Billy Joel Says He 'Didn't Enjoy' Woodstock: 'No Place to Use the Bathroom' and 'Everybody Was Drugged Out' (Exclusive)

Billy Joel headed to Woodstock in 1969 with the hopes of catching some of his favorite artists rock out. What he got instead was a shoe full of mud and a crowd full of tripping fans.

Joel was among the nearly 400,000 people who trekked out to a dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. in August 1969 for the three-day music festival — though his recollection of the legendary weekend isn’t exactly positive.

“I didn’t enjoy it, to tell you the truth,” Joel, 76, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I wanted to see [Jimi] Hendrix. I wanted to see The Who, and I missed them. I just saw the first day. And it was so muddy and rainy and messy and no place to use the bathroom, and everybody was drugged out. I wasn’t doing drugs or anything back then.”

The first day of Woodstock featured mostly folk musicians, like Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez. It wasn’t until day two that guitar rock acts like The Who, Grateful Dead and Creedence Clearwater Revival showed up. And to catch Hendrix, Joel would have had to wait all weekend, as the “Purple Haze” rocker closed out the festival with an early Monday morning set due to delays the night prior.

Despite his experience, Joel — whose story is told in the new HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes — admits there was a “communal aspect that [he] appreciated” when it came to the weekend.

“I got that,” he says of realizing there was something to admire about music fans coming together. “And same thing with what I loved about the Beatles. I loved the Beatles, but I recognized, as I grew, it wasn’t just about the Beatles. It was about us. I had a lot in common with my fellow boomers who were listening to the Beatles. ‘This is great. Everybody’s on the same page. We’re all growing up and listening to this stuff.’ I really appreciate that about my own generation.”

The musician was singing for the rock group The Hassles during Woodstock, and released his solo debut album Cold Spring Harbor two years later. He ultimately became a legendary star in his own right, as his career took off with the release of Piano Man in 1973.

Though he was forced to cancel all scheduled performances in May after being diagnosed with a treatable brain condition, Joel says that same “communal aspect” is what has helped him maintain his love of performing.

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“When everybody is really enjoying what you’re doing and they’re singing along and going along with you and they’re rooting for you, it’s almost like a Woodstock experience,” he says. “I’m so grateful for the support we’ve had from people who come to see us. It’s staggering to me. And a lot of it I don’t even understand, but I don’t question it. It’s a blessing in my life.”

Joel wasn’t the only future star in the crowd at Woodstock. Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler has said he, too, attended the festival — though he had a bit of a different experience.

“I remember it was a great place to get f----- up,” Tyler said, according to Louder Sound. “People were walking around with water guns full of acid, squirting them in your face. You’d be tripping in a matter of minutes… There were 450,000 people just floating around the air, running around naked, laughing and screaming.”

For more on Billy Joel, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

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