Billy Joel has shared an update on his health, speaking recently with The Hollywood Reporter.
This comes just a few weeks after Joel noted publicly that he’d undergone brain surgery to treat a disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus, a diagnosis he first revealed in 2025.
“It used to be called water on the brain, so it affects your balance, it affects your memory, it affects your vision, your hearing,” he shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “But I’m OK. They call it a brain disorder, but it’s not that serious. It’s just something that affects your balance mostly.”
Will Billy Joel Ever Perform Live Again?
While the condition may not be a huge cause of concern for Joel, it does mean he’s unsure when he’ll get back to playing live again — his last show took place in February of 2025. At the moment, Joel’s doctors have advised him not to.
“I don’t know. I have to take a series of tests before I know,” he explained, “but I can’t drive right now. I’m not allowed to drive. And I can’t do performances because what the neurologist told me, every time you do a show, it’s like you’re getting a concussion.”
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And the reasoning behind that is simple, he said: “The volume. Rock ‘n’ roll is loud, man. Rock ‘n’ roll made me deaf already. So it’s the lighting, the sound, the stress of the show, the audience, the energy of the performance. There’s a lot going on when you’re onstage. And they said, ‘Well, you really shouldn’t be doing that right now.’ So they have to test me further to see if I can go back and do performing again, which I would like to be able to do.”
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From ‘Cold Spring Harbor’ to ‘River of Dreams,’ we run through the Piano Man’s LPs from worst to best.
Gallery Credit: Matt Springer
