Billy Joel's daughter with Christie Brinkley fainted on a New York cabaret stage Saturday, her rep said Monday.
An emergency room doctor concluded that Alexa Ray Joel, 28, experienced vasovagal syncope, a common cause of fainting that "is usually harmless and requires no treatment," Joel rep Claire Mercuri said. In vasovagal syncope, according to the Mayo Clinic website, a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure can cause reduced blood flow to the brain, which results in a brief loss of consciousness.
Joel was performing to a sold-out crowd at The Café Carlyle on Manhattan's Upper East Side when she collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Mercuri said.
"Ms. Joel was taken ill earlier in the afternoon and announced from stage that she pulled out her back and neck, but wanted the show to go on," she said. It was closing night of her two-week run at the venue.
"I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to support me," Joel said Monday. "I was excited and determined to fulfill my final performance and I really wanted to end my run with a bang, but this was not what I had in mind and hope I have the opportunity to make it up to the wonderful audience very soon."
The songwriter and singer launched her performance and recording career in 2006.
Alexa Ray Joel speaks up on depression
She suffered from what she called "heartbreak-related depression" after a break up with longtime boyfriend and former bandmate Jimmy Riot in 2010. She was rushed to a New York hospital on December 5, 2009, after swallowing a handful of homeopathic pain pills, her publicist confirmed at the time. The pills were not considered to be life-threatening.
After media reports suggested that her depression was sparked by a fight with her mother, Christie Brinkley, the former model and her ex-husband Billy Joel released a public denial.
"As much as we hate dignifying tabloid stories with a response, we feel we must set the record straight," Joel and Brinkley said in 2009. "Every parent can imagine the pain and anguish ... of a daughter who is working to recover from the dangerous actions she took while suffering a devastating heartbreak."
sOURCE: CNN.COM
