Despite his global fame and numerous accolades, Billy Joel still doesn’t feel like he’s conquered everything when it comes to singing.
During his appearance on SiriusXM’s Life with John Mayer, the host asked: “Was there something you wish you could have done as a writer or singer that you couldn’t and you had to work around it? Like, I wish I could sing — I wish I could have written [Sting’s] ‘If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.’ If I could have gone [attempts falsetto] ‘If you love somebody…’ I’ll never do it!”
He continued: “Have you always felt like you still had to work within a range? I know it’s a strange thing to say ‘you wished you had more’ when you have so many songs you’ve written that were incredible, but did you ever feel like, ‘Ah, if I only had a couple more notes I’d be able to get that out?'”
Joel replied, “I always wanted to sing like somebody else — I never liked my own voice.”
The Piano Man continued: “I would go in the studio and do a recording and I’d come back in the control room and listen — ‘Oh God, it’s that guy. I’m always disappointed — no matter how good I thought the writing was, I never liked my own voice. Always wanted to sound like somebody else.”
The guitarist then asked: “Do you ever do the thing like a kid playing basketball in the driveway pretending he’s an athlete? Do you reference other artists?”
“Yes, all the time,” Joel confessed. “It’s flashes of people. Ray Charles, Sting … people with these wonderful voices. Even Elvis Costello — sometimes I’m trying to channel him. It’s all over the place.”
Mayer then asked: “Can someone get in your head if you see them get up and walk away? ‘Where’s he going, where’s he going?'”
Billy Joel replied: “Yes, absolutely. I used to see people leave right before the encore and you know, you understand they’ve got to go somewhere [but] I always felt like lying to them and saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Petty!'”
