Billy Joel is the subject of a new two-part documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, and the film’s directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin didn’t have to hold back when interviewing the rocker for the film.
Lacy tells ABC Audio that from the beginning she asked Joel if there were “any sensitivities” she should be aware of, and he simply told her to “tell the truth.”
“Nothing was off-limits,” she says.
Part two of the documentary debuted Friday on HBO, and Levin says it’s “a little bit of a different animal” than part one, which was somewhat of an origin story.
“It’s a much more personal story,” she says, noting it delves into his time with wife Christie Brinkley, but also touches on his family and his Jewish heritage, explaining, that’s “probably the most important aspect” of the film.
The doc also features artists like Bruce Springsteen, Sting and others talking about Billy and his career.
“The thing about musicians is, whether the critics got him or not, musicians got him,” Lacey says. “It means a lot when you hear Bruce Springsteen say the critics missed a lot of the best of Billy ’cause they just didn’t know how to pigeonhole him, but his melodies are actually better than mine.”
The two parts cover quite a bit of Billy’s life and career, and Levin says she and Lacy hope viewers will “come away with a really complete and satisfying experience of understanding an artist that is a lot more than his top line hits.”
She adds, “I think that you will be really surprised about what a complex and emotionally available artist you find in the film in a way that Billy has never been seen before.”
Billy Joel: And So It Goes is now streaming on HBO Max.
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