Billy Joel has discussed The Beatles’ classic album, The White Album, and explained his problem with the LP.
Joel has spoken on many occasions about his love of The Beatles. He is full of admiration for the band and their cultural impact. During an interview with CNN in 2022, the musician remarked, “Everybody was depressed over the Kennedy assassination, and it lasted for a long time. Who took us out of that depression? The Beatles.”
The singer-songwriter then said of his personal relationship with their work, “It changed my life. That’s why I do what I do now because of what The Beatles did.”
Nevertheless, during a recent conversation with Bill Maher on the Club Random podcast, Joel said of The White Album after the host mentioned it, “I’m not a big fan of The White Album, but some people love it.”
Elaborating on his stance, he added, “I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned, or they didn’t care anymore.” Joel also suggested, “I think they had fragments and they put them on the album.”
Joel then mused that John Lennon was “dissociating at that point” and claimed that his bandmate Paul McCartney was “carrying the weight”.
The ‘Piano Man’ then detailed his “theory” that “they almost broke up a couple of times”. He shared with Maher, “It was never talked about, it had to look smoothed over for the ten years they were famous. I think they almost broke up a few times, had their ups and downs, sometimes they were more prolific and sometimes they weren’t.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Joel offered a new health update after cancelling all live dates due to being diagnosed with the brain disorder Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). He explained: “I feel good. They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”