Billy Joel shocks fans with brain surgery reveal

Billy Joel disclosed he underwent brain surgery to alleviate the neurological condition that had sidelined him since last year.

The veteran music man said on SiriusXM’s The Billy Joel Channel that after being diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus in 2025, doctors recommended a shunt implant into his brain.

“I said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll pass on that,’” Joel, 77, says. “I didn’t want to do that, but then I read up on it and realized it can help improve your balance and can help your memory … so I agreed to the shunt and I had a surgery and they implanted the shunt in my brain and it actually improved things.”

Joel said his symptoms were like “this rocking motion” akin to being on a boat, and that doctors connected its cause to his job as a musician.

“Playing rock ‘n’ 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 shows I did and I realized that means I shouldn’t be doing this right now,” says Joel, who ended his record-setting Madison Square…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/