Billy Joel tells fans: Don’t worry about me

Billy Joel is "not going anywhere".

The 77-year-old musician was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological condition that occurs primarily in older adults, in 2025 - but he's now on the road to recovery.

Appearing on SiriusXM’s The Billy Joel Channel, he shared: "I said, ‘Well, what does that entail?’ ‘Well, we drill a hole through your skull and we stick a shunt inside your brain.’ I said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll pass on that.’

"I didn’t want to do that, but then I read up on it and I realized it can help improve your balance and can help your memory. You know, I don’t want to lose my marbles.

"It’s hard to tell what’s age and what’s a condition, so I agreed to do the shunt. I had a surgery and they implanted a shunt in my brain — and it actually improved things."

The Piano Man hitmaker has experienced an improvement in his memory and balance in recent times - but he's still felt it necessary to cut back on his work schedule.

The chart-topping singer - who disclosed his condition in May 2025 - said: "The doctors told me this: because of my job, which is playing rock and roll music very loud, that 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. I got to improve.

"They don’t want me to stress too much, so I’m doing physical therapy. I’m doing whatever it is they tell me to do because I don’t want to lose it, you know? So, I’m always testing myself."

The award-winning star subsequently reassured fans that he's "not going anywhere".

He said: "I know people have heard, ‘Oh, he’s got a brain disorder,’ and I’m okay. I just want people to know, don’t worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m still here."