Praise Pouring In for Legendary Supermodel, 71, Amidst Memoir Resurgence originally appeared on Parade.
HBO’s groundbreaking documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes is having a ripple effect in the best possible way.
While The Piano Man might be the star of the film, legendary supermodel and Joel’s ex-wife, Christie Brinkley, 71, is also in the spotlight once again, and it couldn’t be more well-deserved. The iconic model, actress and activist released her memoir, Uptown Girl, earlier this year, but it’s having a resurgence on the heels of the new two-part film.
The book was met with positive reviews when it made its debut in April 2025, but now Brinkley is feeling the love more than ever as fans rediscover her story.
“Thank you Christie, for sharing your life story with us. Uptown Girl was an inspiring and honest glimpse into your journey — full of beauty, strength, resilience, and real-life highs and lows. Your openness is appreciated,” wrote one fan on Instagram.
“I’m halfway through and oh my God, your story has me on the best journey and roller coaster,” said another.
“Read the book and watched the documentary at the same time. Both were fabulous! Thanks for sharing snippets of your life with us,” commented another.
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Brinkley was already a bonafide supermodel when she met Joel, 76, in 1983 while traveling for a photoshoot. At the time, she’d had no idea that he was an international superstar; she only knew him as the man playing a song for her on the piano in a motel dive bar in St. Barts.
But it didn’t take long before they became an item. Brinkley married Joel in 1985, and the two welcomed their only daughter, Alexa Ray, later that year.
Uptown Girl earned its name from one of Joel’s greatest hits, a song he started writing for a former crush, but later finished specifically for Brinkley. She went on to star in the music video, forever immortalizing their relationship and taking a small piece of ownership of the hit song in the process.
“The hardest thing to include was criticism of Billy, because I do care about my friendship with him,” Brinkley told TODAY in an interview about the book in April 2025. Joel’s struggles with drinking had a detrimental impact on the relationship, as did his rumored affairs.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that his drinking got pretty bad,” Brinkley said in the second part of Billy Joel: And So It Goes, She added that Joel, “couldn’t really remember what he did when he was drinking, and so he didn’t really know how he could hurt people.”
In Uptown Girl, Brinkley wrote, “His drinking was bigger than the both of us — booze was the other woman, and it was beginning to seem that he preferred to be with ‘her’ rather than with me.”
Given Joel’s heavy drinking, one of the biggest challenges Brinkley faced in writing her story was accurately portraying their famed relationship through all of the ups and downs.
“In the book, I feel like I balanced, very much, about how happy we were and how joy-filled our days were,” she told TODAY, reflecting on their marriage. “It was literally dancing in the kitchen as we cooked, singing together, and making each other laugh. It was a beautiful, wonderful relationship.”
Praise Pouring In for Legendary Supermodel, 71, Amidst Memoir Resurgence first appeared on Parade on Jul 31, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
