In the February issue of Rolling Stone, Elton John speaks about his career, his new son Zachary, and his friend Billy Joel.  Make that, former friend:

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"At the end of the day, he's coasting,"John tells Scaggs."I always say, 'Billy, can't you write another song?' It's either fear or laziness. It upsets me. Billy's a conundrum. We've had so many cancelled tours because of illnesses and various other things, alcoholism."

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In the article, John references Joel's demon, alcoholism, and says the two approached rehab differently:

"He's going to hate me for this, but every time he goes to rehab they've been light," John says. "When I went to rehab, I had to clean the floors. He goes to rehab where they have TVs. I love you, Billy, and this is tough love. Billy, you have your demons and you're not going to get rid of them at rehab light. You've got to be serious. People adore you, they love you and respect you. You should be able to do something better than what you're doing now."

In a statement released almost immediately after, Joel responded by saying he isn't angry.  He told Access Hollywood:

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“I’ve worked with Elton for such a long time and I’ve enjoyed our relationship too much to let something as random as these comments change my affection for him,” Joel told Access. “Elton is just being Elton.”

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Elton and his partner of 17 years, David Furish became the parents of a baby boy, Zachary Jackson Levon Furish-John, born on Christmas Day.  The couple made headlines recently when an Arkansas supermarket decided to cover a magazine bearing the gay couple's photo.

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