Alexa Ray Joel

Alexa Ray Joel (born December 29, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Her parents are singer-songwriter Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley. Joel released an EP Sketches (2006) and several singles on independent record labels. She has performed at numerous charity events and New York City fashion events. Early life Joel was born on December 29, 1985, in Manhattan, New York. She is the daughter of singer-songwriter Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley. Her middle name, Ray, honors the musician Ray Charles with whom her father recorded the song "Baby Grand". Through her mother, she has a half-brother, Jack Paris Brinkley ( Taubman, born June 2, 1995) and a half-sister, Sailor Brinkley Cook (born July 1, 1998). Joel also has two half-sisters on her father's side named Della Rose (born August 12, 2015), and Remy Anne (born October 22, 2017). Her father wrote his 1993 song "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" for her. It is her self-proclaimed favorite song that he has written. His 1989 song, "The Downeaster Alexa", bears the title of a boat he named after her, but is about the struggles of Long Island fishermen. She is also referenced in her father's 1989 song "Leningrad" (with lyrics: "...He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced..."), in which "He" refers to a Russian man who became a circus clown after being in the Red Army. Alexa Joel is known for her own melodic songwriting, and has noted that her musical upbringing gave her a "unique inside-peek into the songwriting process", and that "It's no wonder I write music in the same way (my father) does: melody first, and lyrics second." Joel said that by the age of 15, she was finishing complete songs with piano accompaniment, and writing poetry.