"
Uptown Girl" is a song written and performed by American musician
Billy Joel. The lyrics describe a
working-class "
downtown man" attempting to woo a
wealthy "
uptown girl". It was released on September 29, 1983, on his ninth studio album
An Innocent Man (1983).
The 12" EP featured the tracks "
My Life", "
Just the Way You Are" and "
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (catalogue number TA3775), whereas some 7" single versions featured "Careless Talk" as a B-side.
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. According to numerous interviews with Joel, the song was initially written about his relationship with Macpherson, but it ended up also becoming about his soon-to-be wife, Brinkley, both women being two of the most famous
supermodels of the 1980s.
[4][5] Joel also has said that the song was inspired by the music of
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
The video depicts Joel and his backup singers working as auto mechanics. Brinkley arrives in a chauffeured vehicle as Joel and the mechanics dance with her. A poster of Brinkley can be seen in the garage as well as on a billboard above the garage advertising "Uptown cosmetics". At the end of the video Joel and Brinkley ride off on a motorcycle.
"Uptown Girl" peaked at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks from November 12 to December 10, 1983. It also reached number one in the United Kingdom, staying at that position for five weeks as his only number-one hit in the country. It was the second biggest-selling single of 1983 in the United Kingdom behind only
Culture Club's "
Karma Chameleon", which Joel had knocked off the number-one position on November 1, 1983. The song was the
19th biggest-selling single of the 1980s in the United Kingdom, selling 975,000 copies. It has sold over 1.06 million copies as of 2017 .
Billy Joel - Uptown Girl
Christie Brinkley appears as the main character of the video and later married Joel.
Christie Brinkley (born
Christie Lee Hudson; February 2, 1954) is an American
model, actress, and entrepreneur. Brinkley gained worldwide fame with her appearances in the late 1970s
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, ultimately appearing on an unprecedented three consecutive covers starting in 1979. She spent 25 years as the face of
CoverGirl,
[4] has appeared on over 500 magazine covers, and has signed contracts with major brands—both fashion and non-fashion.
Brinkley went on to work as an actress,
illustrator, television personality, photographer, writer, designer, and
activist for human and animal rights and the
environment. Brinkley has been married four times, most notably between 1985 and 1994 to musician
Billy Joel, several of whose music videos she appeared in. Her fourth marriage, to architect Peter Cook, ended in a much-publicized 2008 divorce. With a career spanning more than three decades, magazines such as
Allure and
Men's Health have named Brinkley one of the most attractive women of all time.
Brinkley was born Christie Lee Hudson in
Monroe, Michigan on February 2, 1954, the daughter of Marjorie (née Bowling) and Herbert Hudson. Her family moved to
Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, where her mother Marjorie later met and married television writer
Donald Brinkley in
Bel Air, Los Angeles. Donald adopted Christie and her brother Greg Brinkley. During this time, the family lived in
Malibu and then the
Brentwood neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Brinkley was educated at
Paul Revere Junior High School and attended
Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles from 9th to 12th grade. After graduation in 1972, she moved to
Paris, to study art.
Brinkley was discovered in 1973 by American photographer
Errol Sawyer in a post office in Paris. He took her first modeling pictures and introduced her to
John Casablancas of
Elite Model Management agency in Paris.
[8] Brinkley stated later: "I was basically a surfer girl from California. I never looked like a model." After being introduced to
Elite, where Brinkley met the
fashion photographers Patrick Demarchelier and
Mike Reinhardt[9] who called
Eileen Ford and told her about Brinkley, she returned to California, and by the end of a lunch meeting with Nina Blanchard (Eileen Ford affiliate in Los Angeles) she had been booked for three national ad campaigns.
Multiple appearances on the cover of
Glamour soon followed, along with a record 25-year contract with cosmetics brand
CoverGirl, one of the longest modeling contracts in history. In 2005, CoverGirl again signed Brinkley, using her in ads in magazines and TV commercials for mature skin products.
