Billy Joel says he is feeling “good”, two months on from announcing his diagnosis with rare brain condition Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH).

Speaking on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, the five-time Grammy winner said his condition was “still being worked on”, and he was struggling with his balance.

“I feel good, they keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling,” said the singer-songwriter.

Joel was forced to cancel a series of concert dates in May this year, after his doctors told him that his condition had been “exacerbated by recent performances”.

NPH is described by the NHS as an uncommon and poorly understood condition that most often affects people over the age of 60.

The condition causes a build-up of fluid in the brain, which can affect hearing, vision and mobility.

In the original statement shared on the 76-year-old singer’s Instagram, Joel was said to be undergoing “specific” physical therapy for his condition, and that he was “fully committed to prioritising his health”.

His wife, Alexis Joel, wrote in a separate post that the family were “grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received”, and that they were hopeful for a swift recovery.

Joel called off 17 planned performances in North America and Europe across 2025 and 2026, including stadium shows at Murrayfield in Edinburgh and Anfield in Liverpool.

Michael Putland/Getty Images

Joel, who’s known for hits including Uptown Girl and Piano Man, has regularly been on tour in recent years. He ended a record-breaking decade-long residency at Madison Square Garden in New York last year.

His final performance was in February 2025, when he fell on his back during his performance after throwing a microphone stand into the crowd.

He announced a postponement of his tour shortly afterwards, citing a medical condition that required him to undergo physical therapy as part of his recovery from a recent surgery.

 

Billy Joel’s Wives: A Look at the Singer’s Past Relationships and Current Marriage

Billy Joel has been married four times to Elizabeth Weber, Christie Brinkley, Katie Lee and his current wife Alexis Roderick

Singer Billy Joel has had a fiery love life.

Throughout his career, the “Piano Man” vocalist has been married four times. His ex-wives include Elizabeth Weber (1973–1982), Christie Brinkley (1985–1994) and Katie Lee (2004–2009).

In July 2015, he wed his current wife, Alexis Roderick, with whom he shares two daughters: Della and Remy Anne Joel. The rocker also shares one child, Alexa Ray Joel, with Brinkley.

Although Joel has kept his relationships private, the Grammy winner shared a sweet tribute on Instagram in July 2022 to honor his and Roderick’s 7th wedding anniversary. “13 years together 3 dogs, 2 kids, 1 marriage and so much love ♥️Happy 7th Anniversary♥️,” he captioned photos of them together.

Most recently, the two-part documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 4, which revealed a behind-the-scenes look at the singer’s personal life away from the stage. In the film, debuting on HBO in July 2025, Weber opened up about the start of their romance.

It was released shortly after Joel revealed he was diagnosed with a rare brain condition that caused him to cancel scheduled concerts.

Here’s a look back at Billy Joel’s dating history.

Elizabeth Weber

Joel and Weber met in the 1970s when she was in a relationship with Joel’s bandmate, Jon Small. In the documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, Joel recalled moving in with Weber, Small and their son. After “spending a lot of time together,” the pair started an affair.

In Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography, Joel shared about his relationship with Weber. “She wasn’t like a lot of the other girls I knew at that time who had taken home ec and cooking classes,” he told author Fred Schruers. “She was . . . intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind, but could also be seductive. Almost like a European-type — not a typical American girl.”

Joel and Weber’s affair eventually came to light, leading to their first breakup.

“I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” he said in Billy Joel: And So It Goes. “I was just in love with a woman and I got punched in the nose which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset.”

The couple later rekindled their relationship and married in 1973; Weber became Joel’s manager. In 1982, the pair filed for divorce. Still, Weber doesn’t mind looking back at that period of her life.

“It was great then, it’s great whenever I think about it, and it’s great now,” she told PEOPLE at the documentary’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere.

Christie Brinkley

Joel and model Brinkley first met in St. Bart’s in 1983. He told Rolling Stonethree years later,”The music was the key to the introduction. She sat down and started singing, too.”

The couple married in the spring of 1985 and welcomed daughter Alexa Ray in December of that year. Joel opened up about his admiration for Brinkley to Rolling Stone.

