch on this terrible music video.  I thought this was funny:

A.G.: On the “Oprah” show, Katie said that when she met you in the bar of the Peninsula Hotel in 2002, she had no idea who you were or what music you played. You must be quite a charmer.

B.J.: I guess I am. Maybe that’s part of the reason I was successful onstage. She really didn’t know about me. She thought I had a song called “Uptown Girl” and “Only the Good Die Young.” That’s all she knew. She thought I was a one-hit-wonder kind of guy.

A.G.: Is it true that the same day you met her, you took her to your Broadway show?

B.J.: Yes, she was in the city with some friends from college, and I took her out to dinner at a nice Italian place. I wanted to make an impression. We went to a place that had truffles, I think. Then I took her to “Movin’ Out.” Once in a while, I would go there and sit in with the band at the end of the show at the encore. It was one of those nights. I made an impression there, and then we stayed in touch with each other.

A.G.: That’s one way to make an impression, take somebody to your jukebox musical.

B.J.: Hey, you saw the film version of “Tom Sawyer,” right? Walking on the fence, a feather on his nose to impress Becky Thatcher? I never forgot that. I’m shameless when it comes to that.

A.G.: Right before you married Christie Brinkley, you dated Elle Macpherson. And later you married Katie Lee, also a young, very beautiful woman. Do you think your relationship with female beauty is any different from any other red-blooded American male?

B.J.: A lot of guys are just too intimidated to even ask them out, but I had a great way to meet people. People are just interested in you because you’re a rock star. O.K. Some guys use a car. Some guys have a cute dog. I’m a rock star. That’s who I am, what I do. What’s wrong with that?

For a kind of geeky looking guy, I'd say he was doing pretty well.