Brinkley appeared on three consecutive
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers (1979, 1980 and 1981) – the first time that had happened – and appeared in the publication's annual swimsuit issues and television specials for years to follow. Brinkley was featured exclusively in the first
Sports Illustrated Calendar and also released two of her own calendars. In 2005, Brinkley was featured in the special
Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary Issue's Hall of Fame, celebrating the most revered figures in the magazine's history and again in 2014, in the
50th Anniversary The Legends. As an editorial model, Brinkley has appeared on over 500 magazine covers, including
US,
Vogue,
Newsweek,
Rolling Stone,
Esquire,
Harper's Bazaar,
Cosmopolitan,
Glamour and the best-selling issue of
Life. She has held major contracts with
Chanel No. 19,
Prell,
MasterCard,
Breck,
Diet Coke,
Anheuser-Busch,
Got Milk?,
Healthy Choice,
Max Factor,
Nissan,
Noxema,
Revlon,
Clairol,
Borghese Cosmetics,
Danskin,
Nu Skin,
Yardley of London,
Halston,
Vogue Patterns,
Gottex and
Black Velvet, among others. Brinkley has been photographed in six continents in more than 30 countries
Brinkley appears with
Chuck Norris in a long-running series of cable TV
infomercials promoting
Total Gym home
fitness equipment. In 2008, Brinkley and Dr.
Carlon Colker promoted National Family Fitness Day with
Xbox 360 at the
Boy's and Girl's Club.
Brinkley promotes Christie Brinkley Authentic Skin Care, a line of beauty products, Hair2Wear, a line of hair extensions, Bellissima Prosecco, an organic
sparkling wine label and Christie Brinkley Eyewear, an eyeglasses eyewear.
Her financial holdings in 2019 were worth an estimated US$ 80 million, primarily as the owner of real estate mainly in the Hamptons
In 1983, Brinkley wrote and illustrated a book on health and beauty,
Christie Brinkley's Outdoor Beauty and Fitness Book, which topped
The New York Times bestseller list.
In 1989, Brinkley was, along with
Cheryl Tiegs and
Beverly Johnson, one of the three models featured as dolls produced by
Matchbox Toys called
The Real Model Collection. Brinkley illustrated the cover art for
Billy Joel's 1993
triple platinum album River of Dreams. For this,
Rolling Stone awarded her the honor of "Best album cover of the year".
Brinkley has designed clothing patterns for
Simplicity Pattern and in March 1994 helped design, for brand
Nouveau Eyewear, her line of prescription glasses and sunglasses called
Christie Brinkley Perspectives with worldwide sales. In Spring 1998 she released her own signature fragrance,
Believe. Her jewelry collection is manufactured by
Swank.
In 1991 Brinkley was considered to have an ideal, all-American look with her blonde hair, blue eyes, slim figure, and soft features, when
Allure first conducted a survey taking the pulse of the average American (men and women) searching for their beauty perceptions and preferences.
In 1997, Brinkley has appeared with
Chuck Norris in a long-running series of cable TV
infomercials promoting
Total Gym home
fitness equipment.
In 1998
Playboy readers voted Brinkley one of the
100 Sexiest Women of the 20th century.
[34] Brinkley is ranked third in the
AskMen.com Top 10 Supermodels Of All Time. In 2011,
Men's Health named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 16.
[36] Pop-topia.com named her No. 1 on their list of "10 Hottest Hollywood Women In Their 50s" in 2013.
Brinkley had a guest role in December 2012 on the comedy sitcom
Parks and Recreation. In the episode "Ron and Diane" she played Gayle Gergich, wife of Jerry Gergich played by
Jim O'Heir.
In December 2012, Brinkley co-hosted
Anderson Cooper Live and also danced with
Dancing With the Stars alumnus Gilles Marini during the show.
In August 2019, Brinkley was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on the
28th season of
Dancing with the Stars. However, sometime before the premiere, she suffered injuries to her wrist and arm that required emergency surgery. As a result, her daughter Sailor stepped in her place for the season.
