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Billy Joel is making a return to the stage weeks after expressing doubts about being able to perform again.
“Florida Atlantic University will welcome singer, songwriter and composer Billy Joel for Billy Joel: An Evening of Questions & Answers …And a Little Music at 7p.m. on Monday, December 14, 2026,” a post from Joel’s official Instagram account read on Monday, November 9.
The message continued, “Tickets will be available exclusively to currently enrolled FAU students beginning Thursday, November 12, 2026.”
Joel, 77, initially announced last year that he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a condition the Cleveland Clinic describes as occurring when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside your skull and puts pressure on the brain. An Instagram statement shared in May 2025 noted Joel would be canceling “all scheduled concerts” to focus on his health.
Two months later, Joel assured fans that his condition “sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.” He shared another update in September, revealing he underwent surgery.
“I noticed that my balance was not good. I had this sense of being on a boat, like this rocking motion,” Joel explained on SiriusXM’s The Billy Joel Channel. “I wasn’t steady on my feet. I didn’t know why that was and I went to meet with the neurologist, and I was diagnosed with having something called normal pressure hydrocephalus, which they used to call water on the brain.”
The musician had a procedure to have a shunt — a flexible plastic tube that drains fluid and alleviates pressure — placed in his brain.
“You know, I don’t want to lose my marbles,” he said. “It’s hard to tell what’s age and what’s a condition, so I agreed to do the shunt and I had a surgery, and they implanted a shunt in my brain and it actually improved things. My memory got better, my balance got a little better, my ability to function was better.”
Billy Joel is taking a break from performing after a recent health issue has caused stress on his body. Joel, 76, announced via an Instagram statement on Friday, May 23, that he is canceling “all scheduled concerts following a recent diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).” The Grammy winner’s team explained, “This condition has been […]
In October, Joel shared that he had to “take a series of tests” before knowing whether he would be able to get back on stage again.
“But I can’t drive right now. I’m not allowed to drive,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I can’t do performances because what the neurologist told me, every time you do a show, it’s like you’re getting a concussion.”
Joel explained that aspects of performing live — from “the volume” to “the lighting” and “the stress” — could negatively impact his health, according to his doctors.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is loud, man. 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,” he said. “There’s a lot going on when you’re on stage. And they said, ‘Well, you really shouldn’t be doing that right now.’ So they have to test me further to see if I can go back and do [performances] again, which I would like to be able to do.”
