Billy Joel has revealed he “can no longer drive” or perform on stage after being diagnosed with a rare brain disorder.
“I’m not allowed to drive,” the 77-year-old music icon said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Thursday, also noting that he had to “go through a series of tests” before knowing if he could perform on stage again.
Since he can’t drive, Joel said he’s auctioning off more than 70 of his motorcycles.
“I ended up having over a hundred motorcycles, and the truth is you can only ride one at a time,” the “Uptown Girl” singer said. “I’m over 70 now and I’ve realized I can’t ride as much as I used to. »
“I don’t want to die like a bug on a windshield,” he added. “So I thought I’d put a lot of them up for auction.”
The Grammy Award winner noted that his diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) “makes driving a little iffy,” so he “realized it was time for me to turn things over to someone else.”
“I like motorcycles. I like biking. I like driving. I like anonymity,” Joel said. “And I love the customization of these bikes, the modifications, the manipulations. I wasn’t a collector. I was actually a racer. So I thought it was just time to let it go.”
Last year, Joel was diagnosed with NPH, a disorder that occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and puts pressure on the brain, disrupting cognitive functioning, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In the interview, Joel explained that he couldn’t perform at the moment because his neurologist told him that “every time you do a show, it’s like you have a concussion.”
He told THR the reason was “the volume” of his concerts.
“Rock and roll is loud, man,” he said. “Rock and roll already made me deaf. So it’s the lighting, the sound, the stress of the show, the audience, the energy of the performance.”
Joel continued: “There’s a lot going on when you’re on stage. And they said, ‘Well, you really shouldn’t be doing that right now.’ So they need to test me more to see if I can go back and play again, which I would love to be able to do.
The “Piano Man” singer announced his diagnosis in May 2025 when he canceled his tour.
At the time, he had officially ended the rest of the concerts after postponing several shows when he suffered a fall during his performance at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Montville, Connecticut, in March of that year.
Last month, Joel revealed he had brain surgery after learning the procedure could help improve his balance and memory.
“I don’t want to lose my mind. It’s hard to tell what age is and what disease is, so I agreed to do the shunt, and I had surgery, and they implanted a shunt in my brain, and it actually made things better,” he said on SiriusXM’s The Billy Joel Channel.
Joel confirmed that he noticed an improvement in his memory, balance and overall “ability to function” after the surgery.
He also shared that he continues to undergo physical therapy and closely follows his doctors’ advice.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m here. I’m still here.”
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