Movies

Billy Joel reveals the harsh comment that ended his 10-year marriage to Christie Brinkley – when she couldn’t tolerate his alcoholism any longer

BBG News

As someone who feels most at ease with a keyboard nearby, I, Billy Joel, found myself on the private paradise of St. Barts in 1983. During my stay, an unexpected encounter with a piano at a local watering hole truly brightened my vacation.

With skin reddened by sunburn and adorning a vibrant Hawaiian shirt, his performance was starting to draw a crowd coincidentally around the same time as a fashion shoot nearby came to an end.

All at once, Billy was confronted by the sight of not just renowned supermodel Christie Brinkley, but also the equally stunning Elle Macpherson. According to Christie, Elle was using her captivating beauty to draw Billy’s focus, moving gracefully and attractively around him.

Another way of expressing this could be: A third young lady walked over to the piano and declared, “I can also sing,” but Billy, engrossed in conversation with Elle and Christie, dismissed her by saying, “Sorry, not now, kid.

It turned out that the young lady had quite the singing talent; he admitted, a bit embarrassed, that it was none other than Whitney Houston.

Initially dating Elle, Billy eventually formed a relationship with Christie, the memorable star of his 1983 hit video “Uptown Girl,” which sold platinum.

Despite their charming encounter in a luxurious environment, the conclusion of their relationship turned out to be much harsher. The bitter words that brought an end to their decade-long union have finally come to light.

Or, in a more conversational tone:
Although they had a fairytale start in a fancy place, their breakup was definitely not a happy ending – it turns out the harsh comment that ended their 10-year marriage has been disclosed now.

Although the supermodel and the self-proclaimed non-charismatic individual tied the knot in 1985, forming one of the renowned celebrity couples of the 80s, a recently released documentary delves deeper into the intricate and at times tormented persona of the Piano Man.

As a devoted admirer, I can’t help but delve into the captivating, two-part biography titled “Billy Joel: And So It Goes.” This riveting account sheds light on the complexities that have marked the life of this legendary musician – alcohol struggles, suicidal tendencies, infidelity, and financial mismanagement.

In the movie, he openly admits that all his life experiences have somehow influenced his music, with him safely seated at the piano throughout.

As a kid raised in the quaint town of Hicksville, nestled on Long Island in New York, I, Billy, found myself enamored with the piano at just four years old, mirroring my dad, Howard, a gifted amateur classical pianist.

At the tender age of eight, it was when Howard departed from their household, and Billy vividly remembers the hardships that his mother, Rosalind, endured while bringing up him and his sister, Judy, on her own.

He explains that they felt like they didn’t belong, as they lacked certain things that others seemed to have. They didn’t own a new vehicle, didn’t have a father figure in their household, were of Jewish faith, and struggled financially. At times, they even went hungry.

Rosalind often took sips from her glass to ease feelings of solitude, and at times, her volatile emotions briefly dampened the spirits within her family.

In my understanding, I’d rephrase it as follows:

“I recall a time when we sensed something wasn’t quite right, and now I believe she might have been bipolar, but back then, we simply didn’t have the vocabulary to express it accurately.”

Regarding Rosalind, despite our own challenges, she consistently found ways to provide for Billy’s piano lessons – ensuring that finances were never a hindrance in his pursuit of music education.

‘Mom was my cheerleader,’ he says. ‘She never gave up.’

At the age of twenty, Billy established the band Attila alongside his close friend Jon Small. Shortly after, he chose to share a living space with Jon, Jon’s spouse Elizabeth Weber, and their child Sean.

But when Billy and Elizabeth began an affair, the trio imploded. 

‘I felt very, very guilty about it,’ Billy admits. ‘They had a child. I felt like a home-wrecker.’ 

Upon the uncovering of the secret, Elizabeth abruptly left without either man, leaving Jon’s relationship in pieces. In a desperate attempt to forget the agony, Billy resorted to spending his nights in laundromats, drowning his sorrows with excessive alcohol consumption.

When the truth came out, Elizabeth bolted without a glance back at either of the men, and Jon’s relationship was left shattered. To escape the anguish, Billy chose to sleep in laundry facilities, drinking heavily to try to erase the pain.

He figured that tomorrow would be much like today, which wasn’t great, so he contemplated ending his life.

After unknowingly being provided sleeping pills by Judy to aid his sleep, which led to a coma during his initial attempt at suicide, he subsequently made another attempt, this time ingesting furniture polish.

It was Jon who took him to the hospital and who, says Billy, ‘saved my life’. 

Following a short spell at a mental health evaluation unit, Billy decided from then on to express all his feelings through composing music.

And what music it turned out to be. 

The documentary, jointly executive-produced by Tom Hanks, is divided into two films, each lasting approximately 2.5 hours. This production traces the backstories of popular songs like “Tell Her About It” and “The River of Dreams.”

Admirers like Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Pink are astounded by the versatility of the 76-year-old’s music, and at one instance, Billy even performs Uptown Girl with a touch reminiscent of a Mozart composition.

