Pink Explains Billy Joel Collab That Might Be Trash

John Salangsang/Invision/AP

Pink Explains Billy Joel Collab That Might Be Trash

John Salangsang/Invision/AP

Billy Joel hasn’t released a new album of pop music since 1993’s River Of Dreams, and he hasn’t released any pop songs since the two tracks that he dropped in 2007. But earlier this year, Joel said he was working on a song with the pop star Pink, not exactly the first person you’d expect to get Joel to break his silence. Here’s how an LA Times profile broke the news: “[Joel] mentioned that he and Pink had recently gotten together and thrown around some ideas. He wasn’t sure what would come of it but said he’d had a good time.” But now the LA Times has also spoken with Pink, and she seems worried that any possible collab could turn out to be crap.

In her interview with the LA Times, Pink says that she’s been chasing Joel, trying to convince him to write a song with her. Here’s her story:

Billy Joel is in my opinion one of the best songwriters that’s ever lived. He paints a picture with words unlike any other. I walked down the aisle to “She’s Always A Woman.” I grew up listening to him with my dad. He was the first concert I ever went to at 2 years old. I did the Songwriters Hall Of Fame 15 or 16 years ago, and I saw him and went over to him and I went, “Hi, you don’t know me, but I’m Pink and I want you to write a song with me.” He goes, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I don’t write pop music anymore.”

Then I ran into him again. I brought my dad to his concert, and he had us backstage. Then I went to a master class of his in Times Square. And I’ve never left him alone. I’ve never stopped asking. He always says no. He’s kind, but he’s firm.

But then we ran into him in the Bahamas at a piano bar. I bought a very good bottle of wine and sent him a glass. He came over and I said, “You gonna write that song with me?” He said, “OK, I’ll try it.” So several months ago I flew to Palm Beach with my brand new baby and we tried to write a song.

And here’s how she describes what happened:

The problem is he’s too good for me. I clammed up. But we’re gonna keep trying. He goes, “Do me a favor: Go home, pick out the best poem you’ve ever written and send it to me, and I’ll make you a song.” I got home and was like, “All my poems are the worst pieces of trash I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Pink is generally not too shy about working with legends. Last night, as Brooklyn Vegan points out, she joined Guns N’ Roses onstage at Madison Square Garden, singing the “Patience” outro with them. Here’s a fan-made video:

Billy Joel, as it turns out, also shared a stage with Axl Rose recently. These people all just know each other, huh?

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