Billy Joel Loves Hamptons Living

Billy Joel may have a New York state of mind, but he¹s just as at home in the Hamptons as in the Big Apple. Currently, the six-time Grammy winner resides in a renovated 18th-century residence in Sag Harbor. Joel tried to sell his Sag Harbor home and leave the Hamptons in 2005, even lowering the asking price from $5.4 million to $4.2 million, but he just couldn¹t get away.

The 4,000-square-foot mansion has harbor views and features four fireplaces that Joel had installed, as well as two boat docks. Ex-wife Christie Brinkley recently purchased a Sag Harbor cottage of her own down the street from Joel¹s home. Previous Hamptons homes have also made headlines for Joel. In 2002, he sold a 4,000-square-foot mansion in North Haven for $5.5 million, far less than the $7 million he paid. Joel reportedly never lived there. He wanted to tear the house down and build something larger, but couldn¹t get the required building permits. The 1950s mansion had a deepwater dock, pool and tennis court.

Jerry Seinfield purchased an East Hampton home from Joel in 2001 for a record $32 million. The residence overlooks a nude beach, something Joel apparently neglected to tell Seinfield before selling it.

A 2003 car accident in Sag Harbor linked Joel to the Hamptons in a major way. However, these days he¹s known more for frequenting notable East Hampton eateries like Della Femina, Nick & Toni¹s, Rowdy Hall and the Palm.

Wife Katie Lee shares Joel¹s love for the Hamptons. In 2003 she helped open a hot dining spot, the Jeff & Eddy¹s Restaurant, and also writes a culinary and lifestyle column called the ³East End Girl² for Hamptons Magazine. Lee married Joel in 2004.

Joel was born May 9, 1949 in the Bronx, New York. The son of a Holocaust survivor and a British émigré, Joel soon moved to the Long Island suburb of Hicksville where he grew up.

At a young age, Joel¹s interest in music led to classical training in piano. His teenage years, however, led him to street gangs and boxing. Joel won 22 of his 24 fights in the Golden Glove amateur circuit, but he quit the sport after sustaining a broken nose.

Joel joined his first band at the age of 14, originally called the Echoes and later the Lost Souls. At 16, he joined the Hassles and then helped form the heavy metal group Attila. Though Attila scored a record deal, the album flopped and the depressed Joel attempted suicide by drinking furniture polish.

Four years later, in 1971, Joel was back in the studio with a solo record contract with Artie Ripp of Family Productions. A faulty album recording and a bad contract convinced Joel to run away to Los Angeles. There, he performed in the Executive Lounge under the name Billy Martin. Joel¹s experiences in Los Angeles would become the inspiration for ³Piano Man.²

Joel connected with Columbia Records in 1973, but he really started to achieve success with the release of The Stranger in 1977. The album earned Joel his first two Grammy awards.

Subsequent hits, including ³It¹s Still Rock and Roll to Me² and ³We Didn¹t Start the Fire,² guaranteed Joel success throughout the 80s and 90s. Upon his retirement from pop music recording in 1993, Joel had recorded 15 albums and sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Joel¹s personal life often eclipsed his musical career, with high-profile marriages to model Christie Brinkley in 1985 and Katie Lee in 2004. He also endured a very public battle with alcoholism and legal battles with his manager and lawyer. Brinkley and Joel¹s 20-year-old daughter Alexa Ray, who was raised in the Hamptons, recently chose to leave her studies at New York University and follow in her father¹s footsteps for her first concert tour.