In 1982, Brinkley had a romantic relationship with
Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to the
Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune. The two met at
Studio 54 in New York City at a party promoting a calendar in which Brinkley appeared. Chandon died a year later in a crash at a private pre-season practice session car race.
Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to a billion dollar champagne fortune, boyfriend of the most beautiful woman in the world, and he picks the most dangerous hobby he can find. Driving race cars... drowned after flipping his race car upside down in a pond.
In September 2015, it was widely reported that
John Mellencamp was in a new relationship with Brinkley. In August 2016, the couple announced their separation after almost a year of dating.
— --
Christie Brinkley never expected to fall for
John Mellencamp.
The 62-year-old supermodel recalled meeting the singer, 64, last year.
"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we're really opposites. He's kind of a throwback from another time, like a silent cowboy,'" she told
People magazine recently. "But then we talked and realized that we do have a lot of shared interests."
Marriages
- In 1973, to French artist Jean-François Allaux; the marriage ended in 1981 without children.
- In 1985, to musician Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949). The two had met in 1983 on the Island of St Barts, in the Caribbean and were married on March 23, 1985, on a yacht on the Hudson River, the second marriage for both. Guests included singer Paul Simon and members of the band Stray Cats. The marriage ended in August 1994, and produced one child, Alexa Ray Joel, born December 29, 1985. Brinkley and Billy Joel remained friends.
Christie Brinkley: I snubbed jet invite from ‘flirty’ Donald
CHRISTIE Brinkley has told how she once turned down a ride on Donald Trump’s private jet. The model said he called her in 1992 when he was still married to first wife Ivana and she was dating singer Billy Joel, at the height of her fame.
- In 1994, to real estate developer Richard Taubman. Brinkley and Taubman met in 1994 when a mutual friend introduced them. He proposed to her in May 1994, although she and Billy Joel were still married. She married Taubman on December 22, 1994, in Telluride, Colorado, near the area where they were both in a helicopter crash on April 1, 1994. Brinkley was 40 years old and Taubman 46 and she announced at their wedding that they were expecting a baby boy. The marriage ended in 1995 with one son, Jack Paris Brinkley, born June 2, 1995.
- In 1996, to architect Peter Halsey Cook. Cook and Brinkley met in 1979 when he was modeling. They were later reintroduced by a mutual friend, NBC's Jill Rappaport, and announced their engagement in August 1996. They married on September 21, 1996. They had one child, daughter Sailor Lee Brinkley, born July 2, 1998 (who has also become a model,. Brinkley's representative announced in July 2006 that Brinkley and Peter Cook planned to separate. The couple reached a settlement in July 2008, with the divorce finalized either on September 12, 2008, or October 3, 2008, per differing accounts.
Brinkley lives on
Long Island in
Sag Harbor, New York; she previously lived in
Bridgehampton and
Amagansett, Long Island. She and her children are fans of the
New York Islanders ice hockey team. Brinkley began doing promotions for the team after being noticed at games.
[59] In 2007, she showed her support by writing a blog for
NHL.com and filming a commercial. Brinkley helped found a club for
cutting, an
equestrian sport in which a rider has two and one half minutes to cut as many cattle from a herd as they can.
Since 1998, Brinkley has given nearly $1,000,000 to organizations and candidates of the
Democratic Party of the United States, including
Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama,
Democratic National Committee,
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,
America Coming Together and
Moveon.org. In the New York delegation, Brinkley served as a delegate on the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. She has also been involved in anti-nuclear activities and campaigned against the restarting of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) located at the
Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Brinkley supports
animal rights, most notably through the organization
PETA, having previously spoken out against the
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She became a vegetarian when she was 13 years old and then got her entire family to become vegetarians.
At 63 (yes, 63, you read that right!) Christie Brinkley still looks as young as she did when she first graced
Sports Illustrated. Just recently, she made another reappearance in
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition with her daughters looking more like their sister rather than their mother.