At some point, Elton John became the den-mother to all of the broken, drunken, and drugged-out musicians in the world. Elton famously battled his own addictions, and now he steps in and speaks out when he thinks he sees another celebrity who is going down the path of addiction. Eminem memorably gave Elton credit when Em spoke about his own rehab and recovery – Em and Elton are tight now, and Elton was one of the people who encouraged Em to get clean. And now Elton is stepping up for another friend – Billy Joel. Billy and Elton have done tours together, and I believe that they are close friends in real life. Now, Billy Joel has, like, a million DUIs and various incidents of drunken shenanigans. It’s been going on for years, and now Elton is stepping up – in a new Rolling Stone interview – to say that Billy needs rehab, and he needs to take it seriously.

Elton John says Billy Joel needs to get serious about rehab and “do something better” with his life. John makes the comments about his former touring partner in the Feb. 17 edition of Rolling Stone magazine. He tells the magazine the pair canceled many tours because of Joel’s illnesses and “alcoholism.”

He also says Joel should do rehab like he did it – with patients cleaning floors, not watching television.

John says he knows Joel is going to “hate” him for this. But he says Joel needs tough love.

Joel spent a month in a California rehab center for treatment of alcohol abuse in 2005. He spent about two weeks at a Connecticut facility in 2002.

A representative for Joel hasn’t returned an Associated Press e-mail request for comment on John’s remarks.

[From The Huffington Post]

Billy Joel is 61 years old… which is younger than I was expecting. I really thought he was in his late 60s or early 70s! That’s what alcoholism does to you, children. It ages you like a mofo. Anyway, my point about Billy being 61 years old: perhaps he thinks he’s just too old to start a new, sober life? Perhaps he just wants to go out in an alcoholic blaze of glory? I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying that it might have been more interesting if Elton had stepped up years ago.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The first week in December, Alexa Ray Joel was hospitalized after she sort-of attempted suicide by taking an overdose of homeopathic pills. I say “sort-of” because I, and many others, think it was more a cry for help than a genuine suicide attempt, and Alexa Ray seemed physically fine after a brief hospitalization. After she got out of the hospital, her parents Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley stepped up in a big way to take care of their 24-year-old daughter. There were tabloid reports that she has been staying with either of them throughout the past month, and her parents are just trying to focus on making sure she’s getting healthy, emotionally and physically.

On New Year’s Eve Alexa sent out a message on her Facebook page thanking her friends, fans and family alike for their support throughout the past month. This is Alexa’s first public statement since the suicide attempt, and it kind of breaks my heart:

In the new year, Alexa Ray Joel plans to speak up about the “heartbreak-related depression” that contributed to her scary Dec. 5 incident — in which she was rushed to Manhattan’s St. Vincent’s Hospital after swallowing a handful of homeopathic pills. (The pills weren’t capable of killing her, but a panicked Joel called 911 to get checked out by doctors.)

The recovering 24 year-old musician posted a note on Facebook on New Year’s Eve to gratefully acknowledge her friends, fans and supporters. “I just wanted to thank you all for the incredible outpouring of love and support,” wrote Joel, the daughter of music legend Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley. “It’s certainly been a whirlwind of a month, but reading all of your encouraging posts has never failed to cheer me up!”

Noting “many new exciting developments” for 2010, Joel mentions “creative projects” plus volunteer work, including a new pet cause. The rock progeny says she wants “to help young girls with something I feel I know a GREAT deal about: Heartbreak-Related Depression. Although it does not get much attention in our society, it is a very serious and painful condition that often gets ‘swept under the carpet.’ I hope to bring this topic more to light”

At the time of her early December incident, Joel had been dealing with the end of a long-term relationship with former bandmate Jimmy Riot. Joel, a graduate of NYU, says she is extending her education to further examine her depression. “I’m even going back to school for Psychology in hopes to learn more about this and many other afflictions that many of us have had to face,” she says. “After all, there’s nothing more fascinating than the human mind and it’s respective conditions.”

In the Facebook note, the young woman also thanks her mother for a recent birthday celebration (she turned 24 on Dec. 29): ” Just want to send a quick shout-out to my beautiful Mother and all of her friends for the lovely “Birthday Tribute”… I was very moved by that, so thank you!!!!”