Yet by his own admission, ‘I couldn’t recognise a hit if I stepped on it.’

After reuniting with Elizabeth, which occurred in 1973 and culminated in their marriage, he composed a multitude of songs about her – even one that he deemed overly sentimental.

Elizabeth urged him to publish it as a standalone track, and the subsequent chart-topper “Just The Way You Are” signified a significant milestone in his professional journey.

Paul McCartney describes it as the song he always wished he’d written.

As Billy’s passionate fan and now his manager, I couldn’t be more thrilled about the meteoric rise of his career. Yet, it pains me to admit that our once harmonious bond has begun to fray.

In the male-dominated realm of ’70s rock, Elizabeth found herself juggling responsibilities. Not only did she have to ensure that Billy and his rowdy group adhered to a timetable, but she also took on the crucial task of safeguarding her son, Sean.

During that time, there was excessive consumption of alcohol, which later escalated to widespread drug abuse, as Elizabeth puts it. The situation became unmanageable, leading to feelings of fear and concern on her part.

Sean was a teenager at the time and he admits, ‘I was a very young user of drugs and alcohol. 

‘I was going down the very same roads that all those guys were because I looked up to them.’

In 1982, when Billy suffered a severe motorcycle accident that fractured his leg, arm, and wrist, Elizabeth forgot her house key on his hospital tray before leaving the room.

She expressed that it was impossible for her to just stand idly by while he was destroying himself.
A heartbroken Billy gazed at the key and mourned, “Now she won’t be around to listen to my tunes anymore.

Next year, my world took a dramatic turn as I became captivated by none other than Christie Brinkley. Though her role in “Uptown Girl” is iconic, what truly stands out to me is the behind-the-scenes mastermind – Jon Small, the very man whose wife I had unintentionally wronged. Interestingly enough, he shares his perspective on the situation: “I moved on,” Jon says.

The early days of Billy’s marriage to Christie were, in her words, ‘so much fun, so great’. 

The joy of the family grew significantly when their daughter, Alexa, was born in 1985. As Billy puts it, “I wanted to be the father that I never had.

At this stage in his life, Billy had grown wealthy enough to consider purchasing a home, but was taken aback when informed that financing the deal could prove challenging.

In the movie, Christie expresses the opinion that Frank Weber, Elizabeth’s brother, was exploiting Billy after taking over his management role from Elizabeth.

She shares, with tears in her eyes, that Billy didn’t seem eager to learn about it, as she reflects on the pain of discovering that Billy had more faith in his ex-brother-in-law than in her.

In 1989, Billy sued Frank for $90 million (£67 million). 

Ultimately, the court granted him $2 million as part of a partial verdict against Weber, yet he needed to resume touring to recover his losses.

Over time, the demands of constant traveling and missing his loved ones became too much, and he found himself turning again to excessive drinking.

According to Christie, he had trouble recalling his actions while under the influence of alcohol. Consequently, he wasn’t certain about the ways in which he might have caused harm to others.

After nearly a decade of marriage, when Christie expressed that she could no longer continue, Billy responded casually with ‘Sure, okay. Leave then.’, but inside, he was deeply ‘upset’.

Instead of finding solace in words for daily conversations, this man found an emotional outlet through music. The longing to spend more time with his daughter stirred him towards a fresh direction in his musical journey.

Abstaining from using language altogether, he solely concentrated on music. In the year 2001, he unveiled the album titled “Fantasies & Delusions,” which reigned supreme on the United States Billboard classical charts for an impressive 18 consecutive weeks.

Three years later he embarked on a third marriage, to chef Katie Lee, 32 years his junior. 

I strongly advised him to seek help at the Betty Ford Clinic for his alcohol problems, acknowledging that initially, he wasn’t keen on the idea himself.

After five long years and regaining every penny I’d squandered, here I am, sitting across from you at dinner, Jon, with half a billion dollars in my bank account and not a soul to share it with.

In the year 2015, he resolved that matter by tying the knot with his present spouse, Alexis Roderick, who is 43 years old. Together, they have two girls, Della, aged nine, and Remy, aged seven.

Last month, Billy unfortunately couldn’t attend the debut of the movie in New York due to his recent diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). This is a manageable condition where excess fluid accumulates in the brain, leading to difficulties with movement and cognition.

Susan Lacy, who directed the documentary with Jessica Levin, insists he’s ‘going to be fine’.

Certainly Billy has managed to weather more challenges in his life than most. 

‘I think music saved my life,’ he remarks at the end of the film. ‘It gave me a reason to live.’

Billy Joel: And So It Goes, Saturday 2 August, Sky Documentaries/NOW.

Read More

2025-07-25 03:37

Previous post Pregnant Shaughna Phillips enjoys rare outing with jailed boyfriend Billy Webb and their daughter Lucia on his day release from prison amid his nine-year sentence for serious drug offences
Next post Katie Price, 47, reveals what has got her through her ‘painful’ bum filler treatment after suffering ‘inflammation’