Alexa Ray Joel

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Alexa Ray Joel (born January 1, 1986) is an American singer and pianist. She is the daughter of popular pianist, singer, and songwriter Billy Joel by his second wife, model Christie Brinkley. She has credited her middle name to musician Ray Charles.

Alexa Ray Joel began writing songs at a very early age. Growing up in a musical household, her gift for singing and songwriting was always encouraged by her parents. 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 seventeen, she attended the Berklee College of Music's Five Week Music-Fest, where she honed her skills as a performer, and, realizing that she had a soulful voice, lost her inhibitions about sharing that voice with an audience. She attended New York University's (NYU) Musical Theatre Program her freshman year, but grew restless by the summer and decided 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 area (i.e. The Cutting Room, Galapagos). She has most recently been performing at colleges and venues around the northeast, and finished up a Hard Rock Cafe Tour throughout America in May 2006.

On 15 August 2006 Alexa started taking pre-orders for her debut EP "Sketches" which is set for release 29 August 2006 on her own label. On 9 September 2006 her EP "Sketches" was made available on iTunes. "Sketches" is exclusively available only at Target stores.

On 16 August 2006 Alexa appeared on the Ron and Fez show heard nationally on XM Satellite Radio Channel 202: High Voltage (including DirecTV channel 879).

The ballad "Lullabye," found on Billy Joel's River of Dreams, was inspired by Alexa, and the song "The Downeaster Alexa," on her father's Storm Front album, shares her name.