Billy Joel has revealed that fatherhood means "a lot" to him after growing up without a dad.
In a new interview with People, the 76-year-old music icon revealed that he had always wanted to become a father, despite his complicated relationship with his own father, Howard Joel.
"It means a lot to me, and I think that's maybe part of the father thing," Joel shared. "I didn't have a dad, so it was very important for me to be a dad."
The Piano Man hitmaker shares daughter Alexa Ray, 39, with ex-wife Christie Brinkley, and has daughters Della, nine, and Remy, seven, with his wife Alexis Roderick, whom he married in 2015.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter spoke warmly about being a father to his three daughters.
"I love all of my girls. And poetic justice, I had all girls, of course, but I'm really enjoying this a lot," he says. "It's something I was looking forward to all my life, and here I am."
In his upcoming HBO documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which will be released on 25 July, Joel opens up about his lack of connection with his own father.
The singer said that he "would've liked" Howard, who passed away in 2011, to "have been proud of me... but we never really made a strong connection... It's disappointing."
The Uptown Girl singer also reflected on having more children later in life, initially questioning whether he was "too old" to do so. However, he said that the experience has brought him unexpected joy.
"Having these little kids at this time in my life is such a joy," he said in the 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."
