
Billy Joel opened up about his health during an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast.
Billy canceled all his scheduled shows in May, revealing that he had been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a disorder where fluid builds up in the brain. He told Maher his condition is “not fixed, it’s still being worked on,” but assures fans, “I feel fine.”
“My balance sucks. It’s like being on a boat,” he said, explaining his condition “used to be called water on the brain. Now it’s called hydrocephalus — normal pressure hydrocephalus.” He added that “nobody knows” what causes it.
“I feel good,” Joel added. “They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”
Joel reiterated his positive outlook about his condition in a statement to People.
“I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I’m okay,” he says. “What I have is something very few people know about, including me, no matter how much you try to research it. I’m doing my best to work with it and to recover from it.”
He adds, “It was scary, but I’m okay. I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”
Joel is the subject of a new HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which debuted Friday. Part two premieres July 25. Both parts will stream on HBO Max.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.