Billy Joel gave followers a uncommon replace on his well being, one month after present process mind surgical procedure. The 77-year-old shared that the prognosis of his mind dysfunction, regular stress hydrocephalus (NPH), “sounds a lot worse than it really is” and that he’s “effective.”
“I do know individuals are apprehensive about me as a result of they’re studying this I’ve a mind dysfunction that appears a lot worse than it really is. he instructed listeners on his SiriusXM present, The Billy Joel Channel.
The “Piano Man” singer revealed that his “steadiness is not that good” and that he is additionally “misplaced a little bit little bit of my listening to,” however insisted that was extra attributable to age and a long time of touring than NPH. “I need individuals to not have to fret about me. I am effective and I recognize your name,” he stated.
Billy was recognized in Could 2026 and in early September a shunt was implanted in his mind in order that his signs didn’t proceed to worsen.
“I spotted it might assist enhance your steadiness and your reminiscence,” he stated on SiriusXM’s Billy Joel Channel. “You already know, I do not need to lose my thoughts. It is arduous to inform what the age is and what the illness is, so I agreed to do the shunt and had the operation.”
HNP is a situation by which cerebrospinal fluid builds up in or round your mind and may have an effect on listening to, imaginative and prescient and steadiness.
It was a profitable process, as Billy revealed that his “reminiscence had improved, my steadiness had gotten a little bit higher, my potential to operate was higher.”
He was pressured to cancel tour dates in North America and England to hunt remedy. Earlier in 2026, Billy’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, with whom he shares Christie Brinkleyshared that he was working arduous to enhance his well being.
© Getty Pictures“He does common physiotherapy and he’s doing very effectively. He has misplaced weight due to his eating regimen,” she defined. “I am so pleased with him. He is such a soldier, so resilient and decided to be wholesome and proactive. He is a fighter. He is at all times been a fighter.”
Billy can also be the daddy of daughters, Della, 11, and Rémy, eight, whom he welcomed together with his fourth spouse Alexis Roderick; the couple married on July 4, 2015.
His three daughters have adopted of their father’s footsteps, with Alexa usually becoming a member of Billy on stage, together with a number of instances in the course of the Madison Sq. Backyard residency that resulted in 2024.
© Getty PicturesIn March 2026, she sang Billy’s in style track “This Evening”, throughout a Carnegie Corridor tribute live performance for the legendary singer, and in 2019, Alexa appeared on stage throughout his residency to sing “joyful birthday” to her father, and was joined hand in hand by a younger Della.
Della and Rémy additionally each joined their father on stage, notably in the course of the remaining night of his residency at Madison Sq. Backyard.