Christie Brinkley shares birthday message to ex Billy Joel as he turns 76
Christie Brinkley is wishing her ex-husband Billy Joel a happy 76th birthday.
The modeling legend, 71, shared pics May 9 on Instagram that showed her and the “Piano Man” singer posing with their musician daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, 39, and her fiancé, Ryan J. Gleason, and Brinkley’s two younger children: son, Jack Brinkley-Cook, 29, and daughter, Sailor Brinkley-Cook, 26.
“Happy Birthday Billy from the Tower Hill Gang! Wishing you the best year yet lots of Love,” Brinkley wrote in her caption. She added a row of emoji including a ship, an anchor, a birthday cake and a motorcycle along with the hashtag #liveitup!
Fans popped in the comments to praise the close friendship Brinkley and Joel have maintain since their painful split more than three decades ago.
“I just love the way you support each other,” wrote one, noting that she just finished reading Brinkley’s new memoir, “Uptown Girl,” which takes its name from Joel’s 1983 hit that was inspired, at least in part, by the supermodel.
In the book, Brinkley shares behind-the-scenes stories about her relationship with Joel, whom she married in 1985 and divorced in 1994.
“The hardest thing to include was criticism of Billy, because I do care about my friendship with him,” Brinkley told TODAY.com last month, referring to the chapters of her memoir that discuss Joel’s heavy drinking during their marriage and his alleged affairs.
“In the book, I feel like I balanced, very much, about how happy we were and how joy-filled our days were,” she said. “It was literally dancing in the kitchen as we cooked, singing together, and making each other laugh. It was a beautiful, wonderful relationship.”
Brinkley added that Joel gave her his blessing to tell her story, even if it meant revealing painful moments of their romance.
“He said, ‘Just say what you need to say,’” Brinkley recalled. “And I think that’s part of his healing, so I applaud him for all of that. It takes a lot of courage.”
Despite their marriage ending in divorce, Brinkley and Joel have stayed close.
“He’s a very loyal guy. He’s loyal to his friends, he’s generous. He just had a lot of stresses on him at the point when we were together and it just kind of came crashing down on us,” Brinkley told TODAY.com.
Brinkley, who was married to French illustrator Jean Francois Allaux prior to meeting Joel, went on to marry and divorce twice again after her and Joel’s divorce, and welcomed Jack and Sailor with her ex Peter Cook.
Joel, who married and divorced his first wife, Elizabeth Webber, in the 1970s, also walked down the aisle two more times after his divorce from Brinkley.
The Grammy winner was married to author Katie Lee from 2004 to 2009 before tying the knot with his fourth wife Alexis Roderick, in 2015. Joel and Roderick share two young daughters, Della Rose, 9, and Remy Anne, 7.
