Billy Joel Is Not Dead, No Matter What Google Tells You

Billy Joel fans searching for an update on his health may have been shocked to be told by Google that he’d died Thursday.

The Piano Man, 77, last week announced he’d undergone brain surgery following his 2025 diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, commonly known as water on the brain.

At the time he confirmed he was “still here” and focusing on his recovery, which has kept him off stage for all but one brief appearance since he began treatment.

READ MORE: Top 20 Billy Joel Songs

It’s understandable, then, that followers might want to know about any developments. But if they Googled Joel on Thursday, they may have seen an information box in the search results, which listed his death date.

Discovering the development, his publicist, Claire Mercuri, rushed out a statement: “Billy’s not dead. I was just emailing with him.”

Word of the error also made it to Google, who issued its own statement: “This is no longer appearing, and was not a manual change by Google. When people vandalize public info sources, this can affect the information that appears in Search.”

How Billy Joel is Managing His Brain Disorder

Joel explained that doctors had recommended surgery “because of my job, which is playing rock and roll music very loud, that it was giving me something like a concussion every time I did a show.”

He added: “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 gotta improve.

“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.’ And 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.”