Billy Joel Reveals He Underwent Brain Surgery Where Doctors ‘Drill a Hole Through Your Skull’

Billy Joel is providing fans with an update on his health, revealing that he recently had brain surgery.

On Wednesday, September 9, the 77-year-old singer explained on SiriusXM’s The Billy Joel Channel that he started experiencing symptoms that led him to believe something was very off.

“I noticed that my balance was not good,” the Piano Man began. “I have this sense of [feeling] like being on a boat, like this rocking motion. I wasn’t steady on my feet. I didn’t know why that was.”

Joel, who canceled a slew of concert appearances last year, said he went to meet with his neurologist and was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus — or having “water on the brain.”

“Nobody’s really sure what causes it, but they’re able to diagnose it,” explained Joel, who said that doctors recommended he get a shunt implanted in his brain.

According to Joel, “I said, ‘Well, what does that entail?’ [They said,] ‘Well, we drill a hole through your skull, and we stick a shunt inside your brain.’ I said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll pass on that.’ I didn’t want to do that.”

However, after educating himself on the procedure, Joel said he “realized it can help improve your balance and can help your memory.”

“I don’t want to lose my marbles,” he said, explaining he agreed to go through with the surgery.

“My memory got better, my balance got a little better, my ability to function was better,” he said. “The doctors told me this: Because of my job, which is playing rock ‘n’ roll music very loud, it was giving me something like a concussion every time I did a show. It was causing damage to my brain nerves, and I could be losing more brain cells the more I played, the more shows I did. And I realized that means I shouldn’t be doing this right now.”

“I got to improve,” Joel said. “They don’t want me to stress too much, so I’m doing physical therapy. I’m doing whatever it is they tell me to do because I don’t want to lose it.”

“I know people have heard, ‘Oh, he’s got a brain disorder,'” Joel added. “I’m okay. I just want people to know: Don’t worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m still here.”