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Billy Joel is not dead, publicist confirms following Google death hoax

Billy Joel inducts longtime agent Dennis Afra into the Long... — Billy Joel inducts longtime agent Dennis Afra into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in Stony Brook. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin

By Rafer Guzmánrafer.guzman@newsday.comUpdated September 17, 2026 5:32 pm

Contrary to what Google may have told you, Billy Joel is not dead.

Search results for "Billy Joel" on Thursday included an informational box that read: "Died Sept. 17, 2026."

"Billy’s not dead," the singer’s publicist, Claire Mercuri, said firmly Thursday afternoon. "I was just emailing with him."

A Google search on Billy Joel mistakenly indicates that he died on Sept. 17, 2026. Credit: Google

A view of the Google search results box for Billy Joel, which briefly displayed his death as Sept. 17, 2026, on Thursday. Credit: Newsday

Joel isn’t the first celebrity whose death has been reported prematurely. Google mistakenly declared rapper Eminem dead in 2023. After a Facebook page announced the death of Jackie Chan in 2013, the Hong Kong actor responded on his own Facebook page with a photo of himself showing that day’s date. Another fake social media post may have led to the rumors of Cher’s demise in 2012. And after Wikipedia reported actor-comedian Sinbad dead of a heart attack in 2007, he jumped on the phone with The Associated Press.

Joel, 77, canceled all upcoming concerts last year following a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that can cause problems with hearing and balance, but has occasionally appeared on shows such as "Club Random With Bill Maher" and Rick Beato’s YouTube podcast. On his SiriusXM channel last week, he informed fans that he had undergone surgery to install a shunt in his brain.

"I noticed that my balance was not good. I had this sense of, like, being on a boat, like this rocking motion," Joel said. A neurologist diagnosed him with NPH, warned him that the disorder could worsen and recommended a shunt, which involves drilling a hole in the skull and inserting a shunt into the brain, Joel explained. He agreed to have the surgery after learning that it could improve his memory.

"I just want people to know, don't worry about me," the Hicksville-raised singer said on his show. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. I’m still here."