ALEXA RAY JOEL, DAUGHTER OF BILLY JOEL & CHRISTIE BRINKLEY IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AFTER A SUICIDE ATTEMPT!

The daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley downed a handful of sleeping pills in an apparent suicide bid Saturday and was rushed to a Manhattan hospital, police sources said.
Alexa Ray Joel, 23, was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center after paramedics responded about 12:30 p.m. to a 911 call from her West Village apartment, a police source said.

Fire Department officials said she told medics she had taken eight pills and was having trouble breathing.

"She is stable," said Claire Mercuri, Alexa Ray's publicist, hours after she arrived at the hospital.

Two law enforcement sources said the overdose appeared to be intentional, though a person close to Alexa Ray said she only ingested a homeopathic antihistamine called Traumeel.

Brinkley, in a blue rain coat, swept into the hospital about 4:20 p.m. Alexa Ray was released a few hours later, a source said. It was not clear where she was taken.

Billy Joel remained in his Long Island home, a friend said. "Billy didn't go so it didn't become a circus atmosphere. He was in constant phone contact."

Alexa Ray is the only daughter of Joel and Brinkley, whose nine-year marriage ended in divorce in 1994.

A source said she has been an emotional wreck since breaking up with her boyfriend, former bandmate Jimmy Riot, a few years ago.

"She has battled depression," the source said. "She had a rough breakup with a boyfriend . . . It was her first love."

A family friend said Brinkley's ugly split with former husband Peter Cook and Joel's marriage with a woman "almost her own age" also took heavy tolls on Alexa Ray.

Her own breakup added another layer of stress to the aspiring singer, who has struggled living "in the shadow of two famous parents," the friend said.

"Alexa has some emotional issues. This may be a cry for help," the friend said. "Christie loves Alexa, but she can be tough on her."

Added the family friend: "Her mother was a supermodel. Her father is one of the biggest pop stars in America. She's trying to find her place in the world."

After dropping out of NYU, Alexa Ray launched a singing career and was scheduled to perform twice in Manhattan on Thursday - at J&R Music World and the New York Stock Exchange tree lighting.

Her latest single is called "Invisible," which her Web site says "tells the story of disappointment over losing love and self-esteem and finding female empowerment."

In an August posting on her MySpace page, she listed her mood as "forgotten" and complained about her love life.

"I don't like dating!!! Wish I could be in a relationship again without having to date," she wrote.

"I HATE going out!! I'm a homebody and a workaholic ... I don't like going out and drinking to meet men!!! I always have to drag myself out the door to get up the motivation to go out, and when I do go out, I don't meet anybody!!!"

She continued, "I live in the greatest city in the world and I can't seem to meet an interesting guy who also happens to be NICE."

Despite her troubling public admissions, Alexa Ray's apparent suicide try left her pals stunned.

"She seems to have her head screwed on straight so I just don't get it," said Gail Worley, a Manhattan writer. "She's not someone that you would think was suicidal."

But it wasn't the first time a Joel turned to suicide. Long before he became a famous musician, a 21-year-old Billy Joel swallowed furniture polish in a bid to off himself.

"I was suicidal," Joel told Details magazine last year. "I was 21. It's a tough age. Things hit you really hard. A relationship with a girl had ended and I was devastated, and then it didn't work out with the recording we did, and I just figured the world didn't need another failed musician.

"You take yourself so seriously - you've got your head so far up your a-- you can't see straight."