[From Us Weekly]

I feel for this girl, I really do. I think she just got overwhelmed with everything that was happening to her and around her, what with her split with her boyfriend, her parents’ public divorces, her own struggling music career, I can easily see and commiserate with how overwhelmed she felt. I’ve been there myself – not to the point of overdosing, but I went through a year when I had a bad breakup, an emotional breakdown and a series of devastating panic attacks that left me reassessing my life. I hope Alexa continues to get stronger and healthier, and I hope we see more of her this year!

Alexa Ray in New York on June 18, 2009 (credit: Fame) and August 15, 2009, credit: Belpanno/Fame.

Just because two parents are divorced doesn’t mean they can’t work together for the sake of their children. Billy Joel and ex-wife Christie Brinkley have done just that, by issuing a joint statement this morning on behalf of their troubled 23-year-old daughter, Alexa Ray, who was hospitalized after a suicide attempt earlier this week. Both Joel and Brinkley expressed anger at some of the tabloids for their factual inaccuracies in the days after their daughter’s hospitalization, especially the NY Post.

Alexa Ray Joel’s long-divorced mom and dad, Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel, are teaming up for a heavy-duty round of defense.

Shortly after the 23-year-old musician was rushed to the hospital for an apparent suicide attempt, the New York Post ran a story about a recent family vacation gone awry. Needless to say, that family was less than thrilled.

“Every parent can imagine the pain and anguish we face as parents of a daughter who is working to recover from the dangerous actions she took while suffering a devastating heartbreak,” Billy, 60, and Christie, 55, said in a joint statement issued this morning. “As much as we hate dignifying tabloid stories with a response, we feel we must set the record straight to protect our family.”

Then they rip into the newspaper.

“The story that ran in the New York Post on December 8th, and has been subsequently spread across the Internet, is filled with vicious lies and attempts to smear our character and that of our beloved daughter. We ask the public and legitimate media outlets to please ‘consider the source’ and to not further exacerbate our daughter’s situation by repeating and legitimizing these false reports.”

They even sign the statement together: “With much appreciation, Billy Joel & Christie Brinkley.”

Billy and Alexa’s rep, Claire Mercuri, tells E! News the family is not seeking legal action against the New York newspaper.

It would be nice if folks would just leave Alexa alone for a little while and let her get herself together. It would be even better if the tabloids would get the facts right before rushing off to the presses. I always take the NY Post’s reports with a huge grain of salt- they usually end up being a bunch of bull, loosely held together by a couple nuggets of truth. Whatever is going on, it looks like Alexa’s parents have circled the wagons and are trying to protect her. I hope she is getting the help she needs and is able to recover in private.

“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…” you know how the rest of that saying goes. When rock elder statesman Billy “William” Joel married twenty-something Katie Lee, everyone in the universe mumbled “gold digger.” So it was no surprise to anyone – even his own 20-something daughter- that after getting her 20 minutes of fame, including an appearance on Oprah, the couple was splitsville. But Billy doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes, because just recently he was seen out on a date with yet another significantly younger woman – who looks a little like his last wife.

Billy Joel has a new girlfriend again. Monday night the piano man stepped out with a young, Katie Lee-esque brunette named Deborah Dampiere for the opening of ‘Tosca’ at the Metropolitan Opera.

Joel, who announced his split from third wife Lee in June, was dating former ‘Young and the Restless’ star Alex Donnelly just a few weeks later.

When reporters at the Met asked Joel about his divorce proceedings right in front of his date, he brushed off his publicist’s attempts to quiet them, The New York Observer reports.

“It’s a free country, she can ask whatever she wants,” he told the publicist. “How are the divorce proceedings going? I don’t know. Ask my lawyer.”

“For now, I’m enjoying dating this lovely lady,” he later added.

[From Huffington Post]

Well, that’s certainly a far cry from earlier reports that Billy is distraught over the separation, so I suppose that’s a positive, right? I am certainly no expert when it comes to relationships, being on husband number three myself, but here’s a little tip from me to Mr. Joel: if people are still asking you how the divorce proceedings are going, it MIGHT be a little too soon to be getting into another relationship. Just a thought. And, given how brilliantly your last 20-something wife played you to jump-start her own career, you may want to lay off the pretty young things for a while, too.

