Billy Joel Says Daughter Will Be "Fine" Following Apparent OD
Getty Images
Alexa Ray Joel and her mother Christie Brinkley attend the 6th annual Wayuu Taya Foundation gala at Stephen Weiss Studio on June 17, 2009 in New York City.
The daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray, downed a handful of sleeping pills in an apparent suicide attempt but is going to recover, police sources and media reports said.
Pop star Billy Joel said today his daughter "is going to be fine."
A law enforcement official says Alexa Ray was rushed to St. Vincent's after after taking eight pills at her West Village apartment.
The official says a friend frantically called 911 shortly after noon Saturday from the aspiring singer's apartment saying the 23-year-old had taken several pills and was "an emotionally disturbed person" who was "having trouble breathing."
Two law enforcement sources told the Daily News the overdose appeared to be intentional, though a person close to Alexa Ray said she only ingested a homeopathic antihistamine.
Brinkley swept into the hospital about 4:20 p.m. and Alexa Ray was released a few hours later, a source said. It was not clear where she was taken, the News said.
A source said she has been an emotional wreck since breaking up with her boyfriend, former bandmate Jimmy Riot, a few years ago.
"She has battled depression," the source told the News. "She had a rough breakup with a boyfriend . . . It was her first love."
Alexa Ray is the only daughter of Joel and Brinkley, whose nine-year marriage ended in divorce in 1994.
