“Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s was written about a professional athlete.

The group’s lead singer, Tom Higgenson, became infatuated with Olympic track hopeful Delilah DeCrescenzo when he was introduced to her by a friend back in 2002. Higgenson thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and told her that he had already written a song about her (...he wrote the song a year later)! The pair kept in touch by email, but DeCrescenzo ignored all of Higgenson’s advances until late 2004, when he actually brought her a disc with the song on it! 

DeCrescenzo was flattered but still was not interested in the musician, saying, “It was so beautifully written. There was pressure to live up to this ideal - I didn’t know how to be polite but, you know...ditch him.” Less than a year later, the tune became a smash summer hit and topped the Billboard charts! The real Delilah says she hears it all the time - “When I’m at the gym, it’s playing; when I’m at the pool, it’s playing. Part of me wants to scream at the top of my lungs that it’s about me...another part of me wants to cower and say it’s not.”