© AP / Billy Joel
Billy Joel: 'I'm just too old' to tour
Feb. 1, 2013, 11:29 AM EST
WENN
Billy Joel has ruled out a return to touring because he is still struggling
to recover from double hip-replacement surgery.
The singer stepped away from the spotlight in 2008 after experiencing pain in
his hips that left him unable to perform at a high standard, and the thought of
that still keeps him from hitting the road.
Bing: Dueling pianos: Joel, John in
spat
"It was agony. At one point I couldn't even walk anymore and I thought, 'OK,
that's it for me,'" Joel told Rolling Stone magazine. "I'm just too old to do
this. I had to get hip replacements in both hips, and now, slowly but surely,
I'm kinda (sic) getting back to normal. I'd say I'm 85 percent. I can walk OK,
(but) I can't run like I used to. Everyone wants to know, 'Why don't you play
more?' Honestly, I'm not as good as I used to be. I'm not as athletic as I used
to be. I don't jump off the piano anymore -- that didn't help my hips, either.
And my voice has changed. It's lowered."
Joel will play a one-off comeback gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival in Louisiana in April.
