Billy Joel reflects on what he learned from relationship with Christie Brinkley after ‘devastating' divorce

Yahoo

3 days ago

Billy Joel has divulged what it was like to fall in love with his second wife, Christie Brinkley.
In part two of the 'Piano Man' singer's HBO documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the two exes discussed what their relationship was like when they first started dating.
The former couple first met in 1983 while on vacation in St. Barts. After discovering they both lived in New York City, they made plans to keep in touch and went on their first date to a Beach Boys concert.
'Here I am dating this beautiful supermodel and... me? I'm from Hicksville. What am I doing with her? What's she doing with me? But that was a very productive time for me,' Joel, 76, said in the documentary of his Long Island, New York upbringing. 'I wrote a lot of songs for her. She was a muse.'
He continued, 'It was like being a teenager all over again. Experiencing those same emotions that I had when I was first discovering romance and love.'
Brinkley said that while their 'whirlwind romance' was 'just so much fun' during the first few years, she noted the turning point was in 1989 when Joel released his 'I Go to Extreme' single. Describing the song, Brinkley said it reflected her husband 'boomeranging between being a family man and tortured artist' as he would sneak away in the middle of the night to drink.
That same year, the 'Vienna' singer filed a $90 million fraud and breach of contract lawsuit against his former manager, Frank Weber. To regain the money, Joel had to adjust his tour, which further drove the wedge between Brinkley and their daughter Alexa.
'I was in a relationship with someone who I cared deeply about. But I was not able to be at home. I was not able to be with my family. It was a very sad time for me,' the 'Uptown Girl' singer said. 'I realized love is not concrete. You feel like it is, but there are things eating away at it. And in the end, it all catches up. It's hard. I was so devastated.'
'He said, 'Yeah, fine, go.' I tried. I wanted it to work,' Brinkley recalled one of their final fights. 'I knew how lucky I was, having music and all of that. But it just didn't work.'
The two divorced in 1994 after being married for nine years. Joel went on to marry twice more for a total of four wives. He remains with Alexis Roderick, whom he married in 2015. They share two daughters: Della, 9, and Remy, 7.
Brinkley has been married four times but remains closest to Joel and named her new memoir, 'Uptown Girl,' after the hit 1983 song inspired in part by her.
She, too, has opened up about being with Joel. Brinkley told Page Six earlier this year: 'To be clear, I never wanted to end things with Billy,' she said. 'I read every self-help book I could find … we went to see a string of psychiatrists, psychologists and other medical doctors.'
Brinkley also said she and Joel 'were probably really soulmates. It was an amazing time of my life.'
Part two of Billy Joel: And So It Goes premieres Friday on HBO.