Billy Joel: Battling Health Issues, Auctioning Bikes, and Baring All in New Doc

Billy Joel BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

This past week has been a whirlwind for Billy Joel fans as some of the most revealing developments of his later life unfold in the public eye. Headlines blazed with the news that after a record-setting run at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, the exclusive Billy Joel: My Life, A Piano Man’s Journey exhibit will wrap up in October, marking a poignant close to a chapter that drew tens of thousands to Stony Brook and even Billy himself, who marveled at the scope of the memorabilia from his legendary career. Adding to the sense of transition, Long Islanders are feeling the loss as Joel prepares to close his beloved 20th Century Cycles motorcycle shop, with the entire collection headed to auction, a move prompted by health challenges following his public announcement in May that he’s battling normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain condition affecting his balance and vision. Joel revealed in a statement, and his publicist confirmed to The Associated Press, that the illness not only forced the shop’s closure but also the cancellation of his 2025 and early 2026 tour dates, though fans in Washington DC are holding out hope with tickets still lingering online for his Nationals Park concert with Sting set for this Friday. In the wake of his diagnosis, Joel has been undergoing therapy and reassures everyone he’s not waving goodbye to performing forever, telling People that while recent events were scary, he feels good, loves performing, and retirement isn’t on the table.

Meanwhile, his public life has been documented like never before thanks to the much-talked-about HBO Max documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes. The film captures candid moments with family and friends, in-depth interviews from chart-topping peers, and previously unseen personal archive footage. Social media buzzed particularly loud as the documentary aired because Joel tackles rumors head-on, fiercely denying ever having a DUI—despite decades of speculation—and opening up about the deep impact of his past battles with alcohol, including his public falling-out with Elton John and painfully honest recollections about past marriages, including Christie Brinkley and Katie Lee. On the business front, Joel is staying current in the digital age with the release of a sprawling 100-track digital anthology as a companion to the HBO documentary, featuring an impressive trove of rarities, alternate takes, and unreleased live cuts that promptly delighted his online fanbase and trended widely across Twitter and Instagram. And for vinyl diehards, Joel’s smash Greatest Hits I and II is getting an anniversary double-LP reissue later this month, stirring more nostalgia and demand. While Joel’s journey has met new challenges, his biography is far from static; the man who gave New York its soundtrack continues to inspire note by note, and as he himself reminds us, don’t count him out just yet.

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