The Piano Man still wants to play, but it’s not clear when or if he’ll be able to sing again for, as the song goes, “the regular crowd.”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’s been his job for six decades — performing.“What the neurologist told me, every time you do a show, it’s like you’re getting a concussion,” Joel said in an interview Thursday with The Hollywood Reporter.Joel, who is 77, said the doctors are concerned performing before thousands of fans is taking a toll on him.“Rock ‘n’ roll is loud, man,” Joel said.
“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.”“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,” he said.That said, Joel insisted his health “is good” and downplayed the effects of hydrocephalus, which he was diagnosed with in May 2025.For SubscribersFOR SUBSCRIBERSRepublicans eye a potential opportunity in Minnesota in a tough midterm climateFOR SUBSCRIBERSChina invites Katie Zacharia to visit more often after she said it lacks ‘proper toilets’FOR SUBSCRIBERSSean ‘Diddy’ Combs moved from N.J.prison where he was living like a VIPFOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocrats eye a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to flip state legislative chambersFOR SUBSCRIBERSAccess to water emerges as a key issue in races for governorFOR SUBSCRIBERSA quarter-billion dollars from Elon Musk leads the way as megadonors rush cash into the midtermsFOR SUBSCRIBERSRJ Mitte’s mother urges parents to watch for warning signs after ‘Breaking Bad’ star’s deathFOR SUBSCRIBERSBehind the reversal of the plan to livestream an executionFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhite House overrules Pete Hegseth again, this time on livestreaming ex...