SOME BREAKING NEWS ABOUT MUSIC

ICON BILLY JOEL.

ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT JUST

SHARED TO HIS SOCIAL MEDIA

ACCOUNTS, THE PERFORMER HAS BEEN

DIAGNOSED WITH A BRAIN DISORDER,

FORCING HIM TO CANCEL ALL

UPCOMING CONCERTS THROUGH NEXT

YEAR.

WE HAVE NBC NEWS TEAM COVERAGE

ON THIS UNFOLDING STORY.

MEDICAL ANALYST DR. VIN GUPTA IS

STANDING BY, BUT LET’S BEGIN

WITH CORRESPONDENT PRIYA.

WHAT DOES THIS SAY SPECIFICALLY,

AND WHAT ARE WE LEARNING ABOUT

THIS NEW DIAGNOSIS?

YEAH, WE KNOW NOW JUST ABOUT AN

HOUR AGO, HIS TEAM PUT OUT A

STATEMENT THAT SAID THAT HE HAS

BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH NORMAL

PRESSURE HYDROSYPHILIS AND I

KNOW THAT DR. GUPTA IS GOING TO

GO INTO MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT

THAT MEANS, BUT HIS TEAM SAYS

THAT UNDER HIS DOCTOR’S

INSTRUCTIONS, BILLY IS

UNDERGOING SPECIFIC PHYSICAL

THERAPY AND HAS BEEN ADVISED TO

REFRAIN FROM PERFORMING DURING

THIS RECOVERY PERIOD.

BILLY IS THANKFUL FOR THE

EXCELLENT CARE HE IS RECEIVING,

AND HE’S FULLY COMMITTED TO

PRIORITIZING HIS HEALTH.

IN THAT STATEMENT, IT ALSO WENT

ON TO SAY THAT, BASICALLY,

DURING HIS PERFORMANCES, IT WAS

EXACERBATING A LOT OF THE

CONDITIONS THAT HE WAS HAVING

WITH HIS HEARING, HIS VISION,

AND HIS BALANCE.

SO, THAT’S WHAT MADE IT

NECESSARY FOR HIM TO CANCEL HIS

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES.

NOW, THIS MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS

DIDN’T NECESSARILY COME OUT OF

NOWHERE.

THE 76-YEAR-OLD GRAMMY WINNER

HAS BEEN HAVING MEDICAL ISSUES

SINCE FEBRUARY, WHEN ACTUALLY,

AT A PERFORMANCE IN CONNECTICUT,

HE ACTUALLY FELL OVER AFTER

TRYING TO SPIN HIS MICROPHONE IN

THE AIR AND KIND OF THROW IT AT

THE AUDIENCE.

HE FELL OVER ON TO HIS SIDE,

WHICH CAUSED, OBVIOUSLY, A LOT

OF TALK ABOUT HIS HEALTH AND

CONCERNS ABOUT HIS MEDICAL

CONDITION.

HE WAS ABLE TO GET UP DURING

THAT CONCERT AND FINISH HIS

PERFORMANCE, BUT AFTER THAT, HE

ACTUALLY DECIDED TO CANCEL THE

REST OF HIS PERFORMANCES IN

JUNE, AND IN ABOUT MID-MARCH,

HIS TEAM RELEASED A STATEMENT

THAT HE WAS UNDERGOING PHYSICAL

THERAPY AND THAT HE WAS GOING TO

BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO

PERFORMING BY HIS JULY 5th

CONCERT.

AND NOW, OF COURSE, WE’RE

HEARING THAT WITH THIS NEW

DIAGNOSIS AND MORE SPECIFICS

ABOUT THAT MEDICAL CONDITION,

THAT UNFORTUNATELY, HE IS JUST

NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM

FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR,

ELLISON.

>> AND OBVIOUSLY, HIS HEALTH IS

MOST IMPORTANT.

BUT DID HIS TEAM GIVE ANY

INDICATION ON THE TIMELINE, HOW

LONG HE WILL BE RECEIVING

TREATMENT, POSSIBLY IF OR WHEN

HE DOES PLAN TO GO BACK ON TOUR?

>> IT SOUNDS LIKE THE CONCERTS

FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR, HE

HAD ABOUT 15 OR 16 SCHEDULED

ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN NEW

ORLEANS, TORONTO, SANTA CLARA,

SALT LAKE CITY, WASHINGTON,

D.C., AND EVEN AS FAR AWAY AS

LIVERPOOL.

