In the late 2000s, Alexa Ray Joel began her music career while also trying to differentiate herself from her famous parents, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley. She self-released her EP Sketches in 2006, going on to tour a few times and releasing subsequent singles later.
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The curse of the nepo baby is that they are constantly compared to their successful parent. They often find it hard to separate themselves from a well-known lineage. Occasionally, the parents facilitate that, setting up opportunities for their aspiring children. Often, this breeds distrust with fans or at the very least a sense of unfair advantage.
But Billy Joel tried not to do that to Alexa Ray. In a 2008 interview with MassLive, Joel revealed that he wants to let his daughter achieve success on her own. When asked if he was giving her advice on the music industry or staying out of her way, he shared some fatherly insights.
“I’ve tried to not be a stage father. I don’t want to be Jessica Simpson’s dad,” he said. “I knew my kid was going to want to be a musician. She was singing since she was a baby and had perfect pitch. I said back then, ‘Oh she’s got it, the genetic qualifications.’”
Billy Joel Didn’t Want To Give His Daughter an Unfair Advantage in the Music Industry
Joel continued, “I think there’s a danger in me being too involved because people are going to naturally assume ‘Oh she’s a rich kid, her dad’s opening all the doors for her, she’s riding his coattails.’ She’s going to get a certain amount of flack just because of what her last name is, which is kind of a mixed blessing.”
He went on to admit that children of actors experience the same thing, but often it’s different for musicians. Typically, musicians want to be as authentic as possible. If you have famous parents, that becomes ten times harder.
“Children of actors usually have an easier go of it,” said Joel. “Musicians’ children, there’s a credibility factor that you have to be aware of it.”
There’s No Way To Avoid Fatherly Advice, Even if Your Father Is Famous
Additionally, Billy Joel shared that he did give his daughter advice. Just not in the way one would think.
“I’ll give her advice whenever she asks me,” he said. “She’ll call me on the road and say ‘Hey dad I’m in Omaha, where do I eat?’ ‘Oh, we’ve got a good steak joint for you.’” Still, he added, there were moments where he would work on music with her as well.
“She asks for advice sometimes when she gets stuck on a musical problem, an arrangement or rhythmic question,” Joel said, clarifying, “I don’t write her songs. She writes all her own stuff. She’ll ask me what I think of something, and I’ll tell her ‘Well I like it.’ or ‘Something’s bothering me about it,’ but I don’t do anything for her except give her advice when she asks for it.”
Alexa Ray has said in the past that she and her father write songs in the same way. “It’s no wonder I write music in the same way [my father] does: melody first, and lyrics second,” she said in 2006. She revealed that growing up the way she did, with Billy Joel as her father, gave her a “unique inside-peek into the songwriting process.”
Billy Joel added that the way Alexa Ray is approaching her music career is the best way to do it. “Look I’ve been through the mill and lived to tell the tale so I’m a good source of information, but I’m not a stage father,” he said.
“She’s doing it the right way, which is the hard way,” Joel added. “She’s playing all over the States, playing colleges, clubs. That’s how you learn your craft, you’ve got get up there and have a bad night and have people boo you or ignore you. That makes you better.”
Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
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