The world now knows who Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ is
“And I’ve missed your ginger hair and the way you like to dress”
Ever the party classic, Valerie by Amy Winehouse always gets the room up and dancing *cue everyone pointing at you during the line about ginger hair*
The song was actually written by Dave McCabe for his band The Zutons in 2006, and only later covered by Amy Winehouse and produced by Mark Ronson in 2007.
We’ve often wondered who this fellow redhead was (and who to thank for the loving attention at parties), so we were thrilled to hear that Valerie is indeed a real person.
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VICE narrowed it down and has revealed that the song was written about make-up artist Valerie Star, who used to date McCabe. She was based in the States while he lived in the UK, so he said that the song “was kind of like a postcard”.
It all comes down to Valerie having to stay in the US after being charged for several driving offences and fighting charges to avoid going to jail, which is how the line, “why don’t you come on over, Valerie?” came about.
The story is rather sweet, but all in all we’re especially pleased that Valerie still has her ginger hair.
Read the full story and interview with Valerie Star on VICE