“What bothers me is when because of what she looks like and what she does for a living, people fall back on the stereotype of her as being a dumb blonde — which she definitely is not,” he said. “They say ‘supermodel’ like that’s supposed to mean she’s vapid and shallow — which she’s not.”

However, the marriage did not last. Joel and Brinkley had split by Thanksgiving of 1993 and divorced in the spring of 1994. He shared with The New Yorker in 2014 that when they went their separate ways, it was difficult for him to create new music.

“Everybody interrogating, analyzing — everything I wrote was fraught with meanings,” Joel explained. “And I said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t want to rip myself open and let everyone see everything.’ It was no longer comfortable. Enough! I gave you enough!”

Today, the two are on good terms. Brinkley shared with Social Life magazine in 2019 that they have maintained a friendly relationship, which includes singing together.

“Many years after our divorce, Billy would still come to my house for the Christmas sing-along and play the piano, and all our friends would come over and sing Christmas carols,” she said.

Daughter Alexa Ray shared a poignant Instagram post in July 2022 with a photo of the trio together. “They’ll never know you like I do, Mom and Pop…🕊you will always be, first and foremost, the true loves of my life,” she wrote in the caption. “Just seeing you in the same room together every once in a while makes my heart whole again, if only for a fleeting moment.”

Katie Lee

Joel and Lee, a cookbook author and food critic, met in 2002 when they bumped into each other at the Peninsula Hotel.

This led to drinks at the bar, according to New York Magazine. The couple began dating and married at his Long Island home in October 2004.

Less than five years later, they released a statement confirming their split. “This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. Billy & Katie remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other,” it read.

Lee went on to wed TV producer Ryan Biegel in September 2018.

Alexis Roderick

Joel met Roderick, an equestrian and former executive at Morgan Stanley, in 2009.

The Emmy winner told The New Yorker that he introduced himself to Roderick at a restaurant in Huntington, N.Y., and couldn’t take his eyes off her. Joel got her number and called her from across the restaurant, asking if she could give him a ride home. She obliged, and they started dating shortly afterward.

The couple married in an unexpected ceremony on July 4, 2015, at Joel’s Long Island estate. The performer’s spokeswoman told PEOPLE that he and Roderick “surprised guests at their annual July 4th party by exchanging vows in front of their family and close friends.”

The wedding was attended by 40 people and was officiated by former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. Roderick was pregnant with the pair’s first daughter, Della, during the ceremony.

Joel and Roderick are now parents to two daughters. They welcomed Della Rose in August 2015 (one month after they married) and daughter Remy Anne in October 2017.

Roderick and the kids accompanied Joel during his Australian tour in 2022. Two years later, the whole family made a rare appearance at the Grammys. After Joel announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare brain condition, Roderick shared a statement on his Instagram.

“Thank you for the outpouring of love and support.  We are so grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received,” it read. “Bill is beloved by so many, and to us, he is a father and husband who is at the center of our world. We are hopeful for his recovery. We look forward to seeing you all in the future.”

Billy Joel admits affair made him feel ‘like a homewrecker,’ says he deserved being ‘punched in the nose’

Part one of ‘Billy Joel: And so it Goes’ premieres on HBO and HBO Max July 18

Billy Joel fell in love with the wife of his best friend and bandmate when he was just starting his career.

In a new documentary, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” the Piano Man revealed the anguish he went through when he told his friend he was in love with his wife.

Joel had been living with bandmate Jon Small; Small’s wife, Elizabeth Weber; and their son, while Joel and Small were in a duo called Attila in their early 20s.

“I was just in love with a woman, and I got punched in the nose, which I deserved,” Joel said in the documentary. “I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child, you know? I felt like a homewrecker.”

Earlier this year, Joel was diagnosed with a brain condition that forced him to cancel all of his scheduled concerts.

Longtime collaborator and the executive producer of the documentary, Steve Cohen, told Fox News Digital his fingers are crossed Joel will perform again.

