(GettyImages)

Billy Joel was set to release a memoir this summer called “The Book of Joel,” which was to take readers on an “emotional ride” from his early hard times to the height of his success.

The book was going to cover the backstories to his hits, such as “Just the Way You Are” and “New York State of Mind,” as well as take a frank look at his marriage to Christie Brinkley and his battles with depression and substance abuse.

But the autobiography about being a rock star dad will NOT hit bookstores.

Before Joel’s manuscript was finalized he decided to shelve his memoir for HarperCollins.

The singer said, “It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I’m not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music.”

What do you think about Joel deciding not to put out a memoir?

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Billy Joel has gone from banging the piano keys to banging the keyboard, and is set to release a memoir this summer.

HarperCollins announced today that on June 14 the rocker will release “The Book of Joel,” which will take readers on an “emotional ride” from his early hard times to the height of his success.

The book will also cover the backstories to his hits, such as “Just the Way You Are” and “New York State of Mind,” as well as a frank look at his marriage to Christie Brinkley and his battles with depression and substance abuse.

Joel also reflects in the autobiography on fatherhood and the ups-and-downs of being a rock star.

Will you pick up a copy when it’s released?

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(Rolling Stone)

Elton John has some straight talk for Billy Joel.

In a new Rolling Stone cover interview, the British music legend doesn’t mince words when discussing Joel, his friend and frequent touring partner.

“He’s going to hate me for this, but every time he goes to rehab they’ve been light [on him],” says John. “When I went to rehab, I had to clean the floors. He goes to rehab where they have TVs.”

John continues, “I love you, Billy, and this is tough love. Billy, you have your demons and you’re not going to get rid of them at rehab light.”

He also claims the struggle to remain sober is damaging Joel’s music.

“At the end of the day, he’s coasting,” says John. “I always say, ‘Billy, can’t you write another song?’ It’s either fear or laziness. It upsets me.”

“Billy’s a conundrum. We’ve had so many cancelled tours because of illnesses and various other things, alcoholism.”

Now Joel has responded to John’s remarks in an exclusive statement to Gossip Cop.

“I’ve worked with Elton for such a long time and I’ve enjoyed our relationship too much to let something as random as these comments change my affection for him,” says Joel.

“Elton is just being Elton.”

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In today’s lineup, Lindsay Lohan and vampires bring a lot of money to Los Angeles, Billy Joel gets “Glee”-ful, and Jaden Smith will join Justin Bieber.

1. Billy Joel has given “Glee” permission to use his music. (OMG!)

2. Lindsay Lohan‘s rehab came with a $40,000 per week price tag. (TMZ)

3. Vampires have earned Hollywood $7 billion since Twilight hit theaters two years ago. (THR)

4. Mission: Impossible 4 is considering young actors for the role alongside Tom Cruise. (Deadline)

5. Jaden Smith will join Justin Bieber on stage at Madison Square Garden. (NY Post)

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(Rolling Stone)

After the massive success of last week’s all-Madonna episode of “Glee,” series creator Ryan Murphy is thinking of bringing some other big names back to school.

Britney Spears‘ manager got the ball rolling by taking to Twitter to gauge interest in a “Britney”-centric installment, and Murphy is “interested.”

“I’ve always loved her. I’m entertaining it,” says Murphy. “I think young kids would like that.”

While nothing has been planned, Murphy is reportedly contemplating episodes that would center around Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel, and Courtney Love.

(How’s that for an eclectic group?)

“The key is the songs in the catalogue have to have a certain degree of theatricality,” explains Murphy.

With that in mind, Gossip Cop wants to know which artist YOU want to see given the “Glee” treatment!

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The New York Post has done it again with a vicious and beyond inaccurate report titled, “Alexa’s tormented childhood” about Christie Brinkley and Alexa Ray Joel.

According to the paper, “Christie Brinkley ignored early signs that daughter Alexa Joel was becoming a troubled, lonely and isolated child,” and that it culminated with her reported suicide attempt.

