{"id":632738,"date":"2026-10-16T20:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632738\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:02:09","slug":"billy-joel-says-he-doesnt-know-if-he-can-perform-on-stage-again-due-to-brain-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632738\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel says he doesn\u2019t know if he can perform on stage again due to brain disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Piano Man still wants to play, but it\u2019s not clear when or if he\u2019ll be able to sing again for, as the song goes<\/a>, \u201cthe regular crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billy Joel, who has been battling a brain disorder for more than a year, says his doctor has advised him to remain on an extended break from what\u2019s been his job for six decades \u2014 performing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the neurologist told me, every time you do a show, it\u2019s like you\u2019re getting a concussion,\u201d Joel said in an interview Thursday with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joel, who is 77, said the doctors are concerned performing before thousands of fans is taking a toll on him. <\/p>\n

\u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 roll is loud, man,\u201d Joel said. \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 roll made me deaf already. So it\u2019s the lighting, the sound, the stress of the show, the audience, the energy of the performance. There\u2019s a lot going on when you\u2019re onstage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That said, Joel insisted his health \u201cis good\u201d and downplayed the effects of hydrocephalus, which he was diagnosed with in May 2025.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. The condition is often treatable and sometimes reversible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be called water on the brain, so it affects your balance, it affects your memory, it affects your vision, your hearing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m OK. They call it a brain disorder, but it\u2019s not that serious. It\u2019s just something that affects your balance mostly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel provided an update on his condition ahead of a Gooding Christie\u2019s auction on Nov. 20 and 21 at the Javits Center in New York City where more than 70 motorcycles from his collection\u2060 will be sold to the highest bidder. <\/p>\n

The money will go to support the Joel Foundation<\/a>, which supports music education, women\u2019s health programs, humanitarian relief and other causes.<\/p>\n

Joel said the hydrocephalus was a factor in his decision to part with his motorcycles, as the condition makes driving difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love motorcycles,\u201d he said. \u201cI love biking. I love driving. I love the anonymity of it. And I love the customization of these bikes, the modifications, the messing around with things. I was not a collector. I was actually a rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

And being on a bike was also a source of musical inspiration, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, everything helps me to write songs,\u201d Joel said. \u201cBut I wrote a song called, I think it\u2019s called \u201cYou May Be Right,\u201d where I said I even rode my motorcycle in the rain, which people from England would go, \u2018Yeah, so what?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, Joel<\/a> revealed he underwent brain surgery after he was diagnosed, because he didn\u2019t want to lose his \u201cmarbles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on his SiriusXM channel<\/a>, Joel admitted he initially balked at going under the knife after being told that it involved having a surgeon \u201cdrill a hole through your skull\u201d and \u201cstick a shunt inside your brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to do that,\u201d Joel said. \u201cBut then I read up on it, and I realized it can help improve your balance and can help your memory. You know, I don\u2019t want to lose my marbles.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Piano Man still wants to play, but it\u2019s not clear when or if he\u2019ll be able to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-632738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}