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Billy Joel is one of the world’s famous musicians. He is an accomplished pianist and songwriter. He is commonly nicknamed the “Piano Man” after his album and signature song of the same name.
His career began in the 1970s, and he is now one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Joel has sold over 160 million records worldwide. Joel is estimated to be worth $225 million – even after his former manager and brother-in-law reportedly swindled him of $90 million.
Joel has produced and written 33 Top 40 hits in the U.S., three of which “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, “Tell Her About It” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Joel has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999).
When it comes to his personal life, Joel has been divorced three times. He decided to walk down the aisle once again in 2015 to his fourth wife, former hedge fund manager, Alexis Roderick. Joel has managed to be on good terms with each of his ex-wives: Elizabeth Weber (married from 1973-1982), Christie Brinkley (married from 1985-1994) and Katie Lee (2004-2010). But how has the divorces affected his net worth?
Billy Joel’s First Married His Bandmate’s Girlfriend
Billy Joel met his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, in 1970, through his friend and bandmate Jon Small. At the time, Weber was married to Small, and they had a baby son, Sean.
Despite the complicated situation, Joel was absolutely taken by her. Joel and Weber soon engaged in an affair. When the liaison was discovered by Small, Weber left both her lovers behind and vanished for several weeks.
A 21-year-old Joel phoned Small to beg his forgiveness and then took an overdose. Small rushed to Joel’s side and got there just in time. But just a few short weeks later, Joel tried again, this time drinking furniture polish. Another family member found him, and this time, Joel checked himself into a mental hospital, where he stayed for three weeks.
After much thought, he decided to pursue a relationship with Weber, also agreed to manage him. They married in September 1973. “She’s Got a Way” and “She’s Always a Woman” were inspired by her. As his wife, Weber was entitled to 50 percent of Joel’s worth and was also taking a cut of his earnings as manager. She brought her brother, Frank, to manage her new husband’s finances.
In 1982, Weber filed for divorce and Joel was devastated. Joel did everything to woo her back and bought her a $4 million town house on the Upper East Side and an Alfa Romeo car.
But after breaking both his hands in a motorcycle accident, Weber made the ultimate act of betrayal. She convinced him to sign everything he had over to her. “I may have acted like an idiot a time or two, but I’m not a complete idiot,” Joel told Schruers. “That really killed it right there and then.”
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Years later, Joel would find out her brother had taken nearly $30 million of his earnings, and in 1989, Joel sued him for that plus $60 million in punitive damages. But Frank outwitted Joel by filing for bankruptcy, and in 1990, Joel settled out of court.
Billy Joel’s Married Second Wife Christie Brinkley In 1985
Following his split from his first wife, Joel went to St. Bart’s for the holidays. Trying to find solace in his music, he found a piano bar and began playing. A few moments later, supermodels Elle Macpherson, then just 19, and Christie Brinkley, 28, walked in. The catwalk queens arrived alongside a then undiscovered Whitney Houston. Out of the three beautiful women there that night, Joel fell in love with Brinkley. The pair married on the 23rd March 1985.
Brinkley conceived their daughter, Alexa Ray, on their wedding night. Yet Joel’s financial crises meant he had to tour nonstop to recoup his money from his first marriage. The breaking point came in 1993.
After a show at Nassau Coliseum, Joel stayed at a nearby hotel rather than make the 90-minute drive home. Brinkley was told by one of Joel’s band members that he was having an affair – which he denied.
By the end of that year, they knew the marriage was over — and it marked the last year Joel would issue a new album. Further, hindering his finances for a long time.
Billy Joel’s Third Wife Was A College Student Who Was Half His Age
By 2002, Joel was touring again, but was deeply depressed. Between 2002 and 2004, Joel had three car accidents on Long Island, once smashing into a house.
But as always, Joel had a woman on his arm. The singer was dating Katie Lee, a college girl from Ohio whom he met in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel.
After graduating, she moved into Joel’s house in the Hamptons, and in 2004, they married. Joel was 55, Lee 23 — just four years older than his daughter, Alexa. They moved into a $4 million loft in Tribeca, but just months into the marriage, Joel checked into rehab again.
In 2008, Joel kept seeing photos of Lee at premieres and gallery openings — and one in particular, of her dancing closely with another man. Lee, who was then an aspiring chef, denied an affair. They divorced in 2009. According to a 2011 post in The Daily Mail, Lee received a luxurious New York City townhouse in the couple’s divorce settlement, which Joel reportedly paid $5.9 million for in 2006. Lee then sold it for $11.65 million.
Today, Joel is married for a fourth time to Alexis Roderick, a former equestrian. He was 66, she 33. The couple had been together since 2009. On August 12, 2015, the couple’s daughter, Della Rose Joel, was born.The couple had a second daughter, Remy Anne Joel, on October 22, 2017.
