Who Is Billy Joel's Wife, Alexis Roderick? The 40-Something Once Took On Wall Street
At the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday night, Billy Joel performed his new single, "Turn the Lights Back On." Helping him celebrate the performance, and his first new song in 17 years, was his wife, Alexis Roderick, who joined him on the red carpet before seeing Joel sing on stage.
Roderick is the "Piano Man" singer's fourth wife. The duo got together in 2009, and were married in July 2015, when Joel was 66 years old, and Roderick 33. At their wedding, the bride was eight months pregnant with their first child — Joel had another daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley at the time. The couple now have two daughters, born in 2015 and 2017.
Joel once told Billboard that his marriage to Roderick was a good reason for him to stop touring. "This is my fourth marriage now. It's not good for a relationship to be gone for that long," he explained. "So I became a homey." Roderick herself is also a homey, staying at their homestead to raise the kids — after having had a career on Wall Street.
Finances, horses, and surprise vows
When Billy Joel met his wife Alexis Roderick, she was in the middle of a career on Wall Street. The native New Yorker was working as a risk manager at the investment banking company Morgan Stanley. The two met at a restaurant, and while Joel was smitten, Roderick was less than impressed. "I may have gotten a little fresh," the singer admitted to The New Yorker.
It took a couple of months, but eventually the two began a romance. With Joel's encouragement, Roderick retired from her financial career after she moved in with the five-time Grammy winner. The couple dated for six years before inviting family and friends to their annual Fourth of July party, where they surprised guests by exchanging vows.
When she's not busy with her daughters, Roderick loves to ride horses, and is a member of the United States Equestrian Federation. She's a former competitor in the world of riding, and Joel is reported to have purchased a five-acre ranch in Florida for his wife.