“I always look at it as a gift when he walks on stage,” Cohen said. “I can’t predict. I do know that the Billy Joel that I had dinner with last night, that’s the Billy Joel that I know. So, look, it’s up to him. If he feels like he wants to, you know, ‘play’ Billy Joel on stage again, we’re all gonna be there for him.”

The five-time Grammy winner, 76, was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which occurs when cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up inside or around the brain and has led to problems with hearing, vision and balance for the musician.

“I can’t predict whether he’s gonna wanna do it. Look, he’s got two beautiful kids. His daughter’s now turning 10. He’s got a great wife. He’s got a great life. Like, he’s 76. He doesn’t have to do s—. And he’s giving the fans something in this documentary that they can enjoy more of. So, I don’t know, fingers crossed.”

Joel fell in love with his first wife, Weber, because she wasn’t happy with her husband Small.

Weber admitted in the documentary she and Small “were not a good fit. We were very young, and we didn’t really know much of anything. And I got more and more dissatisfied with the life I was living, and then things got complicated.”

She and Joel began spending more and more time together.

Billy Joel and bandmate Jon Small pose for a promo photo for their band Attila in 1970. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

“When you just find someone you’re comfortable with … and can finish your sentences and know what you’re thinking without saying anything, sometimes it’s a low build,” she said.

Small said Weber was important to him, “but I think I was not the guy she hoped I would be.”

“I kept seeing that Billy was not the same guy. Something was the matter, and Billy one day came up to me, became a little honest and said to me, ‘I’m in love with your wife.’ So, it was a very devastating thing for me because these were basically my two best friends.

“He’s crying, and he’s telling me he feels so bad, and he didn’t know what to do about it. How does he break his best friend’s heart? But he said she was so powerful to him that it was worth it to him to lose our friendship for it.”

Joel said that was the end of Attila, and “that was the end of my relationship with Jon for a while.”

He said Weber left as well, and he began drinking a lot and attempted suicide twice.

Billy Joel and his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, in 1979.  (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

“I figured that’s it. I don’t want to live anymore,” Joel said. “I was just in a lot of pain. It was like why hang out? Tomorrow’s going to be just like today, and today sucks. So, I just thought I’d end it all.”

After his second attempt at suicide, Small was the one who took Joel to the hospital.

“Even though our friendship had blown up, Jon saved my life,” Joel said.

Small said even though Joel never said anything to him about it, “The practical answer I could give why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much.”

He said he eventually forgave Joel.

“I finally got over it where it was like, ‘OK.’ He thought it was over for him, but, to me, he didn’t even start living yet.”

Joel and Weber ended up getting together about a year later after she’d heard songs he’d written about her, when Joel gave her sister a cassette tape of his music.

“It was all from Elizabeth leaving him, and he was so sad. And he put it into music,” his sister, Judy Molinari, said in the documentary.

“Hearing those songs was overwhelming,” Weber admitted. “It was stunning that he could accomplish something like that.”

Joel and Weber eventually got married in 1973 before divorcing in 1982. He is now married to his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick, after his marriages to Christie Brinkley and Katie Lee.

Part one of “Billy Joel: And So it Goes” premieres Friday, July 18, on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. Part two of the documentary will be released Friday, July 25.

Billy Joel Attempted Suicide Twice and Fell into a Coma After Affair with Friend’s Wife. Why He Wanted to ‘End It All’

Joel ended up marrying Elizabeth from 1973-1982

Billy Joel is opening up about a dark period in his life.

On Wednesday, June 4, the first half of the “Vienna” singer’s new documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, premiered at Tribeca Festival in New York City.

During the documentary, Joel, 76, revealed that he attempted suicide twice — and fell into a coma — after he had an affair with his former bandmate’s wife.

In his early 20s, Joel — who was absent from the premiere — was in a band called Attila with his best friend Jon Small. At the time, he moved in with Small, Elizabeth Weber — who was Small’s wife at the time — and their son.

“Bill and I spent a lot of time together,” Elizabeth said in the documentary, adding that it was a “slow build.” Then, Small realized something was up and Joel came to him with the truth: “I’m in love with your wife.”