ALL OF THOSE CONCERTS HAVE BEEN

CANCELED THROUGH THE MONTH OF

OCTOBER.

SO, IT SOUNDS LIKE, FOR NOW, HE,

OF COURSE, IS PRIORITIZING HIS

HEALTH.

YOU CAN SEE THERE ANOTHER PART

OF HIS STATEMENT SAYING THAT HE

SINCERELY APOLOGIZES FOR

DISAPPOINTING HIS AUDIENCE, AND

HIS TEAM ALSO SAID THAT ANYONE

WHO IS LOOKING FOR A REFUND,

THEY OBVIOUSLY WILL BE

AUTOMATICALLY REFUNDED.

THIS IS A MAN, OF COURSE,

ELLISON, AS YOU KNOW, WHO HAS

HAD SUCH A LONG, ILLUSTRIOUS

MUSICAL CAREER, SO I’M SURE

TAKING A BREAK RIGHT NOW IS VERY

DIFFICULT FOR HIM.

>> YEAH.

SEEMS LIKE IT IS THE RIGHT CALL

FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY.

PRIYA, THANK YOU.

LET’S TALK TO NBC NEWS MEDICAL

ANALYST, DR. VIN GUPTA.

HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT IS THIS

SPECIFIC BRAIN DISORDER?

THEY SAY BILLY JOEL IS DIAGNOSED

WITH IT.

IS IT RARE?

>> WELL, ELLISON, IN A NORMAL

PRESSURE HYDROCEPHALUS, IT IS

NOT VERY COMMON, BUT ABOUT 60 —

AS WE AGE, AND SO IN OUR 70s,

WHAT WE’RE NOTICING IS ABOUT

MAYBE A PERCENT OF THE

POPULATION HAS THIS DIAGNOSIS,

WHETHER THEY’RE DIAGNOSED OR NOT

REALLY DEPENDS ON SYMPTOMS.

UP IN OUR 80s, MAYBE ABOUT 5% OF

THE POPULATION.

IT DEFINITELY INCREASES IN

PREVALENCE AS WE AGE.

WHAT IT IS, THE BUILD-UP OF

FLUID IN OUR BRAINS, AND YOU

KNOW, THERE’S — OUR BRAIN

ACTUALLY IS FILLED WITH POCKETS

OF FLUID CALLED CEREBROSPINAL

FLUID.

BUT OUR BRAIN IS SURROUNDED BY

OUR SKULL, AND SO THERE’S A

FIXED AMOUNT OF SPACE.

SO, YOU CAN’T HAVE A TON OF

FLUID IN THERE.

OTHERWISE, IT STARTS TO IMPINGE

AND PUT PRESSURE ON OUR BRAIN

TISSUE.

THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE.

THIS IS TREATABLE, ESPECIALLY IF

IT’S DIAGNOSED EARLY.

IT’S TREATABLE AND OUTCOMES CAN

BE EXCELLENT.

AND IT APPEARS THAT’S WHAT

HAPPENED IN THE CASE OF BILLY

JOEL.

HE HAD THESE SYMPTOMS BACK IN —

AT HIS PRIOR CONCERT, THINGS

ESCALATED, AND HE WAS ABLE TO BE

DIAGNOSED.

BUT EARLY TREATMENT HERE IS

CRITICAL.

>> AND BEFORE WE LET YOU GO,

BECAUSE YOU SAID THAT IT IS

TREATABLE, IF DIAGNOSED EARLY,

REMIND US OF THE SYMPTOMS PEOPLE

SHOULD BE AWARE OF IN THE EVENT

THEY EXPERIENCE SOMETHING

SIMILAR.

>> AS WE AGE, COGNITION ISSUES,

IF YOU’RE FEELING CONFUSED,

MEMORY LOSS, THAT’S IMPORTANT TO

KEEP IN MIND.

IF YOUR GATE IS UNSTABLE, AND

THAT’S A NEW DIAGNOSIS OR

SOMETHING YOU’RE NOTICING,

THAT’S SOMETHING TO BE VIGILANT

ABOUT AND TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR

ABOUT.

IF YOU’RE HAVING URINARY