Liberty DeVitto says the hardest part of leaving Billy Joel’s band was not losing the job or the chance to play major venues—it was losing his friend. In 2020, after years of anger and distance, the drummer reached out to Joel. They met for breakfast, began rebuilding their relationship, and Joel agreed to write the foreword to DeVitto’s memoir, Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness.
How Liberty DeVitto and Billy Joel made peace
DeVitto told Rolling Stone that he started writing the book while angry about losing his place in Joel’s band. As he revisited the manuscript, he reconsidered his own part in the rupture and tried to see Joel’s perspective. He eventually emailed Joel, hoping to have his old friend back in his life. They met for breakfast, and Joel agreed to contribute the foreword.
DeVitto described the emotional cost this way: “It wasn’t losing the gig or playing at Madison Square Garden. It was losing him as a friend.” He also said, “Life is too short to be carrying the weight of this anger around and to not have this friend.” The interview presents the meeting as a beginning to repairing their friendship, not as a claim that every consequence of their estrangement disappeared.
Why DeVitto left Billy Joel’s band
The interview does not disclose the full private reason DeVitto was dismissed. DeVitto says Joel later told him he had heard something he believed was true, but that it was not. DeVitto declines to reveal the private matter, so the specific explanation remains undisclosed.
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What is in Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness?
The memoir covers DeVitto’s life and his work with Joel, including how the songs were arranged and performed and how the band took that music around the world. It is not only an account of the split and later reconciliation. In the official announcement, Joel praised the book for detailing the music-making as well as “all the craziness that accompanies musicians with a dedicated mission to ‘leave it all on the stage.’”
Did Billy Joel write the foreword?
Yes. Joel wrote the foreword to DeVitto’s memoir. Billy Joel’s official website announced the book on July 13, 2020, saying it would be available July 17 and listing Amazon and Hudson Music as preorder destinations. Those were the destinations named in that 2020 announcement; it does not establish current availability or price.
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What the 2020 interview established
Andy Greene’s Rolling Stone interview, published July 14, 2020, described a memoir shaped by roughly 15 years of work: it began in anger after DeVitto’s departure and changed as he reconsidered the relationship. DeVitto’s account makes the reconciliation a central human story, while leaving the private circumstances of his dismissal unexplained.
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- Billy Joel’s official July 13, 2020 announcement introduced the book and included Joel’s comments about the foreword.
- Andy Greene’s July 14, 2020 interview for Rolling Stone covers DeVitto’s writing process, the estrangement, and the breakfast meeting.
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