Billy Joel and wife call it quits

Grammy-winning artist and SNL regular, Billy Joel has announced he and his wife are calling the game and heading to court. Their marriage is done.

The news broke late last night in a brief statement, “After nearly five years of marriage Billy Joel & Katie Lee Joel have decided to separate.” says their rep. “Billy & Katie remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other.”

Well, that’s the official version. The word is that one cause of their parting is age — Bill’s 60 and Katie Lee’s 27, and the age-gap caught up with them and drove them apart. “Katie is very career-oriented and loves going out. But when Billy isn’t touring, he’d rather be on Long Island with his motorcycles and boats.” says Bill’s rep, Claire Mercuri.

What a dull man.

The other problem is fashion. Or rather, a certain fashion designer named Yigal Azrouel. The grapevine’s been buzzing for months after Katie was spied schmoozing with the 36-year old, Israel-born icon in Miami earlier this year. And Bill was not pleased. He’s been living alone in his Long Island mansions since then, while Katie was consigned to a Greenwich townhouse — not far from Azrouel’s boutique.

Previously married to supermodel, Christie Brinkley until their divorce in 1994, Billy met West Virginia-born Katie — who you might recall as the host of Top Chef, season one – at a party in New York in 2003. They married at his Long Island mansion a year later. The couple have no children of their own, and as Bill has a pre-nup designed to protect a fortune gained from 30-years as a star, friends expect no drama in their upcoming action.

Source: Daily News