What happened to Olivier Chandon de Brailles? All about Christie Brinkley's race car driver boyfriend who tragically died in 1983

Christie Brinkley is opening up about herself like never before in her new memoir, Uptown Girl, published on April 29.

In it, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model reflected on her relationships over the years, including French race car driver Olivier Chandon de Brailles, who died in a harrowing accident while they were dating in 1983.

About her views on romance and dating, she told People magazine in April 2025,

“I still believe in love,” adding that there might be some "miracle guy out there" for her, but if there isn't, "it's okay."

A young heir to the Chandon-Moet French champagne millions at the time of his tragic demise, Olivier Chandon de Brailles was killed in a race car freak accident. At the time, the 27-year-old was testing the vehicle when it collided with a retaining wall at more than 100 mph and hurtled into a canal. The incident occurred at the Moroso Motor Sports Park on the B-Line Highway in March 1983.

Christie Brinkley's short-lived romance with Olivier Chandon de Brailles explored:

Christie Brinkley and Olivier Chandon de Brailles met at Studio 54 in New York, and according to an article from UPI at the time, they were regulars on the New York disco scene. At the time, his family and Brinkley were heavily opposed to his racing, though she frequently supported him from the pits when he was on the track.

On the day of his death, however, she was not with him. Shortly after, his remains were returned to Paris to be put to rest. Investigations into the incident showed no signs of mechanical failure in the car or problems with the race track, and was listed as an accidental death in the end.

Not long after, Christie Brinkley went on to meet her husband, iconic singer Billy Joel. The pair met at a St. Barts motel dive bar.

“He definitely didn’t look like a rock star,” she told PEOPLE. In her memoir, Brinkley wrote that Joel "was sunburned to a crisp, his face the same color as cranberries." She approached Joel, and they quickly fell "hopelessly in love."

"We laughed like you couldn't believe,” she told PEOPLE. “But also he was so sensitive and he did all the old-fashioned things, the flowers, the notes and the poems and the songs. He was going into the recording studio and he was writing all these songs and saying ‘This one’s for you.’ How could I not fall in love with him?”

Christie Brinkley famously starred in the music video of Joel's hit song, Uptown Girl, that year, which her memoir is also named after. Though, she did clarify that she wasn't the muse behind the lyrics.

“Billy started writing the song about a kind of fantasy girl that didn’t really exist,” she told PEOPLE.

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Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel wed in March 1985, and they welcomed daughter Alexa Ray Joel later that same year. However, they parted ways in 1994, and have since remained "great" friends and co-parents.

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