Here's What Really Led To Billy Joel And Christie Brinkley's Divorce
Billy Joel was quite the ladies' man back in the day. Elle MacPherson and Christie Brinkley battled it out after meeting Joel in Saint Barts. Initially, he picked MacPherson. But when it came to putting a ring on it, Brinkley was victorious. Smooth Radio notes that the two married in 1985, and their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, arrived months later. Brinkley and Joel's marriage appeared solid until it wasn't, resulting in their shock divorce in 1994.
Many thought Joel was punching above his weight when he wed the supermodel. Per Britannica, she was at the peak of her career, gracing all of the world's top fashion mags, snagging three consecutive Sports Illustrated covers, and appearing as the face of Covergirl cosmetics. Even the singer couldn't believe his luck. "You know I can't afford to buy her pearls. But maybe someday, when my ship comes in, she'll understand what kind of guy I've been. And then I'll win," Joel sang in the 1983 hit "Uptown Girl," which he wrote about Brinkley.
Howard Stern once questioned Joel about the song's origin. He admitted it was initially about several women but insisted that, ultimately, it was all Brinkley. "Rather than the song being about all these different girls, she became the uptown girl," Joel explained (via Far Out magazine). "I started writing it about one person. [...It is] about Christie." She was his daughter's mom, his musical muse, and his uptown girl, so what led to Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley's divorce?
Rebounds and relocations
Despite appearing to be an unlikely couple on the surface, people were still shocked by the news that Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley were divorcing after nine years of marriage. Entertainment Weekly reported that there had been no rumors of cheating from either side and that the union had shown no signs of deterioration before their breakup. Both parties remained schtum on their reasons for the separation, and Brinkley and Joel remained friends after the divorce, focusing on co-parenting their daughter, Alexa Joel, together.
However, as EW noted, there were a few clues as to why things went south. It had been a rebound relationship for them both as Joel was fresh from divorcing his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, and the divorced Brinkley had just split from Oliver Chandon, whom she'd dated for years. And it appears that the two were on totally different wavelengths. "Just because people can express themselves through their art doesn't mean they are great communicators in person," Brinkley said following the split.
Things became even clearer after the model married for a third time, just eight months after their divorce. Per People, Brinkley, who was four months pregnant, said "I do" to realtor Ricky Taubman in December 1994. The magazine reported that Brinkley confessed that two years before they officially split, her marriage to Joel had "pretty much disintegrated." She blamed his grueling tour schedule and her desire to relocate to California while he wanted to remain on the East Coast.
Unlucky and lucky in love
Christy Brinkley's third marriage was short-lived. The newlyweds split just seven weeks after the birth of their son, Jack Brinkley Cook. "After much thought and consideration, I have decided to separate from my husband, Ricky Taubman," she told the New York Times. Sadly, Brinkley's stunningly awful love life proves that regarding matters of the heart, it doesn't matter how gorgeous you are.
Per the Daily Mail, she married for a fourth time in 1996. Initially, architect Peter Cook seemed like a keeper. He adopted her son Jack, and they had a daughter, Sailor Brinkley Cook. However, it all came crashing down after Brinkley discovered he'd been having an affair with his 18-year-old assistant and dropping thousands a month on swinger meet-up sites. She refused to give up, though. According to US Weekly, Brinkley fell for John Mellencamp in 2015, but they were over within a year.
Meanwhile, People reported that it was the fourth time a charm for Joel. He wed Alexis Roderick in July 2015 and welcomed two daughters, Dela Rose and Remy Anne Joel. Joel's pleased as punch to be a three-time dad, even though he gets mistaken for his youngest kids' grandfather occasionally. "I take [them] to school, and one of the other parents will go, 'Oh, your granddaughter's so cute,'" he told Rolling Stone. "I still love being a dad. I didn't know that I would be a father again at this age, but I'm glad I am."