Studying Time: 3 minutes
Again in March, Billy Joel canceled all of his upcoming concert events after revealing that he had been recognized with a uncommon mind dysfunction.
Within the months since, the rock icon has largely saved a low profile as he recovers at dwelling.
However in latest weeks, a brand new documentary about Joel has led to elevated scrutiny of his private life.
That could be why the Piano Man determined to interrupt his silence and open up about his situation:
US singer songwriter Billy Joel arrives for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024. (Picture by ROBYN BECK/AFP through Getty Photos)
Billy Joel explains ‘scary’ neurological situation
Joel is battling regular strain hydrocephalus, a situation that impacts quite a few mind capabilities, together with the flexibility to keep up stability.
The singer-songwriter first turned involved after falling down throughout a live performance earlier this yr.
“It was like being on a boat all the time,” Joel explains in a brand new interview with Folks journal.
However whereas he admits that his ailment is “scary” at occasions, Joel says there’s no want for fast concern.
Billy Joel attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Area on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Picture by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Photos for The Recording Academy)
“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.”
Joel added that whereas it might be some time earlier than he’s capable of carry out once more, he’s not “deathly ill,” as some followers appear to suppose.
“It was scary, but I’m okay,” he tells Folks. “I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”
Billy Joel is again within the headlines
With the second a part of his HBO Max documentary set to premiere on Friday, public curiosity in Joel is the very best it’s been for the reason that peak of his fame.
Billy Joel performs at Allegiant Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Picture by Ethan Miller/Getty Photos)
“I’ve resisted this kind of thing for so long. I’m sick of talking about myself. My goal was to get it over with. When I do interviews, people just ask you about yourself and you get a little self-conscious about it eventually. It’s almost embarrassing,” the legendary singer-songwriter tells Folks, including:
“I was worried, maybe I’m going to hate this thing, because it’s a lot to ask of somebody, a lifetime of work.[But] at the end, I didn’t hate it, which, to me, is the real compliment.”
Whereas the doc isn’t at all times flattering, Joel says watching it has been a revelatory expertise:
I“There was some stuff I found out about myself. There was some self-revelatory stuff.”
Joel says co-director Susan Lacy helped him understand that “a lot of the things I was searching for were my father in my life, and I recognized that in the documentary.”
Joel’s father left his household and moved to Austria when Billy was a boy. He later wrote the track “Vienna” in regards to the expertise, and he reconnected along with his father towards the tip of his life.
Half one in every of Billy Joel: And So It Goes is presently streaming on HBO Max.
