Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel were one of the most iconic couples of the 1980s, a decade in which the glamour model was in the midst of a record-breaking run as the face of Cover Girl, and the musician released five albums which made the Billboard 200 top 10, including two which reached number one.
Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel’s marriage and children
Brinkley and Joel wed in March 1985, nine months before the couple’s only child, singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel, was born. However, the singer’s second marriage ended in the same way as the first – divorce.
Despite the break-up of their relationship, which was finalized in August 1994, Brinkley and Joel remain friends. Such is their closeness, Brinkley has been more than happy to speak about her shared experiences with her ex-husband over the years, as she did in a recent appearance on ABC talk show “The View.”
Brinkley’s amusing story about first encounter with Joel
The 71-year-old was asked about how she met “The Piano Man,” and revealed it was love at first sight, particularly from his point of view, when their paths crossed in a bar on the island of St. Barts in the Caribbean.
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“From the second I met him, I knew I wanted to keep him in my life… as a friend,” Brinkley explained. “He was hilarious. Within an hour of meeting each other, I think all he was thinking was ‘I like this girl, I’ve got to get to the piano and sing a song. That’s what works for me.’”
That’s exactly how things played out, although Joel wasn’t given the opportunity to woo his future partner by playing “Just the Way You Are,” “My Life” or any of his other hits from years gone by… Because Brinkley had no idea who he was.
“He gets to the piano and he goes, ‘so, what would you like to hear?’ And me, not knowing who he was, said ‘The Girl from Ipanema.’ And he looked at me, like, ‘OK…’”
The surprisingly fact about Brinkley and Joel
The warmth with which Brinkley tells the story is proof of how the former couple overcame a divorce to remain positive influences in each other’s lives. Although it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The “Uptown Girl” star is even the godfather of his ex-wife’s two youngest children, the first of whom, Jack, she shares with real estate developer Richard Taubman, and the second, fellow model Sailor Brinkley Cook, with architect Peter Halsey Cook.
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