Revealed: Billy Joel's ode to Uptown Girl Christie Brinkley was inspired by rival model Elle Macpherson
She may have played Billy Joel's Uptown Girl in the video for his 1983 hit.
But it turns out the track did not start out as an ode to Christie Brinkley, the model who went on to be come his wife.
Rival model Elle Macpherson also served as inspiration for the young singer, according to a new book, The Girl in the Song.
'Downtown man': Elle Macpherson played a part in inspiring Billy Joel's hit Uptown Girl, which later became an ode to Christie Brinkley
As authors Michael Heatley and Frank Hopkinson tell it, Joel was on holidaying in the Caribbean when he met three models staying in the same hotel - Macpherson, Brinkley and a young and then unknown Whitney Houston.
Video star: Christie star in the clip for Uptown Girl and went on to become the singer's wife
He went on to date Macpherson, now 47, in the early Eighties after his marriage to Elizabeth Weber ended.
The original name for the song was Uptown Girls.
But he later split from the Australian, turned his affection to Brinkley and made her the focus of his song.
Joel, 61, and Brinkley, 56, divorced in 1994 after nine years of marriage.
They have a daughter Alexa Ray, 24, and remain on good terms.
Last year Joel split from his third wife, television host Katie Lee, after five years, with sources blaming the 33-year age gap.
He has recently been spotted keeping company with a mystery young blonde.
Brinkley, who has been married four times, is believed to be single following a very bitter divorce from Peter Cook.
The pair, who have two young sons together, parted ways in 2008 after he admitted to having an affair with an 18-year-old store assistant.
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