Music icon Billy Joel revealed that he’s largely unfazed by liberal critics, particularly if they’re woke.
During a candid conversation on Monday’s episode of the “Club Random” podcast, the 76-year-old performer shrugged off backlash over his older, but infamous songs, which have drawn scrutiny from progressives in recent years.
Joel’s comments came as Maher raised concerns about the increasing intolerance on the political Left, accusing them of becoming “snippy” whenever they encounter dissenting viewpoints.
Joel agreed with the sentiment, saying he’s “inured to” such attacks at this point in his life and career.
I had the incredible opportunity to interview music legend @BillyJoel this week at @ClubRandom_. Don’t miss his documentary, now streaming on @HBODocs! #BillyJoelHBO pic.twitter.com/ok4W8P3p41
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 21, 2025
The discussion opened with Maher reflecting on Joel’s music catalog, noting how many of his songs resonated with the generation that emerged after World War II.
Maher described that demographic as fundamentally different from today’s cultural norms.
He referenced Joel’s 1976 track “Angry Young Man” to illustrate the shift.
So excited about our first-ever Club Random on the road – went to Boca to talk to someone I'd literally have gone anywhere in the world for, Florida Man Billy Joel!! pic.twitter.com/7MZR4ivmgF
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 18, 2025
Maher quoted a line from the song: “I believe I’ve passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage/ I found that just surviving is a noble fight/ I once believed in causes too/I had my pointless point of view, and life went on no matter who was wrong or right.”
“I feel like that is the message of the age, even though some people will hear that and say, ‘Look at these two a**holes,’” Maher joked.
The story behind Moving Out. pic.twitter.com/t024dF0kK7
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 24, 2025
“Boomers,” Joel replied, acknowledging how older generations are often dismissed or mocked for having views that deviate from today’s progressive orthodoxy.
The two then shifted to discussing the outsized reaction from the Left when public figures refuse to denounce former President Donald Trump.
Maher noted, “They get so mad if you don’t say ‘Trump’s the worst.’”
Billy Joel's realization about 'Vienna'
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— Club Random with Bill Maher (@ClubRandom_) July 24, 2025
“Ok but even if we admit that … this is also true,” Maher continued, referring to the complexity of certain political and cultural issues.
Maher also brought up Joel’s 1982 Vietnam War-inspired track, “Goodnight Saigon.”
He pointing out the line, “And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight.”
He asked Joel whether he still stands by that message. “Yes,” Joel replied, unapologetically.
“And you don’t care what they say about you? The woke?” Maher pressed.
“At this point, no,” Joel responded. “I’m inured to it … on the other hand, I’m always trying to find out the other point of view. What’s, you know, not my point of view … somebody else’s point of view. Okay, I’d like to understand why they think that way.”
Maher agreed that such openness is increasingly rare. “It’s so difficult in this day and age. I mean, it is what I am always trying to do on my show.”
“Look, this is one safe space for everybody, and I will take the heat from … both sides,” he added.
“I mean, I do feel like the Left, who, ironically, I’m more actually aligned with, is more snippy about it, and has a worse attitude about it, and makes me viscerally not like them more sometimes.”
The conversation eventually turned to the toxicity of social media, with Maher pointing out how online anonymity emboldens hostility.
“People say things all the time on [social media] they would never say if they had to say it to your face,” he noted.
Joel agreed. “It just always surprises me how people express this hatred,” he said. “It’s like, you hate a musician because he wrote something?”
Beyond cultural debates, Joel also opened up about a personal health challenge he’s facing.
Two months after postponing his tour, the veteran singer revealed that while his condition remains unresolved, he’s feeling strong overall.
Back in May, Joel disclosed he had been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a neurological disorder caused by fluid buildup in or around the brain, which can disrupt brain function and affect mobility.
“It’s not fixed, it’s still being worked on,” Joel told Maher, adding that his balance has suffered as a result.
“My balance sucks. It’s like being on a boat,” he said, noting that the condition used to be referred to colloquially as “water on the brain.”
When Maher inquired about the cause, Joel responded, “Nobody knows.”
Despite the diagnosis, Joel remained upbeat. “I feel good,” he said. “They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”
He also sought to reassure fans in an interview with People, saying, “It was scary, but I’m okay. I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”
The singer also reflected on his personal life and journey as a father, which he described as one of the most meaningful roles in his life.
Joel told People that his desire to be a present and loving father stems in part from his own childhood experience. His father left the family when Joel was only eight.
“It means a lot to me, and I think that’s maybe part of the father thing,” he said. “I didn’t have a dad, so it was very important for me to be a dad.”
Joel has three daughters, including Alexa Ray, 39, whom he shares with ex-wife Christie Brinkley.
After marrying equestrian Alexis Roderick in 2015, Joel became a father again — this time to daughters Della, 9, and Remy, 7.
“I love all of my girls. And poetic justice, I had all girls, of course, but I’m really enjoying this a lot,” he said.
“It’s something I was looking forward to all my life, and here I am.”
Despite having children in his late 60s, Joel said the timing has turned out to be a blessing.
“Having these little kids at this time in my life is such a joy,” he shared in a recent documentary.
“I have time to be with them … I wanted to make sure that they got everything they needed from me, so I kind of knuckled down and took fatherhood very, very seriously.”
Joel’s new HBO documentary series, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, delves into his life story and career.
It also touches on the singer’s search for his estranged father, who he tracked down in Vienna during his early twenties.
Though Joel said he hoped his father would be proud of him, their relationship remained distant.
“We never really made a strong connection … It’s disappointing,” he told People. His father passed away in 2011.