When rocker Billy Joel took his daughter to a recent event at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, it came as a surprise to some that the Piano Man was in town.
After all, the 75-year-old icon didn't have a show in South Florida in early June, when he and daughter Della Rose checked out "Space Explorers: The Infinite."
But Billy Joel's is a familiar face around town. From Palm Beach to Boca Raton and west to Wellington, Joel and his family have planted deep roots in Palm Beach County.
Here are five things to know about William Martin Joel and his time in Florida's Golf Capital.
1. He's a Palm Beach resident, with a townhome in a triplex near the Brazilian Court Hotel north of Worth Avenue.
An entity associated with Joel paid $9.05 million for the Midtown property in late 2021.
The townhouse has four bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and a total of 4,956 square feet of space.
This is far from the first Palm Beach County property he's owned.
He also has had properties along the coast and farther inland for years.
2. He recently bought property in Boca Raton and has an estate on the market in Manalapan.
One of Joel's most recent Palm Beach County purchases is a mansion in an exclusive gated community in Boca Raton. An entity tied to the musician paid $29 million for the 15,000-square-foot waterfront home in the Sanctuary development earlier this year.
He also owns an ocean-to-lake estate in Manalapan that is on the market for $49.9 million.
3. He owns equestrian land in Wellington.
Joel has been tied to a trio of properties in Wellington's Palm Beach Point equestrian community.
The three neighboring properties on Palm Beach Point Boulevard were bought in 2016, 2018 and 2020 for a total of $9.6 million. The estate is named Middlesea Farm.
Public records show work is ongoing on at least one of the properties, with a recent building permit to cover a dressage arena.
Joel's wife Alexis Roderick is an equestrian who competes at the Winter Equestrian Festival. The couple has two daughters, Della and Remy, who also ride.
4. He's not shy about heading into public.
Some celebrities prefer to not spend a lot of time in public and would balk at a quick shopping trip to the local bookstore. It would seem that's not the case with Billy Joel.
He’s been spotted at local stores and events, including equestrian competitions in Wellington, supporting his wife as she competes alongside some of the top equestrians in the world.
While he isn’t exactly a homebody, Joel is by all accounts a pretty low-key guy, and people who spot him around town sometimes don’t even know who they’ve just walked past — until someone else points him out. He often dons a baseball cap and wears relaxed attire such as blue jeans, polo shirts and T-shirts.
5. He plans to spend even more time here.
When asked about listing his Long Island home for sale last year, Joel said he wasn't abandoning his hometown — but he was going to head south more often.
"I'm just gonna spend a little more time in Florida, like old Jewish guys from Long Island do," Joel said, as reported by Palm Beach Daily News in January.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
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