Billy Joel scotches DUI rumors in new documentary

He didn’t start the rumors, but Billy Joel said he wants to end the speculation that he has been arrested several times for driving under the influence.

The five-time Grammy winner, 76, addressed the rumors in his new two-part documentary on HBO, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes.”

Joel crashed his vehicle in East Hampton, New York, and then drove into a tree in nearby Sag Harbor in Janaury 2003. The latter crash sent the “Piano Man” to an area hospital, where he was treated for head injuries and kept overnight.

“I didn’t like the tabloid kind of press. For example, there’s this rumor that I have all these DUIs,” Joel said in the documentary. “That never happened.

“But people keep repeating the myth. ‘Oh, he’s got so many DUIs.’ I never had a DUI. ... The press can be mean. So having that much attention paid to you is not easy.”

Joel was recently diagnosed with a brain disorder and was forced to cancel all of his upcoming concerts this year. He revealed his diagnosis with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) in May.

He went into rehab at the Betty Ford Center in 2005 after he said he was given an “ultimatum” by his then-wife, Katie Lee.

Joel told the New York Times magazine in a 2013 interview that the incidents were due to his “mental fog,” and not because of alcohol.

“I went to rehab in ’05 because, when I was with Katie, she said, ‘You’re drinking way too much.’ I never had a DUI in my life,” Joel said. “That’s another fallacy. Look at the police records.

“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 breakup with somebody, and it took me a while to get me back on my feet again.”

In an interview with People, Joel said the documentary offers insight into how the singer overcame substance abuse and mental health struggles. It also examined his happiness with his wife, Alexis, and his three daughters.

“My goal was to get it over with,” Joel said about his involvement in the film. “When I do interviews, people just ask you about yourself and you get a little self-conscious about it eventually. It’s almost embarrassing. When you’re talking about your personal life detached from the material … I suppose there’s a little bit of wariness involved.”

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