Billy Joel surprised fans in Florida with his first performance since revealing he has a brain disorder.

On Friday (Jan. 2), the 76-year-old music legend delivered a two-song set alongside Billy Joel tribute band Turnstiles at a village amphitheater in Wellington, Florida, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary.

In the unexpected appearance, the Piano Man joined the band onstage accompanied by his wife, Alexis Roderick, and their two daughters, Della and Remy. After asking for permission to use the microphone, Joel performed “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Big Shot,” while his daughters danced beside him.

Throughout the show, the tribute act teased that a special guest would appear, according to TMZ.

“I wasn’t planning on working tonight,” Joel told the enthusiastic crowd, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Friday’s performance marked Joel’s first time back onstage since revealing in May 2025 that he has normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a type of brain disorder. Following the announcement, he canceled all scheduled concerts to begin physical therapy to manage his symptoms. His last full concert took place in February 2025.

NPH occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the skull and puts pressure on the brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The condition can affect thinking, memory, balance and movement, and is often treated with a surgically implanted shunt to drain excess fluid.

In a July 2025 interview on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Joel said he was feeling okay but noted that his condition was ongoing. “It’s not fixed,” the singer-songwriter said, “it’s still being worked on.”

Sitting at the piano, Joel added, “I feel fine. My balance sucks. It’s like being on a boat. [My condition] used to be called ‘water on the brain.’ Now it’s called normal pressure hydrocephalus.”

Check out fan-captured footage of Joel’s surprise performance in Florida on YouTube here.

Yungblud has kicked off 2026 with a high-profile collaboration, unveiling a new version of his song “Zombie” featuring The Smashing Pumpkins.

The reimagined track marks the first time the Pumpkins have appeared on another artist’s recording, a notable moment in the band’s three-decade career.

Originally released as part of Yungblud’s fourth studio album Idols, “Zombie” has become the British rocker’s fastest-streaming solo single to date, surpassing 100 million global streams. The song is nominated for best rock song at the 2026 Grammy Awards, while Idols is also nominated for best rock album.

The updated version retains the emotional core of the original recording while leaning into a darker, heavier sound. Yungblud opens the track with the familiar first verse and chorus before Billy Corgan enters on the second verse,.

The new arrangement features denser guitar layers and a more foreboding atmosphere, amplifying the song’s themes of trauma, grief and emotional isolation.

In a recent interview with interview with Loudwire, Yungblud revealed that Siamese Dream was a key reference point while writing “Zombie.” “When I was making ‘Zombie,’ I was really channeling Siamese Dream,” he said.

“It was really the sadness and the melancholic emotion mixed with the aggression of Billy’s guitars.”

He added that the original demo for “Zombie” was initially heavier, but he scaled it back out of concern that it leaned too closely toward the Pumpkins’ sound.

“I always imagined another take,” Yungblud said, describing the new version as a way to finally “scratch that itch.”

That idea became reality after Yungblud reached out directly to Corgan.

Within days, the singer flew to Chicago — the Pumpkins’ hometown — to record the new version and its accompanying music video. The visual, directed by Charlie Sarsfield, features both artists and was released alongside the track.

The collaboration follows a landmark year for Yungblud.

In addition to his Grammy nominations, Idols topped the U.K. Albums Chart and reached No. 15 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart. He also earned a Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 with One More Time, his collaborative EP with Aerosmith.

The EP’s single “My Only Angel” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart.

Looking ahead, Yungblud is set to head to Australia for a string of shows as part of his Idols tour, as well as a sold-out U.K. arena tour beginning April 11, with additional international dates expected later in the year.

Powerhouse music attorney Dina LaPolt is suing a former law partner for allegedly disparaging her to clients and industry professionals after opening a competing firm.

LaPolt, a frequent Billboard honoree known for her representation of major artists and advocacy for legislation including the Music Modernization Act, filed breach of contract and defamation claims on Dec. 19 against attorney Mariah Comer. The lawsuit alleges Comer has “declared war” since leaving LaPolt Law and starting her own firm, Comer Culture.

“Given Comer’s false statements to industry professionals, her breaches of confidentiality, and the threat of further false allegations being made public through litigation, plaintiffs have been forced to bring this action to establish the true facts about Comer’s employment, performance and resignation,” reads the legal complaint.

