Billy Joel has opened up about a past suicide attempt that left him in a coma for days, explaining why he made another attempt to take his own life after regaining consciousness.Joel revisits the incident in his new documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which made its debut at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week.The future “Piano Man” solo star was in a heavy-metal style duo named Attila at the time, along with drummer Jon Small. The band released their sole, self-titled debut album in July of 1970. While living together with Small, his wife Elizabeth Weber and the couple’s son, Joel fell in love with and began an affair with Weber.Read More: When Billy Joel Went Heavy Metal With Attila”Bill and I spent a lot of time together,” Weber explains in the documentary (as reported by People), adding that it was a “slow build.” Eventually, Joel came clean with his friend and bandmate.”I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” he recalled. “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 fallout from the revelation included the end of Atilla, Joel being kicked out of the house and the singer developing a drinking problem. “I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed I think to the point of almost being psychotic,” he explains in the documentary. “So I figured, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to live anymore.’After taking an overdose of sleeping pills, Joel “was in a coma for days and days and days,” his sister Judy Molinari reveals. Once he came to and was released, Joel made another attempt on his life, this time by drinking a bottle of lemon Pledge. It was Small who took him to the hospital.”Even though our friendship was blowing up, Jon saved my life,” said Joel.”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,” Small theorized. “Eventually I forgave him.”After checking himself into a medical facility for a couple of weeks, Joel had a life-changing revelation. “I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilize all those emotions to channel that stuff into music,” he said.His solo debut Cold Spring Harbor was released in November 1971. The album track “Tomorrow is Today” chronicled his struggles and suicide attempt. Joel and Weber eventually reconnected, and were married from 1973 to 1982.The two-part Billy Joel: And So It Goes documentary will be available on HBO on a yet-to-be announced date this July. Last month Joel canceled all of his upcoming tour plans after revealing he had been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder.Billy Joel Albums Ranked From ‘Cold Spring Harbor’ to ‘River of Dreams,’ we run through the Piano Man’s LPs from worst to best.Gallery Credit: Matt Springer