Billy Joel announces brain disorder, cancels all concerts

Billy Joel, the arena-filling everyman singer-songwriter, has canceled all of his upcoming concerts, including a large-scale tour scheduled for this year and next, because of a brain disorder known as normal pressure hydrocephalus, he announced today.

“This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance,” said a statement posted to the singer’s social media accounts. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period.”

Normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, is a rare condition that occurs when excess cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain, causing symptoms including trouble walking and controlling one’s bladder. It can also lead to cognitive impairment, including memory problems.

If the disease is diagnosed early enough, it can be treated successfully through surgery that creates a path for the fluid to flow out of the brain, alleviating symptoms. But in later stages, some of its effects can become irreversible.

In his statement, Joel, 76, added, “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for your understanding.” A representative for Joel declined to comment further.

A mainstream music mainstay since the early 1970s, Joel is best known for songs including “Piano Man,” “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” “She’s Always a Woman” and “Big Shot” — just a sampling of the crowd-pleasing singalongs in his catalog, which included 43 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Although last year he released his first new pop song in nearly two decades, “Turn the Lights Back On,” Joel has been better known as an enduring presence in the live music landscape. He completed a decade-long residency — more than 100 shows — at Madison Square Garden in July, with overall attendance nearing 2 million people and a gross of more than $260 million.

“What’s really happened in the last 10 years is Billy has evolved into a stadium artist,” Joel’s agent, Dennis Arfa, told The New York Times last year. “It’s a different euphoria when you’re older.”

Joel’s scheduled concert dates, with appearances by Rod Stewart, Sting and Stevie Nicks, included football and baseball stadiums in the United States, Canada and Britain. Refunds for customers would be automatic, his statement said.

NPH, the condition Joel has, is probably underdiagnosed because its symptoms can be dismissed as normal effects of aging, said Dr. Charles Matouk, a neurosurgeon at Yale University and director of the Yale Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Program.

He urged people not to make that assumption and to see a doctor if they experienced gait, bladder and cognitive problems.

“If Billy Joel’s bravery and stardom can have a positive impact by shedding light on this condition, I think that’ll help tons of people get the help they need more quickly,” he said.

In March, Joel postponed eight upcoming concerts, citing a medical condition that required him to “recover from recent surgery and undergo physical therapy under the supervision of his doctors.” He had been hoping to pick up again in Pittsburgh on July 5, according to an announcement.

“My health must come first,” he said then.

Once a gossip-page fixture amid romantic travails and his struggles with sobriety, Joel has settled into eternal A-list fame and fatherhood, including two young daughters with his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick. A documentary about the singer’s rise, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” is scheduled to premiere as part of the Tribeca Film Festival on June 4.

According to his website, Joel’s most recent show — and his last for now — was on Feb. 22, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. His five-song encore that night began with “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and ended on his typical grand finale, “You May Be Right.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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