Alexa Ray Joel
(born December 29, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She is the daughter of popular singer Billy Joel and his second wife, supermodel Christie Brinkley. Her middle name Ray
is in honor of the late musician Ray Charles. [1] [2]
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ALEXA RAE JOEL TICKETS
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Biography
Alexa Ray Joel began writing songs at a very early age. Growing up in a musical household, she developed a gift for singing and songwriting and was always encouraged by her mother
Christie Brinkley [3]. Her deep love of music stems from as early as the tender age of two, when her father would sing and play
nursery rhymes for her on the piano. Like her father, she pursued classical piano training for quite a few years before developing a knack for songwriting. She would soon find that her skills in classical piano provided a solid foundation for her songwriting.
At 17, she attended the
Berklee College of Music's Five Week Music-Fest, where she honed her skills as a performer. She attended
New York University, but by the summer after her freshman year, she started to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter. By that fall, Alexa performed her first show at Maxwell's in
Hoboken,
New Jersey, followed by other gigs in the
New York City area. She has most recently been performing at colleges and venues around the
Northeast United States, and finished up a nationwide
Hard Rock Cafe Tour in May 2006.
After playing nearly 100 shows since leaving NYU’s Musical theatre program, Alexa put out her first musical creation in August 2006--a six song EP called
Sketches
.
[4] This EP not only included her original songs with piano accompaniment but some original artwork as well. The EP is available through Target and iTunes. Alexa is the very first independent artist to ever have exclusive rights through Target to distribute an EP.
In her appearance on
Jimmy Kimmel Live
, Alexa stated that the ballad "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)," found on her father Billy Joel's album
River of Dreams
, was written for her, and is her favorite song of his.. The song "
The Downeaster Alexa," on Billy Joel's
Storm Front
album, shares her name. Alexa wrote the song “Now It's Gone” about her mom’s split from Peter Cook after the allegations of his infidelity.
She is only 4 years younger than former stepmother
Katie Lee Joel.
Notable media appearances
- 16 August 2006: Ron and Fez Show
on XM Satellite Radio
- 8 September 2006 The Today Show
Segment: The Rapp Report
- 10 May 2007: Jimmy Kimmel Live
See also
- Christie Brinkley
- Billy Joel
References
- Stout, Gene (December 3, 1986). "Billy Joel Delivers - Few Surprises". seattlepi.com. Retrieved on July 21, 2009.
- Billy Joel biography
- Alexa Ray Joel–own web site
- Alexa Ray Joel a Strikes Chord of Her Own