Ex-Band Leader For Billy Joel Found Dead

A former leader of Billy Joel’s band was found dead in a music studio, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said Saturday.

Bass guitarist Douglas Alan Stegmeyer, 43, was found Thursday night, police spokeswoman Cecelia Clausing said.

“I am just in shock,” Joel said Friday. “He was a very talented player. He was with me from the 1970s through 1988 and was the leader of the nucleus of the group that was the band. We called him the ‘Sergeant-at-Arms.”

Joel said he last saw Stegmeyer about a year ago and knew he was busy on many projects at the Smithtown studio.