Billy Joel says aging musicians who keep making records past their prime 'dilute their legacy'

Billy Joel believes in leaving on a high note.

The five-time Grammy winner said he stopped writing music after his 1993 album "River of Dreams" because he felt like "I was done."

"I didn’t want to lock myself in a cave and devote myself like a monk to writing anymore. I had done it 12 times," he told music producer Rick Beato in an interview posted to YouTube on Monday.

The "Uptown Girl" singer added that he also had a wife, ex Christie Brinkley, and a young daughter — his oldest, Alexa — at the time.