Christie Brinkley is looking back on the “cruelty” she faced throughout her public romance with legendary singer-songwriter Billy Joel.
In her new memoir Uptown Girl — a reference to Joel’s 1983 hit, partially inspired by their relationship — Brinkley spills new details about dating and eventually marrying the five-time Grammy winner. While reflecting on the start of their whirlwind romance, Brinkley recalled her reaction to seeing negative headlines about the couple.
“I’ll never forget the first time I read an article describing my relationship with Billy as a match between ‘the beauty and the beast,'” Brinkley wrote, adding that the words “shocked and pained me.”
“Cruelty and name-calling weren’t the commonplace behaviors they’ve become today,” she continued. “Who would say that, and how shallow could they be to judge people they’d never met? How little they actually knew.”
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
del Christie Brinkley and musician Billy Joel attend “A Divine Celebration” in December 1990 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City
While Brinkley later delves into the troubled end of her marriage to Joel, the memoir sees her reflect fondly on their years together. Recalling how Joel pulled out all the stops for her 30th birthday, Brinkley admits that being in the public eye wasn’t always a source of pain in their relationship.
“Even though every day was my birthday with Billy, he was adamant that we celebrate the actual calendar day together — and because it was a big birthday, he sent a private plane so I could make it to South Bend to see him before the show,” she recounted. “As soon as I landed, he picked me up in a limo and whisked me away to an early dinner, where the waiters came dancing out with an even larger, more elaborate cake than when he just pretended it was my birthday.”
Later that night, Joel serenaded her with “Happy Birthday” before a crowd of thousands of fans and he pulled her onstage for “Uptown Girl.”
“Afterward, I thought how so few people were ever able to have their love publicly celebrated like that,” Brinkley wrote. “Which amplified how we both felt about each other that night, making us almost dizzy with love.”
The grand gestures didn’t end there. Brinkley shared that after the concert, “the band gave me a cake, the crew handed me a big bouquet of roses, and Billy slipped me another soft velvet box, this time with a bracelet inside dotted with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, all just as bright and brilliant as Billy had been onstage that night.”
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley pose backstage at the musical ‘Chicago’ on Broadway in June 2011
Brinkley, a former supermodel, first crossed paths with the “Piano Man” singer in 1983, during a trip to St. Barts. They began as friends, but were dating by that summer. Two years later, they tied the knot and soon welcomed daughter Alexa Ray to the family.
“We laughed like you couldn’t believe,” Brinkley recently told PEOPLE of her marriage to Joel. “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?”
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She continued, “When I heard him sing on stage, I found myself undeniably attached to this physically hot and charismatic man.”
The couple ultimately divorced in 1994 after nearly 10 years of marriage. Brinkley went on to briefly marry Richard Taubman and later Peter Cook, with whom she shares two children. They split in 2008. Joel shares two daughters with his wife, Alexis Roderick.
Brinkley’s memoir, Uptown Girl, is now available in stores.
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