After an initial flurry of reports following Billy Joel and Katie Lee’s separation announcement, they’ve been keeping their drama pretty much out of the papers. Until now, that it. Page Six is reporting that Billy Joel is desperate to get back with Katie, and that he’s “obsessed with her”. Meanwhile, Katie seems to be living it up. She’s been going out a lot, planning a trip to Paris, and chatting/flirting with that E! cutie, Ben Lyons. I’d imagine Ben would look great to any girl, but especially a girl who’s been with Billy Joel for five years. Unknown is whether Katie is actually getting it on with that hot Israeli fashion designer/gigolo Yigal Azrouel:

BILLY Joel should have tried to “Get It Right the First Time” with soon-to-be ex-wife Katie Lee Joel. Sources say the aging pop star, who is legally separated from Katie Lee, is completely distraught over the June breakup and wants to get his woman back.

According to friends of the couple, “Billy is obsessed with her” and is trying to rekindle the relationship. The two split because Katie Lee — a TV food critic and chef — wanted to have kids and a family, and Joel did not. Adding to the tension were Katie Lee’s many nights out with designer Yigal Azrouel.

“Billy never wanted to go out with her. She wanted to have fun and promote herself, so she started hanging out with Yigal,” a source told us. Insiders say that Joel now believes Azrouel and Katie Lee were never more than friends and he’s doing everything he can to win her back. But a friend of Katie Lee told us, “They’re not getting back together. She is trying to move on.”

And it looks like she’s doing just that. A spy who saw Katie Lee at the Metropolitan Club Thursday night during the Moet party for Meryl Streep’s new movie, “Julie & Julia,” said she was “talking about visiting Paris, and mentioned going there on her own to study cooking.”

The following morning, Katie Lee was spotted at Norma’s in the Parker-Meridien hotel “chatting up and flirting with [E! correspondent] Ben Lyons.”

Joel, however, is not enjoying the same carefree life. He recently postponed two concerts with Elton John upstate because of “flu-like symptoms.”

Last month, Page Six reported that Joel was dating former soap star Alex Donnelley, but it seems that romance has fizzled.

A rep for Katie Lee had no comment. Joel’s spokeswoman told us, “The split between them is amicable. They remain friendly, and they do communicate.”

[From Page Six]

This is sort of a sketchy report. I tend to think that part of it could be true, but Billy might not want to reconcile with Katie for reasons involving love. I’d be willing to bet Katie signed a pre-nup, but Billy probably isn’t interested in parting with any kind of limited assets. And hey, he might still love her. I’m just thinking that Billy’s mindset might be along the lines of “A bird in the hand…” A few weeks ago, there were confirmed reports that Billy was seeing a soap star named Alex Donnelley, and unconfirmed reports that Billy and ex-wife Christie Brinkley were getting closer again. I tend to think that Billy and Katie should just call it a day… but if they do get back together, my guess is that it will be about money and babies.

Just a side note: I’m so proud that I didn’t make any reference to Billy Joel as “William Joel”, to use Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goopspeak. It was killing me. I wanted to call him William Joel this whole time.

Here’s Katie Lee attending the ‘Julie & Julia’ premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on Thursday. Images thanks to WENN.com . Header from February 2008. Image thanks to Fame Pictures .

Billy Joel split from his 27-year-old wife Katie Lee just a little over a month ago, and he’s already got himself a new girlfriend. Naturally one might worry that Billy, 60, would make the same mistake and find himself a much younger lady love, but it appears he’s learned his lesson. Billy is dating much more age appropriate actress Alex Donnelley, who used to star on “The Young and The Restless.” And she’s 50! I say that with an exclamation point not because 50 is old, but because it’s such a rational age for Billy to date.

LIFE is good for Billy Joel . Just a month after separating from wife No. 3, Katie Lee Joel, the Piano Man is dating Alex Donnelley, the former star of “The Young and The Restless.” Joel — who continues to break records touring stadiums with Elton John this summer — met Donnelley through friends backstage at his recent Washington, DC, concert. “The two hit it off immediately,” said an insider. The actress has been visiting Joel at his home in Sag Harbor, where they go boating or ride around on Joel’s custom motorcycles.

[From Page Six]

I would hope that if Billy’s learned his lesson about dating someone who’s in the same life stage, he’s also learned not to take things too quickly. I always find it strange that celebrities are jetting off to tropical locals and staying at each other’s vacation homes at the point when most of us are on date eight. They just seem to move at a much quicker pace, which is probably why their relationships also seem to reach their end sooner. And chilling at a mansion in Sag Harbor and boating around is certainly not a bad way to spend a summer.

Hopefully this romance will at least help Billy move on from his last marriage. It’s too early to say, but it could even result in another one.