“I felt very, very guilty about it. They had a child. I felt like a homewrecker,” the “Piano Man” singer said. “I was just in love with a woman and I got punched in the nose which I deserved. Jon was very upset. I was very upset.”

The fight was the end of Attila — and the end of their friendship for a while. Meanwhile, Elizabeth took off, Joel started drinking and this marked the beginning of a spiral for the star. (Years later, Elizabeth and Joel reconnected and were married from 1973-1982.)

“I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed I think to the point of almost being psychotic,” he said in the documentary. “So I figured, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to live anymore.’ I was just in a lot of pain and it was sort of like, ‘Why hang out? Tomorrow is going to be just like today is and today sucks.’ So, I just thought I’d end it all.”

At the time, Joel’s sister Judy Molinari was working as a medical assistant and she gave him sleeping pills to help him sleep.

“But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them… he was in a coma for days and days and days,” she said in the documentary, adding tearfully: “I went to go see him in the hospital, and he was laying there white as a sheet. I thought that I’d killed him.”

Joel acknowledged that he was “very selfish” at the time and remembered waking up in the hospital thinking he wanted to do it again — but this time “right.”

The next time, he drank a bottle of “lemon Pledge,” Molinari revealed, and Small took him to the hospital.

“Even though our friendship was blowing up, Jon saved my life,” Joel said.

Small added, “He never really said anything to me. The only practical answer I can give as to why Billy took it so hard was because he loved me that much and that it killed him to hurt me that much. Eventually I forgave him.”

After the suicide attempts, the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” singer felt like a “lost soul” and checked himself into an “observation ward.” The experience was life-changing for Joel, who was released within a couple of weeks.

“I got out of the observation ward and I thought to myself, you can utilize all those emotions to channel that stuff into music,” he said.

Billy Joel: And So It Goes is slated to hit HBO in July.

Billy Joel Reassures Fans He’s Not ‘Deathly Ill,’ Gives Rare Update After ‘Scary’ Brain Condition Diagnosis (Exclusive)

The rock legend revealed he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus in May, which he says affects his balance

Billy Joel doesn’t need you to worry for him, ‘cause he’s alright.

Months after revealing he was diagnosed with a treatable brain condition, the legendary musician, 76, tells PEOPLE that he is rolling with the punches.

“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 announced in May that he’d been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a treatable brain condition that can affect hearing, vision and balance. The “Piano Man” singer says balance has so far been his biggest challenge — and was also what first alerted him that something was amiss.

“It was like being on a boat all the time,” he says.

While Joel — whose storied career has seen renewed attention in recent weeks thanks to the new HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes — admits that he finds his diagnosis “disturbing,” he reassures fans that all is well.

“It was scary, but I’m okay,” he says. “I just wanted to let people know, don’t worry about me being deathly ill or anything.”

While announcing his diagnosis in May, Joel also revealed that he’d been forced to cancel all scheduled concerts, saying in a statement at the time that his condition had been “exacerbated by recent concert performances.”

“Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period,” the statement read. “Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.”

The star himself added: “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding.”

At the time, his wife Alexis also shared a statement of support with a sweet family photo on Instagram that included their daughters Della, 9, and Remy, 7.

“Thank you for the outpouring of love and support,” she wrote. “We are so grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received. Bill is beloved by so many, and to us, he is a father and husband who is at the center of our world. We are hopeful for his recovery. We look forward to seeing you all in the future.”

Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray, 39, whom he shares with ex-wife Christie Brinkley, also showed her support with a message on Instagram that read, in part, “We love you and we got you, Pop!”

“My Dad is the strongest and most resilient man I’ve ever known… and he’s entirely committed to making a full recovery with ongoing physical-therapy treatments as he continues to regain his strength,” she continued.

And So It Goes part one premiered last week on HBO, while part two is set to air this Friday, July 25. The documentary “is crafted around in-depth, exclusive interviews with Joel, illuminating the key moments that forged his character and the events and muses that inspired his music for more than six decades,” according to a press release.