Billy Joel Mourns Early Bandmate Jon Small, Collaborator on ‘Attila’ and Concert Films

Jon Small, an early bandmate of Billy Joel whose friendship with the singer fractured famously over a romantic entanglement before being repaired decades later, has died. Joel announced Small’s passing with a brief tribute on social media; Small’s age and cause of death were not immediately disclosed.

Joel and Small first played together in the 1960s Long Island group the Hassles before forming the hard-rock duo Attila. The pair released a single album in 1970, and during that period Joel was living with Small and his wife, Elizabeth Weber. As detailed in the recent documentary And So It Goes, Joel fell in love with Weber, a development that shattered the band and their personal bond.

“Elizabeth was very important to me, but I think I was not the guy she hoped I would be,” Small recalled in the film. “I kept seeing that Billy was not the same guy. 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.”

Joel expressed deep remorse over the betrayal. “I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” he said. “I was just in love with a woman, and I got punched in the nose, which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset.”

The affair led to Attila’s dissolution, the end of their friendship, and Joel’s eviction from Small’s home. Small later reflected on the depth of Joel’s guilt: “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 and Weber married in 1973, a union that lasted until 1982. In time, Small and Joel reconciled professionally and personally. Small went on to direct several of Joel’s major concert films, including Live From Long Island and Live at Shea Stadium, as well as the music video for “Baby Grand.” His directing credits also encompassed videos for Reba McEntire, Enrique Iglesias, and Brooks & Dunn.

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