Here’s Billy Joel performing with Elton John during the ‘Face 2 Face Tour 2009′ at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on May 26th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

After last week’s revelation that the National Enquirer got the story right, and that Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee really were splitting, there were many rumors in the wake of the announcement. The rumors probably started before the official split, but now that there’s a nasty divorce on the horizon, “sources” are coming out of the woodwork. One of the many hilarious side notes is that all of the sources are going to New York publications – Long Island forever and all of that, I suppose. Billy Joel is a popular worldwide entertainer, but you can’t take away a New Yorker’s need for a divorce fought amongst the New York tabloids. First up, with have a little item in the New York Daily News, about the babies it seems neither of them wanted, that they’re now both trying to pretend they both wanted:

Another possible reason for Billy Joel’s breakup with wife Katie Lee: They couldn’t agree on when to start a family. A friend of the 60-year-old Piano Man tells us: “Billy wanted to get going now. Katie, who’s 27, wanted to focus on her career.” A friend of Katie argues, “That’s not true. If anything, it was the other way around.”

[From The New York Daily News]

Oh, that’s the sweet spot. “If anything, it was the other way around.” Chuckle. God, I love a nasty separation/divorce when there are no innocent kids around. There’s just something so soothing about an old guy (who should have known better) and a gold-digging child-bride battling it out in the tabloids.

But what of the original reason for the split, cited by the Enquirer and the New York Daily News? That was the rumor that Katie Lee had been getting hot and heavy with 36-year-old Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Katie and Yigal allegedly have been carrying on an affair for a while now – but Page Six has a great scoop on Yigal. Apparently, Katie’s not the only young fashionista that hangs on Yigal’s every word. Yigal is quite a “swordsman” who has “been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career.” This is all because Yigal is the holy grail of fashion designers: a good-looking straight guy. According to Page Six’s sources, that alone ensures that “everyone lines up.”

KATIE Lee Joel isn’t the only comely female to be linked to Israeli fashion designer Yigal Azrouel.

Azrouel’s close relationship with the 27-year-old celebrity chef is rumored to have played a role in her breakup last week with Billy Joel, 60, after five years of marriage. Katie and Azrouel were spotted “dirty dancing” in Miami earlier this year, and a source told Page Six that Katie frequently opted to stay in the city near Azrouel instead of hanging out with her husband on Long Island.

A rep for Joel has said her relationship with Azrouel is “absolutely unrelated” to the split, but fashion insiders say Azrouel has quite the reputation as a fashion swordsman.

“He’s been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career,” a source told Page Six, adding that Azrouel has had relationships with higher-ups at both W magazine and the New York Times. “He loves to have women over for small, intimate dinner parties and to play video games. That’s his big thing.”

Added another source: “Obviously, there just aren’t that many straight guys in fashion. So when one comes on the scene, everyone lines up. And Yigal is very into the social element of the business, which is why he’s always photographed on Patrick McMullan’s Web site and has a store out east,” referring to his boutique in Water Mill. Azrouel was previously linked to socialite Fernanda Niven.

Back in April, Joel’s rep told us, “Yigal is a friend of Katie’s. They have collaborated on dresses for her media appearances. They worked together to create designs. It’s a simple friend-work relationship.”

Both Azrouel and Katie Lee were invited to the Whitney’s Persol Incognito Design Exhibition preview tomorrow, though she has not confirmed her attendance. Azrouel could not be reached.

[From Page Six]

He really sounds like an Israeli gigolo rather than a fashion designer. I guess the point of this story was the tabloid letting Katie Lee down gently, if she had hopes of leaving “William Joel” for a dashing Israeli. Not going to happen, Katie. It’s the oldest story in the book – gold-digging child-bride meets older man of her dreams, marries old man, realizes old man is no fun, goes out to have fun with Israeli gigolo, leaves old man for Israeli gigolo, gigolo tells girl “actually, I’m seeing other people”, girl comforts herself with multimillion-dollar divorce settlement, alone and weeping. It’s the modern fairytale/cautionary tale.

Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel are shown on 2/6/08 and 10/3/08. Their mansion in Center Island, NY is also shown. Credit: Fame Pictures

When Billy Joel, 60, and his super-talkative child bride were on Oprah last year, I could tell that Katie, 27, didn’t get along with Joel’s 23 year-old daughter, Alexa Ray. Oprah asked Katie about her relationship with Alexa and she didn’t really answer the question, demurring graciously to say “Alexa is really a special person to me. She was my maid of honor in my wedding actually, and I’m always impressed by her. She has so much talent and grace. She’s just really special.”

