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May 25, 2013

Billy Joel: Depression caused by 9/11, not alcohol, caused my car accidents

Billy Joel has blamed three highly-publicised car accidents on depression brought on by the Sept 11 terror attacks on his home city of New York, rather than on his well-known problems with alcohol.

The pop star went into rehab for his drinking habit in 2005 but in a wide-ranging interview insisted that the spate of accidents in two preceding years was not caused by his heavy consumption of vodka, his alcohol of choice.

"I was kind of in a mental fog, and it had nothing to do with the booze," he told The New York Times.

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

"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 break-up with somebody, and it took me a while to get me back on my feet again ... I used booze as medication."

Joel said that he still drinks "a glass of wine once in a while" and does not "subscribe to" the 12-step anti-addiction programme of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The star whose hits include "Uptown Girl", "Piano Man" and "Only the Good Die Young" also revealed why he has not written a pop song in 20 years. read more