According to the lawsuit, Comer joined LaPolt Law as an intern in 2019 and then full-time after graduating from Cornell Law School in 2021. LaPolt says she saw “raw potential” in Comer and took her under her wing as a mentee, quickly promoting the young lawyer to partner in 2022 and investing heavily in her development.

But LaPolt claims Comer was often “hostile, bullying and belligerent” with colleagues and clients. This behavior allegedly escalated in 2024, when LaPolt received numerous complaints about Comer’s behavior, and the lawyer had to be removed from the team of a prominent recording artist.  

Comer also supposedly got LaPolt Law fired from a major catalog sale deal last June by sending improper direct communications to the unnamed client’s musical collaborator, causing the firm to lose out on a multimillion-dollar commission. Then, in August, LaPolt says she discovered that Comer had botched the sync licensing clearances for a cover that another unnamed client had released the previous year.

LaPolt says she still didn’t fire Comer after these many issues but instead assigned a senior partner to oversee Comer and decreased her bonus compensation in the process — leading Comer to resign in October out of “pride, ego and an overblown sense of her own importance,” the lawsuit alleges.

Comer then struck out on her own and opened Comer Culture. In the process, LaPolt claims that Comer, a Black woman, has been falsely telling clients and other industry professionals that she was subjected to racism at LaPolt Law.

“She has attacked Ms. LaPolt precisely where she knew it would hurt most, by fabricating claims of racial discrimination against a lifelong advocate for diversity and equality,” reads the lawsuit, which notes that LaPolt has worked extensively with the Black Music Action Coalition and is the mother to two Black children.

Comer has also allegedly threatened to bring a $1.5 million racial discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against LaPolt Law. According to LaPolt, Comer sent her a draft complaint last month that “disclosed multiple confidential client matters” in “blatant disregard” of attorney-client privilege requirements.

Now, LaPolt is suing Comer to enforce confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses from her old employment contract, as well as for breach of fiduciary duty, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and defamation. LaPolt is seeking financial damages for the harm that Comer has supposedly inflicted on her reputation.

A rep for Comer did not return a request for comment on the lawsuit on Friday (Jan. 2).

As the music industry returns from the holiday breaks and out-of-office replies expire, a number of issues continue to loom.

With the calendar turning over to 2026, Billboard Canada takes a look at some of the political, legislative, financial and creative issues that continue to affect music in Canada. Many reflect broader conversations that have been hotly debated for the last few years, but continue to intensify with changing pressures and political situations, both north and south of the border.

Here is a taste of what we’re following into 2026.

Ongoing Debates Around The Online Streaming Act and ‘Streaming Tax’

Back in 2023, Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, updated the country’s laws around broadcasting for the first time since 1991. 

On June 4, 2024, the CRTC announced streaming platforms that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster and make at least $25 million a year will have to pay 5% of their annual Canadian revenues in order to contribute to Canadian Content. 

Platforms affected would include big music streamers like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, as well as TV and film services like Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime. These foreign streaming platforms have launched legal challenges to avoid paying those fees, arguing they are already contributing to Canadian Content.

The Online Streaming Act remains a very hot political potato, with intense U.S. government and entertainment industry pressure being placed upon the Canadian government to dismantle the act. It is now rumoured that this contentious topic will be a key part of upcoming United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations between the Canadian and U.S. governments in 2026. 

Canadian industry leaders are now warning that an increasing number of Canadian TV and radio stations could close if the act becomes a casualty of the trade war with the United States.

Canadian Record Label Layoffs

In early December, Billboard Canada reported that Warner Music Canada laid off at least 24 employees in Nov. 2025, a significant percentage of the major label’s staff. The cuts came amidst global restructuring and layoffs at Warner Music Group.

Significant staffing cuts at major record labels in Canada and internationally have been recurring in recent years, a trend expected to continue in 2026. In Feb. 2024, Universal Music Group announced a “strategic organizational redesign,” including job cuts, to generate U.S. $270 million in savings globally by 2026.

As global companies continue to consolidate, could there be more cuts coming across the Canadian music industry?

