In Joel's new two-part HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the music legend reveals how he discovered his former manager Frank Weber had allegedly been living it up on his dime while Joel remained oblivious.
Brinkley, 71, immediately sensed something was wrong. Weber, who was the brother of Joel's first wife Elizabeth Weber and had taken over his management, was displaying a lifestyle that didn't add up.
Joel initially resisted Brinkley's suspicions, but reality hit hard when he tried to renovate a home and couldn't access the funds he expected to have. "People in the music business that I knew were telling me, 'You shouldn't have a problem coming up with the money to do this. You just had all these hit records. Where's all your money?' And I didn't have an answer for that," he recalled.
Joel not only discovered his missing millions but also owed the IRS $5 million — money he didn't have. Eventually, Joel filed a $90 million lawsuit against Weber in 1989 for fraud and breach of contract.
The "Piano Man" faced a harsh reality — at the height of his career, he had to start over. "It was a very depressing thing. When I found out that my money was pretty well-spent, I was furious. I realized I gotta start all over again. I gotta go right back to writing new songs, recording new songs and go out on the road and try to make that money back."
While Joel and Weber ultimately settled, the experience transformed how the music legend approached his career. "I needed to protect these songs. These were my children. They were orphans until I asserted my parenthood of them. So I took over my management and I never looked back."
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