Billy Joel is Creating a Buzz in North Florida
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Billy Joel has widespread appeal to many fans of all ages. His fan base is so diverse that it’s hard to state what his “target audience” would even be categorized as. Recently, he has started expanding on his musical tours to also include question-and-answer tour stops at colleges and universities.
This wasn’t always a likely path for Joel. According to Hank Bordowitz's book, Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man, the beloved singer was one English credit short of obtaining his high school diploma. The book quotes Billy as referring to the school when he states, “I told them, 'To hell with it. If I'm not going to Columbia University, I'm going to Columbia Records and you don't need a high school diploma over there'."
As a matter of fact, it was Columbia Records who did sign Billy. Also, it seems his attitude toward continuing education has changed quite a lot. He has been granted numerous honorary doctorate degrees despite his one-time status as a high school dropout. Fairfield University granted him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. New York’s Hofstra University gave him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. His other honorary degrees include a Doctor of Music that was granted from Berklee College of Music, another Doctor of Music from Southamption College, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music. He was even granted his high school diploma 25 years after he left the school. Meet Alexa Ray Joel, Billy Joel's Daughter
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Most Billy Joel fans know that the singer just adores his daughter. He beams when speaking of her, and he has had her join in on his projects. How much do you really know about her, though?
Billy’s only child, Alexa Ray Joel, is his pride and joy. Alexa was born to Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley on December 29, 1985. Brinkley is known as a supermodel, and she can be seen in the music video for Billy’s “Uptown Girl.” She is also noted for activism in speaking out against the cruelty toward animals inflicted by circuses like Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey.
With two famous parents, Alexa inevitably faced both extreme privileges and undeniable challenges. She always had a great love of music, and her dad sang nursery rhymes for her on the piano from the time she was very little. Alexa, whose middle name is in honor of one of Billy’s idols, Ray Charles, took classical piano lessons from the age of eleven until she was sixteen. She now cites classical music as the foundation for all other types.