Billy Joel quit making music so he wouldn’t “dilute” his legacy

Billy Joel has not released an album of new music since 1993’s River of Dreams. Instead, he has been touring tirelessly, taking part in countless residency shows at Madison Square Garden alone. In a new interview with YouTuber Rick Beato, Joel shared that he decided to stop writing new music with his legacy in mind. “I’ve heard artists who keep putting out records and, really, they’re past…,” Joel told Beato. “They dilute their legacy. Maybe they’re not as good as they used to be or they’re not as motivated as they were, but it ends up trailing off. I didn’t want to go like that.” 

Between 1971-1993, Joel became one of the best-selling musicians in the world, with over 160 million records sold globally and 33 Top 40 singles, three of which that went to No. 1 (“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, “Tell Her About It,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire”). He’s also won five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street in 1980, and is an inducted member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not exactly the type of legacy that can be ruined by a late-career record. 

But Joel added that River of Dreams, his 12th LP, felt like something he “had to get out” of his system: “I didn’t want to just keep beating a dead horse and being played because I was Billy Joel. I wanted it to be good, and I recognized that I didn’t have the same motivation that I used to have, so I said, ‘Stop. Don’t kill it.'” He later explained that, after making that record, he wanted to focus on his life with then-wife Christie Brinkley rather than pursue the monastic existence songwriting required of him. Though he mostly avoided the practice altogether—save for 2001’s Fantasies & Delusions, a record of classical compositions—he released an original song, “Turn the Lights Back On,” in 2024. When Beato asked Joel if he had any advice for up-and-coming singer-songwriters, Joel replied, “You better learn how to stop songwriting because it’s gonna drive you crazy. You’ll go insane.”

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