‘Misguided’: Billy Joel slams upcoming unauthorised biopic

MovieMusic
20 May 2026 • 9:29 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

‘Misguided’: Billy Joel slams upcoming unauthorised biopic

  • A forthcoming biopic, Billy & Me, is set to chronicle Billy Joel's early career through the perspective of his former manager, Irwin Mazur.
  • Billy Joel's representatives have stated that he has not authorised or supported the project and that the filmmakers do not possess his life or music rights.
  • Filmmakers, including director John Ottman and screenwriter Adam Ripp, contend the film is an "intimate origin story" focusing on Joel's formative years and does not rely on his hit music catalogue.
  • Ripp clarified that the film is not a traditional cradle-to-grave biopic, instead centring on Joel's struggles before fame and his time in cover bands.
  • The production has secured life rights from Mazur and Joel's lifelong friend and original drummer, Jon Small, who is actively involved as a consultant.

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