Billy Joel explains why he “didn’t enjoy” Woodstock
Billy Joel, who attended Woodstock Festival in 1969, has explained why he “didn’t enjoy” the iconic event.
At the time, Joel was yet to make a name for himself as a musician; therefore, he attended the festival as a fan rather than a performer. The historic three-day festival, held on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, is remembered for iconic sets from musical heroes like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, and many more.
However, while the infamous weekend has become the stuff of legend, such as Hendrix not beginning his headline set until 9:00am on Monday due to delays caused by weather, the reality was very much different on the ground, according to Joel.
In a new interview with People, Joel said of being among the 400,000 music fans who witnessed the final blowout of hippiedom, “I didn’t enjoy it, to tell you the truth.”
Joel continued: “I wanted to see Hendrix. I wanted to see The Who, and I missed them. I just saw the first day. And it was so muddy and rainy and messy and no place to use the bathroom, and everybody was drugged out. I wasn’t doing drugs or anything back then.”
While it wasn’t to his taste, Joel did concede that it was about a cultural movement rather than just a music festival, which he likened to The Beatles, stating, “I loved about the Beatles. I loved the Beatles, but I recognized, as I grew, it wasn’t just about the Beatles. It was about us.”
Earlier this week, Joel offered a new positive health update after cancelling all live dates due to being diagnosed with the brain disorder Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). He explained on the Club Random podcast: “I feel good. They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”
He also touched on this subject during his aforementioned conversation with People, reassuring fans of his condition: “I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I’m okay. What I have is something very few people know about, including me, no matter how much you try to research it. I’m doing my best to work with it and to recover from it.”
Although Joel admits that he found the diagnosis to be “disturbing”, he has remained calm about the situation, explaining, “It was scary, but I’m okay. I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”
While he missed the premiere of the new documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, last month at Tribeca Film Festival, Joel has now returned to the public eye to promote the two-part HBO film.
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