Rock legend Billy Joel is racing up the road to recovery - he's back on his feet less than two weeks after undergoing a double hip replacement.

The "Piano Man," 61, checked into a hospital in Long Island, New York on November 20th, 2010 to fix a congenital hip ailment.

He recently returned home, where he is being nursed back to full health by his 28 year-old girlfriend Alexis Roderick.

And her love and care appears to have done wonders for the rocker's recovery - friends of the star tell us he is in "good spirits" and is managing to get around with the help of two canes.

Billy Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, regularly e-mails her divorced father and mother Christie Brinkley as if they were still together because imagining they are a happy family stops her from feeling depressed.

Singer Alexa Ray Joel was hospitalized last December 2009 when she experienced breathing difficulties after taking an overdose of homeopathic medication Traumeel. She blamed her breakdown on a fight with her then on-again/off-again boyfriend Jimmy Riot.

She has since moved on from her former love and battled back from the brink of depression.

Alexa Ray Joel insists she is now in a "great" place in her life - and the support of her parents, who remain close after their 1994 split, has helped her immensely.

She tells The New York Post, "It's important for me to feel that the three of us are a family. I e-mail them both together a lot, saying, 'Hey, Mom & Pop...'

And she's confident she's put her troubles behind her once and for all.

She says, "I don't like to believe in depression. I believe if you work hard enough, you can get yourself out of it.

Billy Joel drank for years to help cope with agonizing hip pain - but his heavy boozing contributed to long-term bone destruction, sources tell the National Enquirer.

That's the real story behind the 61 year-old "Piano Man's" recent double hip replacement surgery at a Long Island hospital, the sources divulged.

Billy has been in "constant pain for most of his life" due to a congenital condition, and he used alcohol to cope with it, said an insider.

But along with his "bouncing around onstage and riding the vintage motorcycles he loves, the booze was helping to destroy Billy's bones."

Experts say excessive alcohol use can increase risk of osteoporosis
(bone loss) and can cause osteonecrosis (death of bone cells due to decreased blood flow), which often affects the hips.

Dr. Calin Moucha, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Department of Orthopedics in New York, who did not treat Billy, told the National Enquirer: "Alcoholism obviously creates a variety of health problems and can cause a hip issue known as osteonecrosis."

Billy has struggled with depression and drinking for years and did rehab stints in 2002 and 2005. In 2007, The National Enquirer reported that Billy had fallen off the wagon again over troubles with his third marriage to now ex-wife Katie Lee.

The "Piano Man" has a new accompanist: A year after separating from his third wife, food critic and chef Katie Lee, Long Island legend Billy Joel is dating Alexis Roderick, 29, a senior risk officer in the Garden City office of the financial institution Morgan Stanley.

Roderick, of Centerport, met Joel, 61, at a restaurant in Huntington, according to news reports. The couple have been seen together since September, and were photographed earlier this month at Joel's recently opened 20th Century Cycles motorcycle shop in Oyster Bay. Roderick acknowledged the relationship to the press on Tuesday, following reports she had been helping nurse Joel back to health after his bilateral hip-replacement surgery in November.

Roderick graduated from Stony Brook University, where she focused on political science, economics and Latin American studies. She has been with Morgan Stanley since April 2005.

Joel, who was married to his business manager, Elizabeth Weber, from 1973 until their divorce in 1982, went on to marry supermodel Christie Brinkley in 1985; their daughter, singer Alexa Ray Joel, was born later that year. The couple divorced in 1994, and Joel married Lee 10 years later.

Following his and Lee's separation, Joel was spotted on dates with women including former "The Young & The Restless" star Alex Donnelley.

Alexa Ray Joel charmed the crowd at the Plaza Oak Room on Monday night with songs from her "Sketches" album including her single, "Notice Me," while her mother Christie Brinkley and stepsister Sailor supported her in the crowd. Some guests hoped for an appearance by her father, Billy, who's been a big supporter of Alexa Ray's musical career, but he's still recovering from a bi-lateral hip replacement. A representative for Billy said, "...[He] plans to attend another upcoming show. He did send a gorgeous opening-night bouquet with loving well wishes, and her mom, grandmother, brother and sister were all in attendance."