Imagine how different the realms of fashion photography and pop music might have been if a sick dog hadn’t altered the course of events in 1974. Bianca, a puppy belonging to a young American woman in Paris, caused her owner to step outside for a phone call to the vet. While distracted, she collided with a tall man in a faded green US Army jacket, equipped with a camera. He introduced himself as a photographer seeking a California girl for a modeling assignment.

“If you’re not a model, you should be,” he told her. “You could earn a lot of money.”

When he asked for her name, she revealed it was Christie Brinkley.

Fast forward to the present day, and Brinkley is lighting up the screen from her kitchen in the Hamptons. Leading up to our Zoom interview, I was informed that her camera would remain off, a point that initially frustrated me. However, there seemed to be a miscommunication, as her video feed is clearly on. Dressed in an embroidered denim jacket from her own fashion line, she is a delight to converse with—charming, humorous, and down-to-earth. We are discussing her upcoming memoir, aptly titled Uptown Girl, a nod to the famous song penned by her former husband, Billy Joel, which features her in its iconic music video.

“I love the song,” she expresses. “It’s so fun to have a theme song for myself.” Yet, Brinkley’s influence extends far beyond her role as a muse. She is credited as the world’s first supermodel, gracing over 500 magazine covers and holding the distinction of being the only model to appear on three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers. Her illustrious career includes an unprecedented 25-year contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl, which is among the longest modeling contracts ever. Today, she holds an estimated net worth exceeding $100 million thanks to her thriving fashion line, skincare brand, and organic wine label.

“I’ve always aimed to embrace as many opportunities as I can, filling my life with rich experiences and adventures,” Brinkley reflects. It has indeed been a remarkable journey, interspersed with fame, exotic locales, and personal struggles stemming back to her childhood.

Born on February 2, 1954, in Monroe, Michigan, Brinkley relocated to Los Angeles as a child. Her biological father, Herbert Hudson, is remembered as “unhappy, unkind, and often cruel,” frequently punishing her with a belt.

“Sometimes, he’d dictate that I wait for my punishment in the den, and other times, it was immediate. I often wondered which was worse: the anticipation or the pain itself,” she recalls. To lessen the sting of her punishments, she would hide a copy of Life magazine in her pajamas.

“I believe I suppressed many of those memories,” Brinkley admits. “I remember feeling fearful of his return from work, the belt, and his threats to send me to an orphanage.”

After her parents divorced when she was eight, her mother remarried TV writer Donald Brinkley. “My mom wanted to ignore that part of our lives,” Brinkley states. “We never discussed it.”

Despite living in Malibu, Brinkley developed a fascination for all things French. She attended the prestigious Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, and at 18 moved to Paris to study art. There, she encountered cultural icons like Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and fell in love with her first husband, Jean-François Allaux. When he was drafted into the military, she acquired a dog, Bianca, who eventually changed her life.

Post-discovery, Brinkley’s life became a whirlwind of modeling opportunities: go-sees, photo shoots, endorsements, and magazine covers. She and Allaux made a life in New York, where encounters with John Lennon and Yoko Ono were not uncommon. “I made the cover of 11 magazines nearly simultaneously,” she reflects, naming prominent titles such as Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue.

Her modeling success led to other ventures, including a brief stint as a boxing photographer. “Once, while dining at the Plaza Hotel, I spotted Muhammad Ali crossing the street. I dashed through the lobby to him, declaring, ‘Muhammad Ali, I love you,’ and he replied, ‘Christie Brinkley, I love you too.'” This chance encounter led to her snagging ringside seats for his fights and getting published in The Ring and Sports Illustrated.

As Brinkley’s career skyrocketed—Harper’s Bazaar recognized her as one of the world’s most beautiful women—her marriage to Allaux began to suffer. “The more I succeeded, the clearer it became what I was missing by racing home to keep him company,” she says, noting that he might have been the only partner who didn’t cheat on her. Their marriage ended in 1981.

Following her divorce, Brinkley began dating French racing driver Olivier Chandon de Brailles. After he confessed to infidelity, she sought solace in St. Barts, where she met Billy Joel. He captivated her with his humor during a bar duet of The Girl from Ipanema. Later, they returned to New York and embarked on a relationship.

One day at Joel’s Long Island home, he revealed he had been writing a song about a “fantasy girl”—a song he named Uptown Girl, upon realizing he was inspired by Brinkley herself. She was present during its recording, which became a hit worldwide, topping charts in the UK for five weeks in 1983. She later joined him at the recording of We Are the World, reminiscing about sharing moments with music legends.

Reflections on Life and Love

Joel and Brinkley wed in March 1985, welcoming their daughter, Alexa Ray, in December. Nevertheless, Joel’s escalating alcohol issues strained their marriage. Brinkley mentions an incident where he, inebriated, shattered the patio doors of her parents’ home. “His drinking overshadowed everything—it felt like he preferred it over me.” They divorced in 1994 but maintained a friendship.

Brinkley faced two tumultuous marriages after Joel. She wed Richard Taubman following a helicopter crash, only to file for divorce a year later, claiming he owed her $2 million amidst a custody dispute for their son, Jack. “I don’t know what drove me into a rapid relationship; a psychologist concluded I had PTSD, which often leads to hasty decisions. Taubman was a stable relationship compared to my fourth husband, architect Peter Cook. They married in 1996 but separated when Cook’s infidelities and inappropriate behaviors came to light.

Brinkley first crossed paths with Donald Trump in the 1980s. Although she found him pretentious, she has been actively politically engaged, advocating against the Vietnam War and supporting Democratic candidates. She’s vocal about her opposition to Trump’s policies, even facing fears of government scrutiny due to her activism.

In our conversation, I ask a tough question about her critique of Trump, considering her perceived wealth and status. “I’ve been a working girl since I was 16, and I created my path,” Brinkley asserts. “I grasp the challenges people endure, and while I had my ups and downs, I have continued to persevere.”

When I inquire about the rumor of her owning 18 homes, she clarifies, “No, I don’t own that many. There was a time I had substantial investments in real estate in the Hamptons, but not 18 properties now.”

This year, Brinkley turned 71. “In my early career, 30 was deemed a fearsome number,” she reflects, citing warnings of being ‘washed up’ by that age. They were clearly mistaken. Her stepfather encouraged her, saying, “Christie, baby, you write your own script.” It’s a gripping narrative, one she notes would make a compelling film, perhaps humorously titled Four Weddings and a Funeral due to the trials in her love life.

“It’s still a script in progress,” Brinkley concludes. “At times, I felt as though others were writing it for me, yet it’s been a captivating story.”