Now that Billy and Katie have announced their impending divorce after five years of marriage, Alexa says she knew it was coming. In her statement she doesn’t sound all that broken up over it:

Billy Joel’s split from wife Katie came as no surprise to Alexa Ray Joel, the music man’s 23-year-old daughter with Christie Brinkley.

“I have a pretty good woman’s intuition, so I could tell,” Alexa told PEOPLE at the sixth annual Wayuu Taya Foundation Gala at the Stephan Weiss Studio in New York City Wednesday night. “I know my dad very well.”

The couple announced their separation in a statement June 17 after nearly five years of marriage. Joel says she first heard the news from her dad.

“He was the first person to talk to me,” says Alexa. “Of course, being who he is, you can’t just trust everybody. I like knowing that my father can come to me.”

Despite her parents’ troubled marriage record, Alexa says has hardly sworn off the idea of one day getting hitched herself – although she dispels rumors of a romance with John Mayer. “I would love to get married. Having seen what I’ve seen, sure I have a different perspective on marriage, but I’m a true romantic, and I will be having a wedding at one point.”

Meanwhile, Joel says she stands behind her dad: “He’s a strong man. He’ll get through this, and I’m going to help him.”

[From People]

Can you imagine if one of your parents remarried someone who was just a few years older than you? That’s got to be an awkward situation. In Katie and Billy Joel’s Oprah interview, Katie definitely seemed to have the dominant personality and did most of the talking. She claimed their relationship worked despite the over 30 year age difference because “He has this job that’s allowed him to be really immature for a long time – rock star, and I happen to be more mature for my age so we meet somewhere in the middle.” It’s not surprising that it didn’t last. I only wonder if we’ll hear more about their troubled marriage when their divorce proceeds. We sure heard plenty of explosive details when Billy’s ex, Christie Brinkley, divorced her last husband.

Alexa Ray Joel is shown on 6/17/09. Katie Lee Joel and Billy Joel are shown in 2007. Credit: WENN.com

Damn it! The National Enquirer got it right yesterday about Billy Joel and Katie Lee. The couple announced their formal split to the New York Daily News in a joint statement. They say that they’re totally separating, they still remain friends, and they still have “admiration and respect for each other.” The NYDN article then goes through three unnamed sources for theories on why the couple split. First theory: Katie was fooling around with Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Added bonus for this theory is that the alleged affair was the main reason given in the National Enquirer’s report, which turned out to be amazingly prescient. Second theory: Age difference and different interests. She’s a young city girl, he’s a 60-year-old with an affection for his boats. Third theory: Billy was screwing around on Katie just as much as she was screwing around on him, and they both decided to call it a day. Can I get a little bit of Columns A, B and C?

Looks like the third time isn’t the charm for the Piano Man. Billy Joel and his latest wife, Katie Lee, are splitting up, the couple confirmed to the Daily News on Wednesday.

“After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate,” reps for the pair said in a joint statement.

“This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other.”

Rumors have swirled for months that Joel’s third marriage was on the rocks. Various reports have linked Lee, a 27-year-old chef and author, with Yigal Azrouel, a dashing 36-year-old Israeli-born fashion designer who has frequently escorted her to events.

Sources reported seeing them dirty dancing in Miami in January and have claimed that in unguarded moments Azrouel referred to Lee as “my girlfriend.”

Reps for the Joels insisted that Azrouel was just a friend and that Billy, 60, was happy to skip the parties, fashion shows and fundraisers that his younger wife enjoyed.

“Their decision to separate was absolutely unrelated to Yigal,” Joel’s spokeswoman, Claire Mercuri said.

“It was really the age difference that caught up with them,” said a friend of the couple. “They grew apart. She is very career-oriented. She loves going out. She loves the city. When Billy isn’t touring, he’d rather be on Long Island with his motorcycles and boats.”

Still, the friend added, “I can’t imagine the stories about Yigal helped.”

One ally of Lee said, “Billy is no one to talk. It wasn’t like he was a monk when he was on tour.”

But a longtime pal of Joel insisted “he’s always remained faithful to Katie. When he was touring with Elton John, he flew home almost every night. He rarely stayed in a hotel room. When would he have done this supposed fooling around?”

In recent weeks, Joel has been living on Long Island, where he owns mansions in Sag Harbor and Sagaponack. Lee is said to have stayed at the couple’s Manhattan townhouse, not far from Azrouel’s boutique.

