Christie Brinkley talks 'Uptown Girl' on the song's 36th anniversary: 'It was a good time'

Raechal Shewfelt
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment

Christie Brinkley’s split from ex-husband Billy Joel didn’t taint her memories of starring in the video for his song “Uptown Girl.”

She still has happy memories of the hit song, which was released on Sept. 29, 1983.

“The whole album was an amazing experience, because we were, you know, madly in love and being able to go into the studio and watch the whole creative process was just so exciting and wonderful, you know, so it was a good time,” Brinkley told Yahoo Entertainment.

It’s been debated how much of the song was originally based on Brinkley when it was written, but it’s undeniably linked to her now, both because of the video and the fact that she married Joel in 1985.

“Being the ‘Uptown Girl’ was really fun and it remains really fun to have a theme song,” Brinkley said. “You know, you go into tennis and they play it. You go here or on a talk show and they play it as you walk out. It’s really fun to have a theme song, you know? How many [people] get to have that?”

Brinkley was dating Joel when he released his popular song, from his album Innocent Man, and she married him in May 1985. They welcomed a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, in December that same year, before they divorced in 1994.

The song lives on.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle’s newsletter.