In 2019, as he approached 70, Billy Joel said he was still writing music—but much of it was private, not conventional songs, and he felt no need to record it or prove his relevance. His “never say never” answer left room for a future song, soundtrack or symphony; it was not an album announcement. His remarks about Donald Trump, meanwhile, came in the context of condemning white supremacy and Joel’s family history of Nazi persecution.
What Joel meant by saying he still wrote music
Asked whether he was tired of questions about making new music, Joel drew a distinction between composing and releasing pop songs. In the interview reproduced by KSMT, he said: “No, it’s a fair question, and I still write music. I just don’t record it, and they’re not in song form. It’s another kind of music altogether. It’s purely for my own edification. I don’t feel compelled to record it. I don’t feel compelled to make myself be relevant.”
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That answer describes a private creative practice, not a promise that finished songs were waiting to be released. Joel said the music was not in song form and that recording it did not feel necessary. The available interview does not identify where or when that private music might be heard.
Why “never say never” was not a new-album plan
Joel was also asked whether he would make a definitive statement that he would never release an album of new material. He declined to rule out every possibility: “I’m never going to say never. I may come up with an idea that could become a song. I may write a movie soundtrack. I may write a symphony. I don’t know. Anything’s possible.”
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The examples were possibilities, not announced projects. His answer leaves open that an idea could take a more familiar form; it does not say he was working on a pop album, set a release date or commit to recording. The emphasis was on making music without needing it to be commercially relevant.
The interview is reproduced on KSMT under the headline “Billy Joel on Turning 70, Donald Trump, and Why He Writes Music Just for Himself Now.” The available page does not establish the original publication venue or interviewer, so the comments are best attributed to Joel in the reproduced interview rather than credited to a confirmed original outlet.
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What Joel said about Trump—and the family history behind it
Joel’s criticism of Trump was specifically about the president’s response to white supremacists. In the reproduced interview, Joel said: “So this president missed the boat. He had a great chance to say something meaningful and he blew it.”
The comment belongs alongside Joel’s condemnation of white supremacists and his family’s experience of Nazi persecution. It was a judgment about Trump’s response to that issue, not a general statement about every aspect of his politics. The reproduced interview provides the context for the remark.
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How the 2019 comments fit with Joel’s earlier songwriting hiatus
There is a difference between saying Joel had stopped writing songs and saying he later wrote music privately. CBS reported that Joel stopped writing songs after River of Dreams (1993), describing dissatisfaction with his work and the personal toll of songwriting. In 2019, Joel spoke of writing music that was not in song form and that he did not record. The two accounts describe different practices and do not establish that he had resumed writing a catalog of releasable songs.
In 2018, CBS News and Stations said Joel was approaching his 100th lifetime performance at Madison Square Garden and had 33 Top 40 hits at that time. Those career milestones provide context for the ongoing attention to new music, but they do not imply he owed listeners another album. CBS’s account of the Garden milestone and songwriting hiatus sets out that background.
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Turning 70 did not mean Joel was announcing retirement
Joel’s 70th birthday was approaching in May 2019, and the age framing coincided with questions about how long he would keep performing. In a separate interview with Newsday, reproduced on his official site, he said he had become comfortable with the possibility that he might simply never retire: “I’ve become very comfortable with that concept of maybe you just don’t retire.”
He explained that he still enjoyed the work and that audiences continued to come: “And it’s a great job. I have a great band. I play great venues. And I make great money. So what’s wrong with that?” The remark was about continuing to perform, not a promise to release new recordings. Read the Newsday retirement interview reproduced on Joel’s official site.
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How to read the answer
- Still writing: Joel said he continued to make music privately.
- Not recording it: He said it was not in song form and he felt no compulsion to record it.
- Not ruling out every possibility: A future idea might become a song, soundtrack or symphony, but he announced no such project.
- Still performing: His comments about not retiring addressed the work of playing live, a separate question from releasing a new album.
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