Billy Joel Injured in Crash

Billy Joel was hospitalized late Saturday night and treated for minor injuries suffered when his Mercedes hit a tree alongside a highway on Long Island, New York.

Joel arrived at Stony Brook University Hospital close to midnight and was discharged around 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. The hospital confirmed Joel's visit, but refused to divulge the nature of his injuries. According to police, Joel was not administered a breathalyzer test, and no charges were filed in the incident.

Last summer, Joel checked into a substance abuse and psychiatric center in Connecticut for what he described in an interview as "a prolonged period of overindulgence."

A spokesperson for Joel said the singer-songwriter is fine and that the crash will have no effect on his upcoming Face to Face Tour with Elton John. The two piano men have lined up seventeen dates for the tour so far, starting February 21st in Birmingham, Alabama.

In addition to the tour, Joel's music is the focus of the recent musical, Moving Out, which is currently playing on Broadway.

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

More Song Stories entries »

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