Alexa Ray Joel praises father Billy Joel for regularly giving away front row seats at his concerts: ‘A Real Mensch!’
Alexa Ray Joel’s got a lot of love for her dad Billy Joel.
In an Instagram post that circulated Tuesday, news about American icon Billy Joel’s front row approach at his shows made waves on an account tanksgoodnews.
After it was revealed that the 71-year-old singer ‘never sells tickets to the front rows of his concerts’ and instead gives them to fans in the ‘nosebleed’ seats, Alexa commented, ‘A real mensch!’
A real mensch: Alexa Ray Joel, 34, the daughter of American icon Billy Joel sang her father’s praises on Tuesday after an Instagram post highlighted that her father doesn’t sell front row tickets to his shows, opting to give them to real fans in the worst seats instead
The 34-year-old daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, 66, used the Yiddish term for ‘good person’ as she sang her father’s praises in the comment section.
The post continued to write that in addition to wanting to ‘beat the scalpers’, Billy ‘got tired of all the bored, rich people staring up at him – so now he sends his road crew out to bring down the fans from the worst seats.’
The caption concludes that his approach ensures that ‘there’ll be people in the front row that are really happy to be there, real fans.’
The Instagram account – which spotlights heartwarming stories – took slices of its post information from a 2014 Billboard interview where Billy Joel talked about his shows’ energy and good intentions.
Daddy’s girl: Alexa got her love of singing from her famous father. The NYU grad released her first EP in 2006; June 2020
Musical family: Alexa Ray Joel who is also a singer performs with her dad Billy Joel at his sold out Madison Square Garden show in December 2018
In the actual interview Joel told reporters that he had a realization when it came to his shows that shifted his whole perspective on how he approached his concerts and fan base.
‘It turns out the real fans were always in the back of the room in the worst seats, he said.
‘We now hold those tickets, and I send my road crew out to the back of the room when the audience comes in and they get people from the worst seats and bring ’em in to the front rows. This way you’ve got people in the front row that are really happy to be there, real fans’ Joel continued.
He also added that this method helped prevent scalpers from price-gouging people. ‘For years, the scalpers got the tickets and would scalp the front row for ridiculous amounts of money.’
Family affair: Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel were married from 1985 to 1994. Both are re-married to other people but have a highly amicable relationship. Alexa Ray is their only daughter together
Singing his fans praises Joel stated that he enjoyed playing to younger people that could ‘only afford a low price ticket’ because ‘they make the best audience, they make the most noise, they’re the most enthusiastic.’
With live concerts on hold since March, it is unclear when Billy Joel will be back to touring for his millions of fans. The hit music maker inspired his daughter’s love of music and the two have even performed together at some of his sold out shows.
Since quarantine the respective Brinkley and Joel family’s have been spending time together; Christie Brinkley lives in the Hamptons while Billy Joel has a property on Long Island.
Alexa Ray and her fiance of three years, Ryan Gleason have been trading off between their NYC apartment and both her family’s homes. The couple who got engaged in 2017 after four years of dating had to postpone their wedding plans due to the pandemic.
New York quarantine: Alexa and her fiance Ryan have postponed their wedding due to the pandemic. The pair got engaged in 2017 after dating for four years