{"id":521297,"date":"2026-03-13T14:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521297\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:35:08","slug":"alexa-ray-joel-talks-billy-joels-touring-future-amid-brain-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521297\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexa Ray Joel Talks Billy Joel’s Touring Future Amid Brain Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAs a little girl, Alexa Ray Joel<\/a> would slip into costumes handed over by supermodel mom Christie Brinkley, then prance around performing Disney musicals like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. Her co-star in these whimsical home productions? Billy Joel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were three theater music nerds putting on musicals around the house,\u201d she tells The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cI would play the characters, and Dad would accompany me. Ever since I was born, it was music, music, music. He would also sing to me while I sat on the piano.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, as Billy continues taking time off while fighting a brain disorder<\/a>, Alexa Ray will be the one serenading him at Thursday\u2019s tribute event The Music of Billy Joel<\/a>. The fundraiser, organized by promoter Michael Dorf, will see her take the stage at New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall to perform tracks from Billy\u2019s decades-long discography alongside Matchbox Twenty\u2019s Rob Thomas, Matt Nathanson, Train\u2019s Pat Monahan, Sammy Rae, Rufus Wainwright, O.A.R.\u2019s Mark Roberge, Jon McLaughlin, Wyclef Jean and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd thanks to Alexa Ray\u2019s insistence, the 76-year-old \u201chomebody\u201d plans to attend. \u201cI said, \u2018Dad, you better be there! This is Carnegie Hall. Everyone\u2019s paying tribute to you, and it\u2019s an amazing group of artists,\u2019\u201d says the 40-year-old singer-songwriter. \u201cHe was like, \u2018Let me mark that down.\u2019 He\u2019s very organized with his little calendar.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe was so excited when he first played Carnegie Hall in the \u201870s<\/a>, so it\u2019s exciting for him to come back decades later and see amazing artists and his daughter pay tribute to him. It\u2019s a full-circle moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s also music to the ears of fans who have worried about the legend since his May 2025 announcement that he was canceling tour dates after being diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus<\/a>. The neurological condition affects balance, vision and hearing and caused Billy to tumble onstage months earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTalking exclusively with THR, Alexa Ray beams with pride sharing Billy\u2019s impressive efforts to overhaul his health.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s doing physical therapy regularly and he\u2019s doing great. He\u2019s lost weight as he\u2019s on his diet,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of him. He\u2019s such a trooper, so resilient and committed to being healthy and proactive. He\u2019s a fighter. He\u2019s always been a fighter and talks in his documentary<\/a> about how life\u2019s like a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s also a dad (Billy has two other daughters with wife Alexis Roderick Joel \u2014 Della Rose, 10, and Remy, 8) who doesn\u2019t want his kids worrying, which is why he urged Alexa Ray not to watch videos of the Mohegan Sun show, where he fell after a microphone spin. But she\u2019s also a daughter who doesn\u2019t always listen to her parents, so she watched anyway.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe played it down,\u201d she says. \u201cHe knows I have anxiety and am a neurotic worrier, so he was like, \u2018Everything\u2019s fine. It was just a little trip.\u2019 When I saw the footage, I was crying. But then I went with him to the doctors, and we\u2019re on top of everything. I just tell him to stay healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Billy wouldn\u2019t be Billy if he didn\u2019t hope to make a touring comeback, Alexa Ray has handed over some rules to the piano man, who briefly returned to the stage to perform with a covers band<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOnce a performer, always a performer!\u201d she says. \u201cBut health comes first. I said, \u2018If you\u2019re going to perform again, please stay seated at the piano. No throwing the microphone stand around!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Billy focuses on his health, Alexa Ray continues orchestrating her own musical path with her latest EP, Tales From a Winding Tower.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving mastered songwriting, piano and poetry by age 15, she released her first EP at 20 and was soon playing festivals like Bonnaroo, New York residencies and events with Billy. Like many following the footsteps of famous parents, she grappled with the expectations shadowing her surname.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I started out, I did feel that pressure, hence my first single \u2014 \u2018Notice Me<\/a>.\u2019 There was a desperation and sense of, \u2018Look at me. I have something of my own to offer.\u2019 I had a lot to prove and was craving validation. I think of Dad\u2019s song, \u2018Pressure,\u2019 and I definitely felt that.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNow that I\u2019ve dug my heels into the industry and become more comfortable with asserting my own voice, some of that pressure\u2019s died down. Thinking \u2018I have to live up to the last name\u2019 is so unhealthy. I struggle with anxiety and depression, so if I lean too much into the pressure, it drives me crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, it\u2019s an \u201cendless process\u201d carving out her own journey. Her biggest lessons have been to experiment, enjoy the journey and embrace her own voice.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s important for all independent artists or any creative that comes from famous lineage. You have to be your biggest supporter and focus on your vision because there\u2019ll always be naysayers, social media and white noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBilly encourages her to \u201cdo your own thing.\u201d Describing her father as a \u201cmusical thesaurus,\u201d he remains her greatest educator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShe gets a kick out of wowing him \u2014 like that time she covered \u201cJust the Way You Are\u201d for a Gap campaign<\/a>. Billy advised reconsidering her slower, mellow approach. \u201cHe\u2019s more tempo-driven, so he\u2019s like, \u2018Let\u2019s keep the tempo going. Keep the crowd snapping their fingers.\u2019 I said, \u2018No. If I do it the same way as you, it\u2019s not going to stand out. I can\u2019t say I put my stamp on it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe was trepidatious, then I recorded it with this romantic, sweet sound and he was crazy about it. He said, \u2018Hey, you proved me wrong.\u2019 That was fun because I love being able to stick it to dad a little!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLikewise, with Alexa Ray\u2019s rock-fueled 2025 single \u201cRiverside Way,\u201d she unexpectedly stunned Billy, who she thought would be more into her swoony latest song, \u201cHeavy Eyes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe said, \u2018How the hell did you come up with that?\u2019 It\u2019s very different from his style and a detour from what I write, but I wanted to be more wild and he loved it,\u201d says Alexa Ray, whose next single, \u201cOnly Just a Moment,\u201d is an ethereal ballad. \u201cHe\u2019s hard to please. He likes the classics \u2014 The Beatles, Elton John, Carole King \u2014 so the moments I\u2019m able to surprise him stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAlexa Ray also plans to surprise Billy at the event<\/a>, covering a track she\u2019s never performed before. The concert\u2019s proceeds, which exceed $200,000, will benefit organizations providing music education programs to underserved youth, such as Belong\u00f3 and Midori & Friends. Those snapping up remaining VIP packages<\/a> can attend soundcheck, rehearsals and dinner at City Winery with the performers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd while the evening will salute Billy\u2019s monumental mark on music, it\u2019s his role as a dad which is dearest to Alexa Ray. What\u2019s the icon like as a father? \u201cHe\u2019s just dad in a baseball cap, whistling around the house and joking around,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cHe loves his daughters and he\u2019s just \u2026 dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOr when his girls need him to be, he\u2019s just Aladdin.\u00a0<\/p>\n