Billy Joel says he’s ‘not allowed to drive’ as doctors weigh whether he can perform again

Billy Joel doesn’t know whether he will perform again, saying doctors have barred him from driving and warned that live shows could harm his health while he undergoes further testing.

“I have to take a series of tests before I know,” the 77-year-old singer said in a health update with The Hollywood Reporter published Thursday. “I can’t drive right now. I’m not allowed to drive.”

Mr. Joel said his neurologist has told him that performing is hard on his brain. “Every time you do a show, it’s like you’re getting a concussion,” he said, describing his doctor’s advice.

He pointed to the demands of a concert as the reason. “Rock and roll is loud, man,” Mr. Joel said. “Rock and 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 doctors “have to test me further to see if I can go back and do performing again, which I would like to be able to do.”

Mr. Joel was diagnosed in 2025 with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain, affecting thinking, memory and movement, according to the Cleveland Clinic. He canceled his remaining tour dates that year.

In a September appearance on SiriusXM’s Billy Joel Channel, he said he underwent surgery to have a shunt implanted to drain excess fluid. He said his memory improved and his balance got somewhat better.

Mr. Joel played his last full concert in February 2025, though he briefly returned to the stage in January 2026 for a two-song set with a tribute band in Wellington, Florida.

He sought to calm fans’ concerns about the diagnosis.

“It used to be called water on the brain, so it affects your balance, it affects your memory, it affects your vision, your hearing,” he said. “But I’m OK. They call it a brain disorder, but it’s not that serious. It’s just something that affects your balance mostly.”

The restrictions have prompted him to part with a prized collection. Mr. Joel is auctioning more than 70 of his motorcycles, he told the magazine, saying he once owned more than 100 of them.

“The truth is you can only ride one at a time,” he said. “I’m into my 70s now, and I realized I can’t ride as much as I used to. I don’t want to die like a bug on a windshield.”