Billy Joel Reveals He Underwent Brain Surgery In New Health Update
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Over a year after announcing he had been diagnosed with a brain disorder, singer-songwriter Billy Joel has updated his fans regarding his health.
What he has revealed is that he underwent surgery to help improve the side effects of his brain disorder.
While providing information into he he’s doing after the operation, he also offered a insight into his future chances of returning to being an active performer.
RELATED: Billy Joel Shares NPH Diagnosis, Cancels Upcoming Concerts
Billy Joel Gives Update After Brain Surgery
Back on May 23, 2025, Billy Joel announced that he had been diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, or NPH.
Now, over 15 months since announcing his NPH diagnosis, 77-year-old Joel shared a health update in a Sept. 9 interview on SiriusXM.
Speaking on the disorder NPH, Joel noted that it used to be called “water on the brain,” and adding that what causes NPH remains a mystery.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “NPH occurs if the normal flow of [cerebrospinal fluid] throughout the brain and spinal cord is blocked in some way … When excess CSF fluid builds up in the ventricles, they enlarge and press against nearby brain tissue. This extra fluid and pressure can lead to brain damage.”
Joel went on to say that he was told that NPH “could be progressive” and that it “could get worse,” so it was recommended by his doctor that he have an operation that would place a shunt in his brain.
The Mayo Clinic notes that a brain shunt “drains built-up fluid from the brain to another part of the body, helping relieve pressure in the brain.”
When asking what having a shunt placed in his brain would entail, Joel recalled that his doctor said, “‘Well, we drill a hole through your skull and we stick a shunt inside your brain.”
Joel recalled saying, “‘Nah, I think I’ll pass on that.'”
At the time that he announced his diagnosis in 2025, Joel’s team said, “Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period.”
However, he eventually changed his tune regarding the recommended brain surgery, telling SiriusXM, “I read up on it, and I realized it can help improve the balance, it can help your memory. I don’t want to lose my marbles. It’s hard to tell what’s age and what’s a condition.”
From there, he agreed to have the operation for the shunt, and he was able to say the following:
“It actually improved things. My memory got better, my balance got a little better, my ability to function was better, and I realized — and the doctors told me this — because of my job, which is playing rock and roll music very loud, it was giving me something like a concussion every time I did a show. It was causing damage to my brain nerves and I could be losing more brain cells the more I played, the more shows I did, and I realized that means I shouldn’t be doing this right now. I gotta improve.”
He added, “They don’t want me to stress too much, so I’m doing physical therapy.”
Still, he did say that he’s always “testing” himself.
At the end of this portion of the interview, he said, “I know people have heard, ‘Oh, he’s got a brain disorder,’ and I’m OK, I just want people to know don’t worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m still here.”
Listen to Billy Joel share about his health since having brain surgery, here:
Since being diagnosed with NPH, Bill Joel’s nonprofit, The Joel Foundation, has been working to help support several Music Therapy initiatives.
See the Joel Foundation’s statement from Sept. 10, here:
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Cancelled Shows
At the time of his 2025 diagnosis announcement, Joel was continuing his Two Icons, One Night concert series.
These concerts saw Joel headline with the likes of Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and Sting.
In 2025, several concerts had been rescheduled from January through May, but concert dates in 2026 were all cancelled.
Famously, Joel has not released a new rock record since River of Dreams (1993), and has not released a new album since his classical album, Fantasies & Delusions (2001).
In 2024, Joel took to the stage of the Grammy Awards to perform his first new song since 2007, titled “Turn the Lights Back On.”
Despite not recording new music over much of the past three decades, the “Piano Man” singer has been routinely on tour since the start of his career in the 1970s, with highlights including a series of tours with Elton John.
One particularly unique performance occurred in 2008 on the occasion of the closing of the New York Mets ballpark, Shea Stadium. There, Joel was joined by country star Garth Brooks, who had covered Joel’s 1989 song “Shameless” on his own 1991 album Ropin’ the Wind.
Revisit their performance of “Shameless” here:
Related: Garth Brooks Joins Billy Joel For 2008 Live Performance Of ‘Shameless’ At Shea Stadium
