'I just used booze as medication': Billy Joel insists his battle with alcohol is due to depression not a drinking problem

PUBLISHED: 20:02 EST, 24 May 2013 | UPDATED: 20:02 EST, 24 May 2013

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Billy Joel's car smash-ups and trips to rehab are as famous as his songs.

But the Piano Man seeks to clarify many of the sensational headlines that have tarnished his image in a new interview with The New York Times.

Joel, now 64, says Alcoholics Anonymous or the 12-step program never worked for him because he doesn't believe in them.

Not a drinking problem: Billy Joel reveals his trips to rehab and multiple car crashes stem from depression and not a drinking problem

Not a drinking problem: Billy Joel reveals his trips to rehab and multiple car crashes stem from depression and not an actual addiction

His trouble with the bottle evolved from his bouts of deep depression stemming from the end of a relationship and the 9/11 terror attacks.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, Joel says that he 'used booze as medication' instead of the prescription pill kind.

'I was kind of in a mental fog and it had nothing to do with the booze,' Joel tells The New York Times.

'My mind wasn’t right. I wasn’t focused. I went into a deep, deep depression after 9/11.

Broken heart: The Piano Man's five-year marriage to third wife Katie Lee ended in 2009

'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.'

Although he doesn't mention names, Joel may be talking about Katie Lee, whom he wed in 2004 when she was just 23.

Joel says that when he indulged he would begin with Dewars White Label Scotch and then start on the vodka.

He was involved in three car accidents, but only two of those were related to his drinking.

Smash up: Two of Joel's three car crashes had nothing to do with drinking, he says; pictured is a tree in Sag Harbor, New York that the singer hit in 2003

'The first accident, there was no booze involved,' Joel claims. 'I didn’t hit a tree. It’s these really dark roads back up here at night. The car went off the road and into a mud rut.

'I had gone through a breakup and was really broken up about it and I decided I’m drinking too much. I should go to rehab.

'But people made a connection, like, "Oh, he went there because he was in a car accident from drinking." No.'

Joel blames black ice as the cause of his second accident.

At the time he was married to Katie.

Uptown Girl: Joel was famously wed to model Christie Brinkley, the mother of his daughter Alexa; the pair are still n friendly terms

'The car slid and smashed into a tree,' the singer says. 'I went to rehab in ’05 because, when I was with Katie, she said, "You’re drinking way too much."'

Joel adds: 'I never had a D.U.I. in my life. That’s another fallacy. Look at the police records.'

In fact the singer doesn't 'subscribe to A.A.' or '12-step stuff' and believes that often he 'just overdid it' during the tense times in his life.

'But it wasn’t consistent, it would be periods of time, during a divorce or something,' he says.

Joel was criticised by Elton John in 2011 for giving rehab the brush off.

The And So It Goes singer still drinks wine when he wants to.

Joel says: 'I have a glass of wine once in a while and I don’t hide it. I have a glass of wine with a meal.'

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and in related news, he has announced that his new CD that is a redux boxed set of Glenn Miller classics will be titled "Moonshine Serenade"...

- rick , atlanta_georgia_way_deep_south, United States, 25/5/2013 20:07

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He is certainly in denial. Any excuse will do! Good for Elton John with regards to criticizing Billy Joel. Hope Bill Joel is aware that drinking and driving is against the law. Always enjoyed listening to Bill Joel, but do not have any time for people who drink and ignore the fact that they might have serious issue relating to booze.

- brenda b , Toronto, Canada, 25/5/2013 20:04

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I'll never understand why alcoholic millionaires just don't employ a chauffeur.

- daisy1984 , NYC, 25/5/2013 20:04

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Denial ain,t just a river in egypt.

- margaret42-belfast , belfast, United Kingdom, 25/5/2013 20:02

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Yeah, sounds like an excellent choice...medicate with booze. Wow

- Scott , Dallas, 25/5/2013 19:17

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My heart bleeds for you Billy. What a WIMP you turned out to be.

- Curious in USA , Phoenix AZ, 25/5/2013 19:16

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He is an arrogant a-hole, and rejects any sane help. Good luck to him with that.

- Zee Chen , San Francisco, 25/5/2013 19:10

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HWDevlin your friends who switched from booze to pills when they started going to AA aren't sober they just switched their drug of choice. I agree that 12 step program's success rates aren't great but that doesn't mean no one who goes to AA gets sober many do. If Billy wasn't rich and didn't have agents ad lawyers covering for him and putting out the fires(so to speak) that he started all over town while drunk I think he probably would have reached bottom a long time ago. Just because you don't believe in 12 step programs Billy doesn't mean you don't have a problem. If you don't have the brainpower to call a cab especially when money is no object than my friend you shouldn't drik period. When you wake up i jail one morning charged with vehicular homicide(which carries life in prison in some US states) it will be to late. Get help before you ruin what is left of your life or more importantly someone else's.

- Markymark715 , NewYork, 25/5/2013 19:05

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"He was involved in three car accidents, but only two of those were related to his drinking." ONLY TWO of the accidents were related to his drinking? Seriously? Sounds like a terminal case of denial.

- Justme , Windsor, United Kingdom, 25/5/2013 18:44

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In denial!

- May , Glasgow, United Kingdom, 25/5/2013 18:21

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