When it comes to writing love songs, it’s fair to say Billy Joel knows his stuff.
From “She’s Always A Woman” to “Just The Way You Are”, he’s composed some of the most moving romantic hits of our generation and, it turns out, a few of them were written about some pretty notable women.
Recently, fans have been talking about it on Reddit, as the singer penned some of his greatest hits after gaining inspiration from his ex-girlfriends and wives over the years. Even “Uptown Girl” has a story of its own – it just goes to show all different people can inspire music.
On the social media platform, one person wrote: “Billy Joel wrote ‘Uptown Girl’ about his then-partner Christie Brinkley.” The simple statement got a lot of people talking.
Another replied: “If you’re amazed at this, then you should listen to the album that Uptown Girl was on: An Innocent Man. It’s full of Christie Brinkley references.”
Someone else also chimed in with: “From Wikipedia: ‘According to an interview with Howard Stern, Joel had originally titled the song Uptown Girls, and it was conceived on an occasion when he was surrounded by Christie Brinkley, Whitney Houston and his then-girlfriend Elle Macpherson’.”
“Just The Way You Are”, “She’s Got A Way” and “She’s Always A Woman”
It’s generally believed that all three songs were inspired by Joel’s first wife, Elizabeth Weber. The couple met in 1970 via his friend and bandmate, Jon Small, who was actually married to her at the time.
After romance blossomed between the two, Weber ended up leaving them both when it was uncovered, but they eventually got back together. Weber went onto manage Joel, and they got married in 1973.
At the time he was “madly in love with” Weber, and he wrote “She’s Got A Way” and “She’s Always A Woman” for her, according to reports.
“This Is The Time”
It’s believed Joel’s second wife, Christie Brinkley, inspired both “This Is The Time”, as well as the album “An Innocent Man”. Following his divorce from Weber, he headed to St. Bart’s where he began playing at a piano bar.
During this time, he met supermodels Elle Macpherson, Christie Brinkley and singer Whitney Houston. It was then that inspiration is thought to have started flowing for new music.
Even though he dated Macpherson for a little while, it was Brinkley he married in 1985. During the same year, they welcomed their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel.
The couple’s marriage also inspired the album, “An Innocent Man”, and Joel apparently wrote “This Is The Time” about her too, which depicts a couple looking back on their best times together. In 1994, the pair called time on their marriage and got divorced.
“Uptown Girl”
Even though it was Brinkley who famously starred in the “Uptown Girl” music video, it’s widely reported the song was actually written about supermodel, Elle Macpherson.
For years it’s been said the song was initially called “Uptown Girls”, and was about Billy revealing what it was like to date at the time. Back then, he’s thought to have dated Elle, Christie and many other women.
The hit song was released back in 1983, and the lyrics tell the story of a working class “downtown man” attempting to catch the attention of a wealthy “uptown girl”. It reached number one in the UK charts, and held the top position for five weeks.
As well as this, it was the second-best-selling single in the UK during 1983. It came in just behind Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon”, which Joel managed to knock off the number one spot on November 1, 1983.