Billy Joel's best friend and bandmate Jon Small dead as Piano Man hitmaker pays tribute

Billy Joel's former bandmate and longtime best friend Jon Small has died. The Piano Man hitmaker, 77, confirmed the news on Monday in a social media post, simply writing, 'RIP Jon Small'. According to TMZ, Small was in his late '70s and an official cause of death has not yet been revealed. Small and Joel's relationship dates back to the early 1960s, when they were both members of the rock band The Hassles. The pair then broke off from The Hassles to form their own hard rock duo called Attila. However, their partnership came crashing down when Joel had an affair with Small's then-wife Elizabeth Weber while they were all living together. Billy Joel's former bandmate and longtime best friend Jon Small has died; pictured together in 1970 'I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,' Joel explained in the 2025 HBO documentary. 'I was just in love with a woman and I got punched in the nose - which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset.' The fallout ended Attila, shattered Joel's friendship with Small, and left the future Piano Man broken and alone after Weber took off - though they would eventually reunite. 'I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed, I think to the point of almost being psychotic,' he said. 'So I figured, "That's it. I don't want to live anymore." I was just in a lot of pain and it was sort of like, why hang out? Tomorrow's going to be just like today, and today sucks. So I just thought I'd end it all.' At the height of his breakdown, Joel turned to his sister, Judy Molinari, who was working as a medical assistant at the time. Hoping to help him rest, she gave him some sleeping pills, never expecting what would happen next. 'But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days,' she recalled in the documentary. The Piano Man hitmaker, 77, confirmed the news on Monday in a social media post, simply writing, 'RIP Jon Small' Molinari revealed that Joel's second attempt involved drinking a bottle of Lemon Pledge furniture polish. It was Small, despite their fractured friendship, who rushed him to the hospital. 'Even though our friendship was blowing up, Jon saved my life,' Joel said. Small later reflected on why the betrayal may have hit Joel so hard. 'He never really said anything to me. The only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually I forgave him.' The pair would then work together for many years after that, with Small directing and producing many of Joel's biggest music videos and concert films.