An uptown girl was seen in her uptown world.
Well, technically it was midtown.
Billy Joel’s ex-wife Christie Brinkley was spotted at Madison Square Garden during the Piano Man’s concert on Friday, dancing to the song that was based on her.
The 70-year-old model was shown on the video board during the song as she danced and smiled while in the crowd. A fan captured the moment on video and posted it to TikTok with the caption, “40 years later and your ex man is still grinning at you like that while he sings the song he wrote about how rich and hot you are?”
Brinkley posted a montage of videos from the concert, including a clip of her and her daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook singing “Uptown Girl.”
The hit song was released in 1983, with the original source of inspiration of the song being debated at times. When Joel first wrote the song, he was dating model Elle MacPherson and titled the song “Uptown Girls” after all models in Manhattan. Joel said on “The Howard Stern Show” in 2010 that when he began dating Brinkley, he made the song singular.
“I contacted Christie later on down the road after Elle and I had stopped dating,” Joel told Stern. “Then I started dating Christie, and rather than it being about all these different girls, she became the uptown girl. I started writing it about one person.”
Brinkley starred in the “Uptown Girl” music video alongside Joel. The two married in 1985 and divorced in 1994.
Their daughter, 38-year-old Alexa Ray Joel, was also in attendance at the concert. She appeared on stage with her father for a duet, singing “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” and “To Sir With Love.”
Joel, 74, was performing the 101st show of his monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, where he has performed sold-out concerts once a month since 2014. The final show of his arena run is set for July 26.
Many stars have made cameo appearances during the residency, with Jerry Seinfeld and Sting appearing on stage at the 100th show in March.
This time, an uptown girl came to see a downtown man.
Brinkley discussed being known as the song’s title character with Yahoo in 2019.
“Being the ‘Uptown Girl’ was really fun and it remains really fun to have a theme song,” Brinkley told Yahoo. “You know, you go into tennis and they play it. You go here or on a talk show and they play it as you walk out. It’s really fun to have a theme song, you know? How many (people) get to have that?”
Billy Joel is “Movin’ Out” of MSG! The legendary musician announced the end of his 10-year residency in Manhattan — here’s when he’ll play his final show. NBC New York’s Andrew Siff reports.
