This week, Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert welcomed their daughter into the world, a moment made all the more meaningful by the heartbreak that preceded it.
It wasn’t nine o'clock on a Saturday, but that didn’t stop the regular crowd from shuffling in.
On Friday, Jan. 2, Billy Joel surprised a group of fans when he returned to the stage to perform two songs with a Billy Joel cover band at the Wellington Amphitheater in Wellington, Florida.
The mini concert was part of Wellington’s 30th birthday bash and he performed with Turnstiles.
"I wasn't planning on working tonight,” the 76-year-old singer said as he sat down in front of a piano before performing his 1989 hit, “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” followed by his 1979 hit “Big Shot.”
READ MORE: Billy Joel was ready for fatherhood after not having a father himself
Joel, who walked with a cane, according to the Palm Beach Post, was accompanied on stage by his two youngest daughters — Della, 10, and Remy, 8 — whom he shares with wife Alexis Roderick.
He also shares daughter Alexa Ray, 40, with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley, according to People.
The surprise performance comes seven months after the “Piano Man” singer canceled the remainder of his 2025 shows due to a brain disorder diagnosis, which he revealed in May.
“I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience,” Joel wrote on Instagram, “and thank you for understanding.”
Joel was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which is “a brain condition that happens when fluid buildup inside or around your brain disrupts your brain function,” per the Cleveland Clinic.
NPH is most common in people over the age of 65, but only affects about 0.2% of people between 70 and 80, and about 5.9% of people over 80.
Billy Joel previously described his diagnosis as ‘disturbing’
Billy Joel’s brain disorder led to issues with hearing, vision and balance, according to his Instagram post.
He opened up about the disorder two months later in an interview with People, published July 21, where he described his condition as “disturbing” before reassuring his fans that he would be “okay.”
“I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I’m okay,” he said at the time. “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,” he added.
The “Uptown Girl” singer went on to say that his balance was the biggest issue thus far, but he didn’t want his fans to worry about him “being deathly ill or anything.”
ALSO ON MOD MOMS CLUB: Billy Joel's ex Christie Brinkley speaks out after he shared recent brain disorder diagnosis
Billy Joel’s diagnosis came just a few weeks before the release of “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” which debuted at the Tribeca Festival on June 4.