How did they come up with this wildly mistaken theory?

The Post dredged up court papers from Brinkley’s divorce from Billy Joel back in 1995. At the time, a former nany, Alzirene Vianna, said Alexa Ray seemed “withdrawn,” “angry” and, at times, it “was like talking to a wall.”

Astounding.

The Post is actually using court papers from a divorce nearly 15 years ago – a time when it was difficult for an eight-year-old girl to see her folks split up – as evidence that today she has a poor relationship with her mom and allegedly attempted suicide as a result?!

Disgraceful.

Gossip Cop would be more concerned if an eight-year-old was not “angry” and withdrawn” as her parents went through a divorce.

The Post’s piece today on Brinkley and the younger Joel is not only mean-spirited, but it’s a desperate attempt to connect fairly spread out dots. The result is vile and way off base.

Just the other day, Brinkley and Billy Joel acknowledged in a joint statement that their daughter’s “dangerous actions” was a result of “suffering a devastating heartbreak.”

Gossip Cop knows for a fact that the young woman has struggled with her breakup from musician Jimmy Riot.  

But rather than giving Alexa and her family a little peace as she deals with some larger issues, the Post manufactured a bogus story, and incredibly brought up her behavior as an eight-year-old when her entire family was going through a tough time.

It was only a few days ago that the New York Post printed an untrue story titled, “Alexa’s holiday in hell with mom,” in which they wrongly claimed the recent incident with Alexa stemmed from “a dysfunctional family getaway with her mom.”

On the contrary, Alexa enjoyed their trip to the Turks and Caicos islands. Not only had Brinkley written about how good a time they had on vacation on her Facebook page, but Alexa e-mailed a mutual friend of ours to say she was having the “best time,” and that she had penned a song while away with her mom. 

Billy Joel and Brinkley previously dismissed the Post‘s “Holiday in Hell” story, publicly stating, “Consider the source.” Indeed.

As we’ve said before, Gossip Cop has known Brinkley for close to two decades — almost the entirety of Alexa Ray’s life — and the supermodel is an attentive supermom. The last time we saw her – about three months ago – she was having dinner with, that’s right, Alexa.

Rather that printing inaccurate stories — and cherry-picking decade and a half old quotes from a former nanny, already termed a “disgruntled employee” by Brinkley’s lawyer, the Post should simply leave Alexa and her parents alone to privately deal with this incredibly private situation.

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(PerezHilton.com)

“It seems that a nine day vacation to Turks and Caicos with her mother, Christie Brinkley and half siblings Sailor and Jack led Alexa Ray Joel to attempt suicide!” writes Perez Hilton, who lifted an equally inaccurate report from the New York Post.

Perez, who didn’t call a single person close to Brinkley or her daughter to see if the story was true, continues, “She may have already been depressed from her breakup with musician Jimmy Riot, but it was the constant fighting of the past few days that put her over the edge.”

Really?

There’s more about how Alexa Ray and Brinkley fight “regularly over issues relating to Billy Joel,” but Gossip Cop will stop this nonsense right here.

First of all, Gossip Cop has known Brinkley for close to two decades — almost the entirety of Alexa Ray’s life — and the supermodel is an attentive supermom. In fact, the last time we saw her – about three months ago – she was having dinner with, that’s right, Alexa Ray.

And Perez and others, who repeated this story without fact-checking, haven’t been in touch with those close to Brinkley and Alexa Ray the way Gossip Cop has since the incident on Saturday.

Flat out, their recent vacation to the Turk and Caicos islands, which Brinkley documented with happy photos of the family on her fan page, did NOT put Alexa Ray “over the edge.”

A rep for Brinkley told Gossip Cop that the “fighting” on vacation theory is “so untrue,” and everyone we checked with as well not only echoed that sentiment, but were appalled that such an article could be written without verifying whether it was accurate.

What happened with Alexa Ray had nothing to do with her and her mom’s trip, and Gossip Cop hopes that this unfortunate situation with the younger Joel isn’t further exacerbated by additional false reports.

