Billy Joel has opened up about why it took him almost twenty years to launch his new single, ‘Flip The Lights Again On’.

Talking together with his co-writer Freddy Wexler (Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Kanye West, Selena Gomez) on the newest episode of Audacy Verify In on February 1, Joel mentioned that he had fallen out of affection with writing new music, including that he didn’t discover it “enjoyable” for the higher a part of twenty years.

Joel mentioned to Wexler: “It was enjoyable. Music is enjoyable. Rock n’ roll was enjoyable. It was all about having enjoyable — and I sort of misplaced that and I turned the lights off as a result of it wasn’t enjoyable anymore.”

He defined additional that over the course of the final 17 years, different folks tried to get him again into the studio to work on new music, however he “at all times resisted it”: “I studiously averted it as a result of songwriting had develop into painful. I’ve this excessive bar. I mentioned to myself, ‘If I don’t attain that bar, I beat myself up and I punched myself and I hate myself.’ So, I ended doing it as a result of I received uninterested in feeling like that.”

Nonetheless, when he heard what Wexler was engaged on two years in the past, he started to really feel his love for songwriting return: “The melody, the chords, the chord development, even the time signature was one thing that struck me instantly, and that’s how I relate to music.”

Joel continued: “This explicit lyric on this tune, I’ve had these ideas, I may have written these lyrics verbatim. I’ve chewed on these phrases and I’ve considered these phrases, and I’ve mentioned these phrases earlier than. It was all sort of falling into place — and who am I to battle that?”

Billy Joel launched ‘Flip The Lights Again On’ on Thursday (February 1), marking his first new launch in 17 years. The monitor serves as a love letter to followers who’ve waited for the ‘Piano Man’ singer to launch new music, in addition to self-reflection for the singer, who asks himself if he had waited this lengthy to return.

‘Flip The Lights Again On’ is now obtainable on all streaming platforms in addition to a limited-edition 7” vinyl which you should purchase right here.

In different information, Joel is about to carry out the monitor at this yr’s Grammy Awards, marking his first time enjoying the ceremony in 22 years. The ‘Vienna’ singer will be a part of Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, Burna Boy, and Luke Combs as 2024 Grammy performers. This yr’s ceremony is because of happen on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 4. It is going to mark Joel’s return to the ceremony’s stage since 2002 when he carried out with Tony Bennett.