Christie Brinkley’s life has certainly changed a lot since meeting ex-husband Billy Joel in 1983. In an excerpt of her upcoming memoir, Uptown Girl, shared with People, the model dished on her relationship with the “Piano Man” crooner and how they were “hopelessly in love” until their split.
“We laughed like you couldn’t believe,” she told People in an accompanying interview shared on Wednesday, April 16. “But also he was so sensitive and he did all the old-fashioned things, the flowers, the notes and the poems and the songs. He was going into the recording studio and he was writing all these songs and saying ‘This one’s for you.’ How could I not fall in love with him?”
“When I heard him sing on stage, I found myself undeniably attached to this physically hot and charismatic man,” the National Lampoon’s Vacation actress shared.
Christie, 71, talked about how much fun she and Billy, 75, had together, including cooking and giving each other nicknames like “Bada Bing and Bada Boom.”
The pair got married in 1985 and welcomed their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, that same year. After nine years of marriage, Christie and Billy divorced in 1994.
“To be clear, I never wanted to end things with Billy. But his drinking was bigger than the both of us,” she wrote in the book.
“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,” Christie told the outlet of their split.
The Parks and Recreation alum has been married and divorced four times. She welcomed son Jack Brinkley Cook with ex-husband Richard Taubman in 1995 and daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook with ex-husband Peter Cook in 1998.
Billy also moved on after his split from Christie, marrying celebrity chef Katie Lee in 2004. They divorced in 2009 after five years of marriage. He married his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick, in 2015. They welcomed daughters Della Rose, 9, and Remy Anne, 7.
Despite their split many years ago, Christie said that she and Billie are on good terms and remain friends.
”He lives mainly in Florida so we don’t see him as much as when he lived in Sag Harbor, but when he comes by to see Alexa, he’ll come in and say hello,” the mom of three revealed.
She attended one of Billy’s April 2024 concerts at NYC’s Madison Square Garden, dancing along to “Uptown Girl,” the song in which she appeared in the music video for.
Last year, Christie confessed that she was “open” to finding love again during a January 2024 interview with People. “There just doesn’t seem to be anybody out there,” she said.
“At the same time, I am pretty comfortable with my life the way it is, so, que será, será!” the Michigan native said.
“I always said my whole life that I think that you have to be happy alone so that you get with a man for the right reasons and you’re not clinging to him because you need to, you know?” she added.