2006 Chart-Topping Love Song Released 20 Years Ago Today: Who Was Delilah?

When someone writes a love song, many assume it's for their significant other. In this case, it was written for a girl he had met once. "Hey There Delilah" is an iconic love song, where the singer, Tom Higgenson, is pining for a girl who is "a thousand miles away." The song was released in May of 2006 and reached the top of the charts, to this day being the Plain White T's top hit.

While you might assume from the song that Higgenson was in a relationship with Delilah, they never actually dated. Higgenson met Delilah DiCrescenzo, the inspiration for the song, at a party in New York City in 2002. Higgenson was entranced, but DiCrescenzo had a boyfriend, and she turned him down. That didn't stop his pining, though, and he told her that he was going to write a song about her.

DiCrenscenzo thought Higgenson was joking, and she went back to focusing on her steeplechase career at Columbia while Higgenson returned to Chicago to finish the song. The two stayed in touch through email, and when the song became a commercial success, DiCrenscenzo's identity was revealed. When the song was up for Song of the Year at the Grammys, the pair attended the event together with the blessing of DiCrenscenzo's boyfriend.

The Staying Power of "Hey There Delilah"

"Hey There Delilah" was a smash hit when it was released, spending two weeks at No.1 and earning several award recognitions. Twenty years later, it's still getting plays, reaching 1.3 billion plays on Spotify. The song has continued to see popularity on TikTok, which the band has been appreciative of. When TikTokers' CGC Mafia posted a video of them singing the song while riding a tandem bike, the band saw the video and brought them on stage to perform it with them in New York City.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 3:15 AM.