The AI Question

The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already having a major impact on the music industry, forcing artists, music companies and trade organizations to rapidly assess and address both the opportunities and dangers AI presents.

The three major North American performing rights societies (PROs), SOCAN (Canada) and ASCAP and BMI (U.S.), have responded rapidly. In October, they announced they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Similar conversations are happening across the music industry. The song “I Run” by electronic duo HAVEN. is charting on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 currently, and has become a case study for questions around AI-generated music. 

Meanwhile, industry stakeholders are speaking up about AI before the Canadian House of Commons.

“Nearly every song ever written by a Canadian songwriter has already been scraped and stolen by these AI companies without consent, credit or compensation,” Music Publishers Canada (MPC) CEO Margaret McGuffin told Billboard Canada after speaking in Ottawa. “This is an important issue for creators and businesses in the creative industries and it is wonderful that the Heritage Committee is listening.”

Read more 2026 Canadian music issues here. — Kerry Doole

Michael Bublé Extends His Record as ‘Christmas’ Hits No. 1 in Canada in 10th Different Calendar Year

It’s always a Merry Christmas for Michael Bublé.

The Canadian singer’s 2011 Christmas album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart again for the chart week dated Dec. 27, 2025, unseating Taylor Swift‘s juggernaut The Life of a Showgirl from the top spot after 10 weeks.

The album has stayed at No. 1 for the chart dated Jan. 3, 2026. 

The No. 1 placement extends his record for hitting No. 1 in the most different calendar years. The album has reached the apex in 2011, 2012, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2025 and 2026. That’s 10 different calendar years total, including eight consecutive.

Bublé finished at No. 7 on the inaugural Top Canadian Artists year-end chart for 2025, which combines data from the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Albums charts. The timeless crooner’s catalogue success has a lot to do with that ranking, with Christmas having earned a spot as an all-time holiday favourite in his home country. 

Christmas has sold over 16 million physical copies worldwide and racked up billions of streams, and has been billed by his label Reprise as the best-selling Christmas album of the 21st century.

Read more on the feat here. — Richard Trapunski

An electric violinist who was part of Will Smith’s Based on a True Story tour last year has brought a lawsuit accusing the star of sexual harassment and retaliation.

Brian King Joseph, a violinist who came in third place on season 13 of America’s Got Talent in 2018, claims in a Tuesday (Dec. 30) civil complaint that he was fired from Smith’s international trek after reporting that someone had broken into his hotel room and left sexually suggestive materials.

“Defendant’s actions caused plaintiff severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm and other damages,” reads the lawsuit. “Plaintiff was also harmed as a result of the stress of losing his job his health deteriorated causing major physiological damage. Plaintiff suffered from PTSD and other mental illness as a result of the termination.”

Joseph met Smith in November 2024 and was later invited to join the actor and rapper on tour supporting his comeback album, Based on a True Story. The violinist says he grew close to Smith and spent time alone with the star, who allegedly told him, “You and I have such a special connection that I don’t have with anyone else.”

Things supposedly got dicey this past March, when Smith’s tour crew was in Las Vegas for a show at the House of Blues before their official summer kickoff. Joseph claims he returned to his hotel room one night to find various odd items, including a bottle of HIV medication, an earring and a note reading, “Brian, I’ll be back.”

According to the complaint, Joseph feared that he was about to be the victim of sexual assault. While Joseph does not overtly accuse Smith of orchestrating this alleged break-in, he connects the incident to their prior relationship.

 “The facts strongly suggest that defendant Willard Carroll Smith II was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation,” reads the lawsuit. “The sequence of events, Smith’s prior statements to plaintiff, and the circumstances of the hotel intrusion all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident.”

The violinist claims he reported this incident to Smith’s management, as well as hotel security and local police. Joseph was fired four days later, with a member of Smith’s management team allegedly blaming him for fabricating the hotel break-in story.

Now, Joseph is suing for sexual harassment and retaliation. He’s seeking an unspecified amount of financial damages from both Smith and his company, Treyball Studios Management.

An attorney for Smith, Allen Grodsky, told People on Thursday (Jan. 1) that Joseph’s allegations are “false, baseless and reckless.”

“They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light,” added Grodsky, as reported by People.