Alexa Ray Joel

Alexa Ray Joel is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist born on December 29, 1985, in Manhattan, New York City. She is the daughter of singer-songwriter Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley. Her middle name, Ray, honors the musician Ray Charles. She has four half-siblings: Jack Paris Brinkley, Sailor Brinkley Cook, Della Rose, and Remy Anne. Her father wrote the 1993 song "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" for her, named his boat and the 1989 song "The Downeaster Alexa" after her, and referenced her in his 1989 song "Leningrad." Influenced by her musical upbringing, Joel was writing poetry and finishing complete songs with piano accompaniment by age 15.

Joel began performing publicly in 2005 at age 19, playing her first live show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2006, she played nearly 100 shows, including a tour of Hard Rock Cafe venues. In August 2006, Joel self-released and independently distributed her six-song EP, Sketches. Joel designed and illustrated the CD packaging and inserts, which featured her handwritten lyrics. The EP included a pop/rock cover of Neil Young's "Don't Let It Bring You Down," and roughly three of the original tracks were recorded in a single take.

Following the release of Sketches, Joel performed at several music festivals in 2007, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, and the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival. Throughout her career, she has performed at numerous benefit events. She sang onstage with her father at the 2008 Rainforest Foundation Fund Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall and at a 2008 Barack Obama election fundraiser. Her additional charity performances include events for Save Sag Harbor, Stage For The Cure, The Art of Elysium, Habitat for Humanity, Right To Play Day, the Eric Trump Foundation for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Animal Haven.

Joel debuted her single "Invisible" on The Wendy Williams Show in October 2009. In August 2010, she released the single "Notice Me," representing her first collaboration with producer Tommy Byrnes after signing with OCD Music Group/The Hang Productions. Joel also completed concert residencies in New York City, performing at the Oak Room of the Plaza Hotel from late 2010 into 2011 and at the Café Carlyle in April 2014. Her commercial work includes serving as a spokesperson for Prell shampoo starting in 2010 and performing her father's song "Just the Way You Are" for The Gap's "Back to Blue" television campaign in September 2013.

Joel has also participated in various fashion and media projects. She performed at Manhattan's Fashion's Night Out events in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and she worked as an interviewer for Julib.com during New York Fashion Week in 2012 and 2013. In 2017, she posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue alongside her mother and half-sister Sailor Brinkley Cook, and she appeared on the cover of BELLA magazine's Beauty Issue in 2018. In her personal life, Joel began dating restaurateur Ryan Gleason in 2013. The couple became engaged on January 1, 2018, and their wedding was postponed as of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.