Why Joel stopped making albums

For such a successful pop star, Billy Joel has always been unsatisfied, said David Marchese in New York magazine. “I never felt I was as good as I wanted to be,” says Joel, 69. “My bar was Beethoven.” Although Joel recently performed his 100th show at Madison Square Garden, it’s been 25 years since he released an album. He no longer writes songs, having decided they’d fall short of his early work. “Certain composers only have so much productivity in them,” he says. “Mozart wrote more than 40 symphonies; Beethoven wrote nine. That doesn’t mean one guy was better than the other.” Albums such as The Stranger and Glass Houses were massive hits in the 1970s and ’80s, but he was often savaged by critics—“and that,” he says, “leaves scar tissue.” Critics celebrated the authenticity and lyrics of artists such as Bruce Springsteen while portraying Joel’s work as sappy and sophomoric. “Because I studied music I was suspect to critics,” he says. “To them you’re supposed to be a diamond in the rough and polish yourself.” As Joel has gotten older, his enthusiasm for performing has grown, even if he can’t hit all the high notes anymore. “There have been times when I’ve felt it’s time for me to get off the bleeding stage,” he says. “Then I just thought, nah. I have the greatest job in the world. You make a lot of noise, girls scream, and you get s---loads of money.”