:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(868x492:870x494)/Billy-Joel-In-Concert-010326-02-56fb5d6cf17046599e452c543f7ced12.jpg?ssl=1 "Billy Joel Surprises Fans with First Performance Since Brain Condition Diagnosis")
NEED TO KNOW
- Billy Joel surprised a crowd of unsuspecting fans with a two-song performance in Wellington, Fla., on Jan. 2
- The fans were at a Billy Joel cover band concert and did not know that the he would be in attendance
- The two-song set was the singer’s first performance since he announced his brain condition diagnosis in May
Billy Joel performed live onstage for the first time since revealing he was diagnosed with a brain condition in May.
On Jan. 2, the 76-year-old musician took the stage at an amphitheater in Wellington, Fla., where fans were watching a Billy Joel cover band without knowing that the Piano Man himself would soon surprise them, according to area newspaper The Palm Beach Post.
Video from the evening shows Joel onstage wearing a winter vest and black hat. Walking with a cane, he then takes a seat at the piano as the crowd chants his name.
“I wasn’t planning on working tonight,” Joel quipped into the microphone, before launching into “We Didn’t Start the Fire” followed by “Big Shot,” which the cover band Turnstiles performed with him.
The musician was joined onstage by his two youngest children, daughters Della, 10, and Remy, 8. The girls clapped and danced as their dad played.
Myrna M. Suarez/Getty
In May, the Grammy winner revealed he was receiving treatment for normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) in an Instagram post.
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The statement noted that recent concert performances “exacerbated” his health condition, causing issues with his hearing, vision and balance. It further said that doctors had advised the singer to refrain from performing during treatment, and that he was “undergoing specific physical therapy.”
Joel additionally canceled all upcoming performances to focus on his health.
While speaking to PEOPLE in July, Joel reassured fans that he was “okay.”
“I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I’m okay. 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,” he said.
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Normal pressure hydrocephalus (or NPH) is a brain condition caused by a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), according to the Cleveland Clinic. Though CSF is constantly created and reabsorbed by the brain, too much accumulation can disrupt several brain functions, including memory, movement and concentration.
Though its symptoms mimic those of dementia, NPH is reversible and can be treated with surgery.
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