The following article briefly mentions suicide.

Before Billy Joel found long-lasting love in his marriage to Alexis Roderick in the 2000s, he walked down the aisle three other times. Most probably remember Joel’s marriage to Christie Brinkley, a world-famous model and the mother of his oldest daughter, Alexa Ray. Joel’s marriage to celebrity chef Katie Lee is also likely on people’s radar. His first wife, on the other hand, wasn’t a public figure, making it hard to keep track of what happened to her. But after decades out of the spotlight, Elizabeth Weber broke her silence.

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After some reluctance, Weber agreed to be interviewed for the HBO two-part documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” released in June 2025. Even though Joel’s first marriage isn’t as talked about nowadays as his later ones, it caused quite a stir back in the day. When the “Piano Man” started seeing her, Weber was married to his best friend and bandmate, Jon Small. She broke it off with both her husband and her paramour when the affair came to light.

The ordeal sent Joel into a deep depression, leading to two suicide attempts, he revealed in the documentary (via The New York Times). Joel and Weber later reconnected and got married in 1973. Weber became his manager, helping to turn his career around and propel him into stardom. But marriage and a professional relationship proved hard to reconcile, and the couple divorced nine years later. Weber held her peace for many years, but she finally addressed her time with Joel.

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If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

After divorcing Billy Joel in 1982, Elizabeth Weber retreated from the spotlight and lived as a private citizen. When she was asked to participate in “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” which looks at the hitmaker’s early days, she initially refused despite being friends with its executive producer, Steve Cohen. She wasn’t willing to put herself out there again after all these years. “I love Steve and I worked with him, and he’s a close friend of mine … but I thought, ‘Wait a second. I have a really nice life. I have a lot of privacy,'” she told People.

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Cohen understood Weber’s initial reluctance to take part in the project and didn’t hold it against her. “She’s been out of the public eye and she’s been maligned incredibly in the blogosphere,” he said. However, one of the directors, Susan Lacy, along with Weber’s granddaughter, convinced her it might be worthwhile. She didn’t regret it. “It felt right — and it still does,” Weber said. She has similar feelings regarding her time with Joel. “It was great then, it’s great whenever I think about it, and it’s great now,” she said.

Even though the relationship didn’t work out, Weber still harbors admiration for the artist. “I’ve never known anybody who worked harder than he did in all those years we were together and working together,” she told E! News. That doesn’t mean she is close with her ex-husband. “[We’re] friendly but not close,” she told Page Six. 

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