Billy Joel felt "really hurt" after Sir Elton John encouraged him to go to rehab

In the HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, he says: "Elton had made a comment that he thought I needed real rehab. He chalked it up to, 'Oh, he's a drunk.' And that really hurt me.

"I said wait a minute? Don't you know me better than that? And there was bad blood for a little while. There was a dovetailing of things that happened during that time."

Billy recalled feeling at "rock bottom" when he read Elton's comments.

He said: "I was disillusioned with what I thought it was all supposed to mean. It was like all the signs were pointing to me: enough. And I wrote this letter to the band. 'I don't want to do this anymore. I'm gonna stop.'"

Elton made the comments to Rolling Stone magazine back in 2011, shortly after they toured together.

Elton explained at the time that they had "so many cancelled tours because of illnesses and various other things, alcoholism".

The chart-topping star - who also struggled with addiction in the 70s and 80s - added: "He's going to hate me for this, but every time he goes to rehab they've been light ... I love you Billy, and this is tough love."

Billy actually spent time in rehab in 2005, and he previously acknowledged that addiction has created "problems" in his life.

The singer stopped drinking altogether in 2021, and he insisted that it doesn't bring any value to his life.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2023, Billy shared: "I stopped a couple of years ago. It wasn't a big Alcoholics Anonymous kick. I just got a point where I'd had enough.

"I didn't enjoy being completely inebriated, and it probably created more problems in my life than I needed. I don't need it now."