While one pal denied talk of a big blow-up last week, both have retained lawyers.
Joel is believed to have a prenuptial agreement to protect the millions his many hits have made him.

Besides their New York properties, he owns a mansion in Miami Beach. Recent reports had him buying Lee a restaurant in Sag Harbor but Mercuri said he was looking at the space “only as real estate investment.”

He and Lee married in October of 2004. His nine-year marriage to model Christie Brinkley, the mother of their daughter Alexa, ended in 1994. His nine-year marriage to Elizabeth Weber ended in 1982.

Lee’s rep, Ken Sunshine, declined to comment beyond the couple’s statement.

“Billy’s doing fine,” Mercuri said. “He’s looking forward to resuming his Face2Face Tour with Elton John.”

[From The New York Daily News]

Nice little promotion there at the end, kind of like “Oh, another marriage down the tubes, but wait, you should come see him play with Elton John!” That actually sounds like a great concert, and I wish they were coming some place close to me. As far as theories behind the split, et cetera, I don’t really have some hardcore opinion. As I said yesterday, I wasn’t invested in this relationship at all – she seemed like a gold-digging child-bride, and he was plenty old enough to know better. It’s a wash.

In another Billy Joel-related note, Gwyneth Paltrow referred to Billy as “William Joel” is her last Goopy newsletter. Goop was describing some cookies Katie Lee made for a dinner party, and Goop referred to the couple as “the lovely Katie Lee Joel and her husband William…” Since it seemed like Billy was already going to be sending out his spokesperson for all of the separation stuff, the guy also dropped this comment into US Weekly: “No one calls him William.” I bet that gets Goop’s panties in a wad.

Header photo is from 5/4/09. Other photos are from 2007. Credit: WENN.com

I’m not invested in the marriage of Billy Joel and his third wife, Katie Lee. Even though Katie is 27 years old, compared to the 60-year-old Billy Joel she has always seemed like a child-bride to me. They got married when she was 23 – just four years older than his daughter Alexa Ray – and in the past four years, Katie has managed to build a half-decent career for herself as some kind of professional foodie, launching a now-defunct website, writing about food for magazines, making guest appearances on television shows, and hosting the first season of Top Chef.

There seems to be trouble in gold-digging child-bride paradise though. The Enquirer is reporting a juicy rumor that Billy Joel is convinced that Katie has been cheating on him – with 36-year-old Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Azrouel’s stuff has been in Vogue, and he seems like a half-decent designer, favoring those sort of urban-combat-luxe kind of designs. So what’s an up-and-coming, straight fashion designer doing with the Pianoman’s trophy wife? I have no idea, but apparently Billy Joel has convinced himself they’re up to no good, and Billy has already contacted his divorce lawyers:

“Take a hike!”

With those angry words, Billy Joel pulled the plug on his four-and-a-half-year marriage to much-younger wife Katie Lee during an explosive fight in mid-June, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

The 60-year-old Piano Man, who’s been married twice before, has already retained a top lawyer and is expected to hit the courthouse again soon to file for divorce from Katie Lee, 27, say close sources.

The final straw for the superstar musician was his young wife’s refusal to end her cozy relationship with Yigal Azrouel, a handsome 36-year-old Israeli-born fashion designer.

In our April 20 issue, The ENQUIRER reported that Katie Lee had been seeing Yigal for nearly a year. She’d moved out of Billy’s Long Island mansion to the New York condo they have – just blocks from Yigal’s boutique.

Billy, who had been away for months on a long concert tour, was told by close pals that Katie Lee was up to no good – and that he should dump her.

Their final fight occurred when Katie Lee asked Billy to accompany her to an event she was hosting in the Hamptons on June 13, said the source.

“He snapped, ‘So now you want me to be by your side and play your happy husband?! Take a hike!’”

[From The National Enquirer]

Of course this is nothing but a rumor printed in the Enquirer. But there’s a whiff of believability to it. How many of these trophy-wife situations work out in the long run? Especially with the age difference that huge? It’s not as if Katie Lee is some kind of Catherine Zeta-Jones type of woman, who could make the situation work in the long-run. And perhaps if Billy Joel was so concerned about his wife playing around, he shouldn’t go on tour for months at a time. My guess is we’ll see Billy filing for divorce in the coming months.

Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel are shown on 5/4/09 and 6/15/09. Credit: PRPhotos