Watch: Billy Joel Celebrates Daughter Remy’s 8th Birthday With Adorable Message
The Piano Man might have played his last refrain.
Billy Joel shared that he’s unsure if he’ll ever be able to drive or perform on stage again following his 2025 diagnosis with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder in which fluid builds up inside the skull.
“I have to take a series of tests before I know, but I can’t drive right now. I’m not allowed to drive,” the “Captain Jack” singer told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Oct. 15. “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.”
The 77-year-old—who canceled a string of shows after his diagnosis—added that the volume of the performances, as well “the stress of the show, the audience, the energy of the performance,” can all exacerbate the issue.
“There’s a lot going on when you’re onstage,” Joel explained. “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.”
And while the stage waits for him, the Grammy winner is also saying goodbye to his motorcycles, auctioning off the bikes that he’s unable to drive for now.
“I’m into my 70s now, and I realized I can’t ride as much as I used to. I don’t want to die like a bug on a windshield. So I thought I’d put a lot of them on auction,” Joel said. “I was not a collector. I was actually a rider. So I figured it was just time to let it go.”
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Still, the “Piano Man” singer did his best to downplay his hydrocephalus diagnosis, noting that while it does affect balance, memory, vision and hearing, he remains calm about it all.
“They call it a brain disorder, but it’s not that serious,” he said. “It’s just something that affects your balance mostly.”
Last month, the “Everybody Loves You Now” singer shared that he’d had a shunt implanted in his brain, with the medical tube helping to drain excess fluid from his brain.
“I don’t want to lose my marbles. It’s hard to tell what’s age and what’s a condition,” Joel said on SiriusXM in September. “So, I agreed to do the shunt and I had a surgery.”
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He quickly saw an improvement, saying, “My memory got better, my balance got a little better, my ability to function was better.”
And slowly but surely, he’s getting in a better state of mind.
“I just want people to know, don’t worry about me,” Joel added. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m still here.”
For more stars who have been candid about their own health journeys, keep reading.
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