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“He’s doing his physical therapy three to five days a week, which is really, really important for him right now,” Alexa said. “He’s adjusted his diet. We had dinner the other night. I said, ‘Dad, what are you doing? You’re not getting the steak? You’re getting chicken instead?’ Like, this is a whole new you here.”
Perhaps the most startling shift? Billy Joel—who made his name as a regular working-class guy who never pretended to be anything other than himself—has now embraced vegetables he once hated.
“He’s suddenly eating eggplant and all sorts of vegetables. I said, ‘Dad, you used to hate eggplant. He’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve learned to love it,’” Alexa said with a laugh.
Alexa went on to describe her father’s toughness and refusal to give in to hardship.
“He’s incredibly resilient,” she told Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get this characteristic from him because I like to express how I’m feeling always. He doesn’t whine, especially in his older age.”
Consider this: Joel is facing a brain disorder that disrupts his balance, hearing, and vision. Yet he still brushes off concerns with calm composure.
“He’s so cool about everything,” Alexa said. “He’s always playing everything down, ‘Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry.’ He doesn’t want me to worry, and he’s just cool as a cat about everything.”
For fans concerned about Joel’s mental sharpness, Alexa offered reassuring words.
“It’s funny because people were concerned about cognitive decline,” she explained. “I don’t see any of that from him. I really, really don’t.”
She recalled a recent interview she conducted with him for his SiriusXM channel, where Billy recalled incredible details about his career.
“He remembers every album, the exact year, the order in which the singles were ordered on the album,” Alexa said. “So, as far as I’m concerned, he’s sharp as a tack.”
Billy Joel’s battle is more than just a health story—it’s a testament to the grit and determination that define the American spirit.
Rather than wallowing in self-pity, Joel has thrown himself into physical therapy, overhauled his eating habits, and committed to his health like never before.
“So I’m really proud of him and how he sort of adjusted his habits, and he’s really at probably his most healthy actually right now in terms of how well he’s taking care of himself and prioritizing his health,” Alexa said.
Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a condition where fluid builds in the brain, causing pressure that can impact walking, memory, and bladder control. It typically affects older adults, and treatment often involves surgery. But Joel isn’t letting this diagnosis control his story.
Instead, he’s showing the same determination he sang about decades ago in working-class anthems like “Piano Man.”
At 76, Joel continues to embody what made him an American icon in the first place: resilience, humility, and a refusal to quit when life gets hard.
Billy Joel built his career celebrating ordinary Americans. Now, in his toughest chapter yet, he’s living proof of what it means to face adversity with strength and grace.
