Billy Joel has announced the death of his longtime collaborator and friend, Jon Small, on social media. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Small and Joel were first bandmates in the Sixties rock band The Hassles, in which Small was the drummer.
The pair went on to form hard rock duo Attila, releasing their eponymous album in 1970. However, their creative partnership ended that year after Joel had an affair with Small’s wife, Elizabeth Weber. Small and Joel’s friendship, as well as the fallout from the affair, was recently explored in the 2025 documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes.
Something was the matter. And Billy one day came up to me, became a little honest, and said to me, ‘I’m in love with your wife.’ So it was a very devastating thing for me, because these were basically my two best friends.” “I felt very, very guilty about it. I felt like a homewrecker,” Joel said.
I was very upset.” The episode took such a heavy toll on Joel that he attempted suicide twice. After his second attempt, it was Small who found him and rushed him to the hospital. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial.
This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Small added in the documentary, “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.” Joel married Weber in 1973, and she went on to become his manager.
The pair divorced in 1982, but her influence on his early career remains widely acknowledged. Joel and Small eventually reconciled in the 1980s, with Small helping make the singer’s concert films, Live From Long Island and Live at Shea Stadium, and serving as producer on his music videos for “Uptown Girl,” “Keeping the Faith,” and “Tell Her About It.” Small was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1992 for directing Joel’s Live at Yankee Stadium concert film, and was also known for his work with Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton and more. In 2025, Small was inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame as a member of the Hassles.
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