Christie Brinkley blames Billy Joel’s drinking for…
The Piano Man and the Uptown Girl.
Christie Brinkley displays on her marriage to Billy Joel in her upcoming memoir, “Uptown Girl” (out April 29). In PEOPLE’s excerpts revealed Wednesday, the 71-year-old model blamed the singer’s drinking for their divorce.
“To be clear, I never wanted to end things with Billy. But his drinking was bigger than the both of us,” she stated.
Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel in NYC on the 2nd Annual International Rock Awards in 1990. Getty Images
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley at “Chicago” on Broadway in 2011. FilmMagic
Brinkley added to PEOPLE, “In the end, when the relationship isn’t functioning the way you want it to be anymore — that’s the worst kind of loneliness because you just can’t make it work together and that’s painful.”
Brinkley and Joel, 75, had been married from 1985 to 1994, and have a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, 39, who has a singing profession of her own.
From left: Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray Joel and Billy Joel on the premiere of “Last Play at Shea” on the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. Jemal Countess
Joel struggled with alcoholism for a few years. He went to rehab for the primary time in 1992 and received sober, however returned to rehab in 2005 after he relapsed.
In 2023, Joel informed the Los Angeles Times that he stopped drinking “a couple of years ago.”
“It wasn’t a big AA kick. I just got to a point where I’d had enough,” he shared. “I didn’t enjoy being completely inebriated, and it probably created more problems in my life than I needed.”
Billy Joel performs in Las Vegas on Nov. 9, 2024. Getty Images
When requested if he ever has an “instinct” to drink after a show, Joel stated, “I don’t need it now. I used to get offstage and be so wound up and adrenalized that I needed something to calm down to go to sleep. But I realized when you’re drinking yourself to sleep, you’re not really sleeping. You’re just passing out.”
After her divorce from Joel, Brinkley had two more marriages, the primary to Colorado real estate developer Ricky Taubman, and the second to architect Peter Cook, that each led to divorce. Brinkley welcomed son Jack, 29, with Taubman and daughter Sailor, 26, with Cook.
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley in 1983. Getty Images
Brinkley informed PEOPLE that she’s stayed pleasant with Joel they usually have a “great” relationship immediately.
Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel in Paris in 1989. Gamma-Rapho by way of Getty Images
Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel in 1993, about a yr earlier than they received divorced. Getty Images
”He lives primarily in Florida so we don’t see him as a lot as when he lived in Sag Harbor,” she stated of the singer, who has been married to Alexis Roderick since 2015.
“But when he comes by to see Alexa, he’ll come in and say hello,” Brinkley added.
Christie Brinkley on the American Humane Hero Dog Awards in January 2025. Alekandra London
Brinkley additionally mirrored on her and Joel’s dynamic after they began relationship. “We laughed like you couldn’t believe. But also he was so sensitive and he did all the old-fashioned things, the flowers, the notes and the poems and the songs,” she stated. ‘He was going into the recording studio and he was writing all these songs and saying ‘This one’s for you.’ How might I not fall in love with him?”
As for Joel’s response to her new e-book, Brinkley stated, “Alexa described it to him, and he’s like, ‘Sounds good, no problem.’”
We give you the trending topics. Get the best newest Entertainment information and content material on our web site every day.
