Billy Joel has checked himself into a Connecticut substance abuse and

psychiatric hospital, according to his label, Columbia.

The 53-year old artist entered New Canaan's Silver Hill Hospital for "a

planned 10-day stay to deal with a specific and personal problem that had

recently developed," according to a statement released Wednesday (June 19).

The statement offered no further explanation.

Wednesday's issue of The Advocate of Stamford was the first to report

the singer's stay, explaining that Joel was undergoing treatment for an

unnamed illness at the hospital's chemical dependency treatment center.

Columbia's statement said he "scheduled his stay in Silver Hill several

weeks ago and expects to leave in a few days, as planned."

This would be the second bout of ill health for Joel this year. In March the

singer postponed and rescheduled a tour with Elton John due to illness (see

[article id="1452959"]"For The Record: Quick News On R.E.M.,

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