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(GettyImages.com)

UPDATE: Alexa Ray Joel, the daughter of Billy Joel  and Christie Brinkley, has been released from a New York City hospital after ingesting eight pills yesterday in a reported suicide attempt.

Brinkley rushed from Long Island, New York to Manhattan to be by her daughter’s side. 

A rep for both Billy Joel and Alexa Ray told Gossip Cop that the young singer was “going to be fine.” We’re also told, “Billy and Christie are doing well.”

Gossip Cop can further confirm that Alexa Ray did NOT ingest sleeping pills as widely reported. Instead she took Traumeel, a homeopathic antihistamine.

Additionally, her rep told us, “we cancelled the tree lighting” performance that Alexa Ray was scheduled to perform at on December 10.

We will update you as soon as we receive more details. 

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12/6/09

Alexa Ray Joel, the 23-year-old daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, is in stable condition after being hospitalized in New York for taking several pills in an attempted suicide.

A friend of Alexa Ray’s called 911 earlier today from the young woman’s apartment in New York, and said Joel had taken too many pills, though it was unclear what she had taken.

A rep for Billy Joel and Alexa Ray, who’s a singer as well, told Gossip Cop that she’s “stable,” and that “doctors are assessing her.” We were also told that, though it’s a scary situation, “She’s going to be fine.”

Although it is strongly suspected that it was an attempted suicide, her rep wouldn’t confirm or deny those reports.

Just 19 hours ago, Joel tweeted on Twitter, “I will be performing twice on Dec 10 in NYC. Both performances are free + open to the public!” along with a link for more information.

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(GettyImages.com)

Elton John was scheduled to perform last night with Billy Joel at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, but the concert was scrapped a few days ago because John was still battling an E. coli bacterial infection and the flu. 

Today, Gossip Cop checked in with both his rep and Joel’s spokeswoman, who told us that John is “feeling much better” and has “recovered.” 

So the question is, though he had to cancel a number of performances because of illness, including last night’s, will John still be at his Elton John AIDS Foundation’s “An Enduring Vision” event tomorrow night?

Good news. The musician’s rep confirmed to Gossip Cop that John will definitely be at the fundraiser in New York, which will be hosted by Anderson Cooper, and where President Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone are set to be honored.

For the latest in accurate celebrity reporting, follow @GossipCop on Twitter, and check GossipCop.com for updates!

(GettyImages.com)

“New couple alert: Billy Joel and Shania Twain!” begins a piece in the National Enquirer, which claims there was “instant attraction” between the two musicians when they ran into each other at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden in New York a couple of weeks ago.

And while it is true they talked then about how they are both now single, it is not true, as the Enquirer touts on its cover, that they have been out on “secret dates.” Nor is it accurate when they quote a so-called “source” who says, “they’re going out so they can get to know each other better.”  

After the tab lists certain traits that Joel reportedly finds attractive in Twain — more “age appropriate” and “independent” — the rag reports, “Shania and Billy are both excited about what the future holds.”

Naturally, the Enquirer covers its tracks — because eventually you’ll see pictures of them with other people — and adds, Joel and Twain “are not yet exclusive.” 

How about “they are NOT dating?”

The reality is they are simply colleagues and friends, and as Joel’s rep reiterated, the Enquirer love story is “not true.”

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(GettyImages.com)

Having recently postponed concerts in London and Dublin, Elton John has now had to push back a few more performances in the U.S., due to a battle with the flu and a “serious case of e-coli bacterial infection.”

John’s “Face 2 Face” concerts with Billy Joel, slated for November 2 (Seattle), November 7 (Seattle), and November 10 (Portland), are being put on hold for the time being, but will likely be rescheduled for December.

Although John was reportedly hospitalized, Gossip Cop hears he’s on the mend.

The “Face 2 Face” tour has already been plagued a bit. In July, concerts were postponed when Joel was told to rest after being diagnosed with “extreme fatigue” and “flu-like symptoms.”