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.[1] Her middle name Ray is in honor of the late musician Ray Charles. [3]
Contents
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* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Notable media appearances
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

[edit] 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 [4]. 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. [5] 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.[citation needed]. 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.

[edit] 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