A Lifesaving Partnership Born in Long Island
The history of American rock and roll is filled with stories of creative partnerships that burned brightly before collapsing under the weight of personal turmoil. Yet, few rival the dramatic, lifelong trajectory of Billy Joel and his former bandmate and collaborator Jon Small. On September 7, 2026, Joel announced the passing of Small, his longtime friend, early bandmate, and pioneering music video director. As reported by The Independent, Joel shared a poignant black-and-white photograph of the two in their youth, captioned with a simple tribute: “RIP Jon Small.” According to NME, Small’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9, 2026, in Great Neck, New York. While a cause of death has not been publicly disclosed, the music industry is mourning a figure whose influence shaped both the early sound and the visual identity of one of America’s greatest singer-songwriters.
Small and Joel’s shared history dates back to the mid-1960s on Long Island, where they first played together in the blue-eyed soul and rock band The Hassles. Small was the powerhouse drummer, while Joel played keyboards and sang. The group released two albums, establishing a local following but failing to achieve national breakthrough success. Seeking a heavier, more experimental sound, Joel and Small departed the band to form the hard rock duo Attila. Operating with just an organ and drums—heavily distorted to mimic electric guitars—Attila released a self-titled album in 1970. Though the album was a commercial failure and is often remembered as a bizarre footnote in Joel’s catalog, it cemented the intense musical chemistry between the two young artists.
The Betrayal, the Brink of Death, and Creative Catharsis
The creative partnership of Attila came to an abrupt and devastating end in late 1970 when Joel began an affair with Small’s wife, Elizabeth Weber. The fallout was immediate: Attila disbanded, and the close friendship between the two men disintegrated. The emotional weight of the betrayal and the collapse of his personal life took a massive toll on the young Joel, who attempted suicide twice during this period. In an extraordinary twist of fate, it was Small who discovered Joel during his second suicide attempt and rushed him to the hospital, saving his life despite the immense pain of the marital betrayal. As detailed in the 2025 documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, Joel recalled the guilt: “I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker… Even though our friendship had blown up, Jon saved my life.”
This dark chapter became the raw material for Joel’s transition into a solo artist. The song “Tomorrow Is Today,” featured on his 1971 solo debut album Cold Spring Harbor, was directly inspired by his suicide note and the emotional turmoil of the affair, as noted by Far Out Magazine. Joel eventually married Weber in 1973, and she became his manager, guiding his early rise to global superstardom before their divorce in 1982. Throughout this period, Small quietly transitioned away from performing music, turning his talents toward a new, burgeoning medium that would soon redefine the global entertainment industry: the music video.
Reconciliation in the MTV Era
In the 1980s, Joel and Small achieved what many in the music industry thought impossible: a complete personal and professional reconciliation. As the music video era exploded with the launch of MTV, Small established himself as one of the format’s most sought-after directors and producers. Recognizing his former bandmate’s visual genius, Joel hired Small to direct several of his most iconic music videos, including “Uptown Girl,” “Keeping the Faith,” and “Tell Her About It.” Small’s work helped translate Joel’s streetwise, blue-collar persona into highly cinematic, narrative-driven videos that dominated television screens worldwide.
Small’s visual collaboration with Joel extended to major live concert films. He directed and produced Live From Long Island and Live at Shea Stadium, and in 1992, he earned a Grammy Award nomination for directing Joel’s historic Live at Yankee Stadium concert film. Beyond his work with Joel, Small became a legendary figure in the music video industry, directing iconic clips and concert specials for a diverse roster of superstars, including Whitney Houston, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Kenny Rogers, and the groundbreaking crossover collaboration between Run-DMC and Aerosmith. In 2025, his foundational contributions to the local music scene were officially recognized when he was inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame as a member of The Hassles.
Reflections on a Shared Lifetime
In their later years, both men spoke openly about the extraordinary journey that took them from teenage bandmates to bitter rivals, and ultimately to lifelong creative partners. In the 2025 documentary, Small reflected on his decision to forgive Joel: “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.” Appearing on the Glass Houses podcast in 2025, Small joked about the enduring public fascination with their shared past: “It’s funny, whenever something is said about Billy, I joke about it, I’m always dragged into it. I can’t get away from this guy. He is really a great, great guy.”
With Small’s passing, the music world loses not only a pioneering visual director who helped define the MTV era, but also a key protagonist in the mythos of Billy Joel’s early career. Their story remains a powerful testament to the capacity for forgiveness, the enduring strength of early artistic bonds, and the ways in which personal tragedy can be transformed into lasting cultural triumphs.