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Billy Joel spoke openly about his health for the first time after announcing dAce has been diagnosed with a brain disease, which forced him to cancel all impending concerts.
Diagnosis led to the tour of the tour
“I feel good,” said the singer in his current appearance in the “Club Random” podcast by Bill Maher. And added: “My balance is in the bucket. It’s like on a boat.”
In May, Joel had canceled the rest of his tour – 17 concerts in stadiums in North America and England – after he was diagnosed with a normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). This brain disease is caused by an excessive accumulation of brain back fluid in the brain chambers, which leads to a variety of cognitive and physical problems-especially in the event of a gait, coordination and bladder control.
The disease “can affect several brain -related skills, including thinking and concentration, memory, movement and more,” said the Cleveland Clinic. “The symptoms of NPH are very similar to those of dementia, but NPH is sometimes reversible.”
“It is being worked on”
Although Joel told Maher that his illness has not yet been “remedied”, he emphasized: “We are working on it”
Joel explained that doctors used to call the disease “water in the brain”. Today it is called hydrocephalus – more precisely normal pressure hydrocephalus. When asked what the cause is, said Joel: “Nobody knows.”
The last concert of his tour took place on February 22nd in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Towards the end of the concert, he plunged back after he had thrown his microphone tripod on a crew member. But he got up again and ended the show.
Four -month break and operation
In March, Joel announced that due to a “medical illness” that required surgery and physiotherapy, he took a four -month break. His comeback on stage was planned for July 5 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Even if I regret it to postpone concerts, my health comes first,” he said to his fans in a statement. It is unclear whether the intervention was related to the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.
“I feel good,” repeated Joel in an interview with Maher, where they also discussed the two -part, five -hour documentation.