“Happy Birthday Alexa Ray Joel!” the singer captioned the sweet photo. Many fans joined in and showered the singer’s daughter with well-wishes in response to his tweet, with one user writing, “Happy Birthday to your daughter! So much fun to see kids grow up into lovely, charming, kind adults. Bless your continued journey.” Another fan wrote, “her song is timeless and could be your best if you didn’t have so many best songs,” referring to the 73-year-old musician’s song “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” from his 1993 album, River of Dreams.During an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Joel opened up about why he wrote the song, stating, “Alexa, who’s my oldest and who’s now 34, was about seven years old. Her mom [Christie Brinkley.] and I were going to be breaking up, and she knew that was going to happen. During that time, she asked me, ‘What happens when you die?’” Joel and Brinkley married in 1985 and divorced just shy of 10 years later, in the spring of 1994. The two eventually went on to marry other people. Joel continued: “Now, every child probably asks their parent this because it’s a scary thing for children. The best way I could explain it to her was, ‘Well, you go into other people’s hearts.’ She seemed okay with that explanation, but I did it with the song. I thought it was a good way to impart that thought.” When asked how Alexa sees that song today, Joel said, “That’s one of her favorite songs.” In addition to Alexa, Joel also shares two younger daughters–Della Rose, 7, and Remy Anne, 5–with his current wife, Alexis Roderick, whom he married in July at his Long Island estate. Happy birthday, Alexa!
