Alexa Ray Joel feels the pressure of being a celebrity baby
At first, it’s hard to muster sympathy for the daughter of a supermodel and one of the worlds most famous musicians. But dig a little deeper and you see that Alexa Ray Joel has had to live her entire life in the spotlight, under the constant threat of comparisons to her parents Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel. Like her father, the 21-year-old has developed a passion for music and is currently touring in promotion of her EP ‘Sketches.’
Alexa has at least one talent over her father, however — she can write music in her head, without the aid of an instrument.
It’s really funny because my dad’s like…’How can you not write on the piano?’ The piano is his thing.
Billy — who has advised his daughter to stay true to her heart and to treat each song like "a baby" — is supportive of Alexa’s music career. Alexa, in turn, enjoys performing for her father.
It’s actually pretty relaxing in a weird way because he’s so laid back. He always laughs at the gigs. He’s like ‘She’s good!’ It’s funny. My mom, on the other hand, is like front and center with the camera.
As for her recent feud with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Alexa maintains her belief that it is unacceptable "to degrade people and make a business out of hatred." However Alexa said she is ready to move on, and does not want the incident to detract from her music. Alexa is acutely aware of the pressure on her as the child of famous parents, and knows that expectations of her will always be high as a result.
My mom is not just a supermodel, but a woman with class. My dad is obviously very credible in his field. I have moments when I freak out when I think about it that way.
Source: Access Hollywood
May 16th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Alexa sounds like a well rounded and mature young woman. It’s cool that she defended herself and her family against Perez Hilton’s verbal insults and so forth. I can see her have a long and fullfiling music career if she wants it.
I just hope, despite what she told Perez Hilton etc., that she doesn’t feel pressure by the entertainment industry/her record lable to have plastic surgery on her nose a’la Ashley Simpson and Jennifer Grey*.
(*Like Alexa, Jennifer had inherited her father’s nose and had it until she had plastic surgery in the 1990s, which totally changed her look and made her look less like her most famous character, “Baby.”)