# Valerie (Steve Winwood song)
**"Valerie"** is a song written by the English musician [Steve Winwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-winwood) and the American lyricist Will Jennings, recorded by Winwood for his third solo album, *Talking Back to the Night* (1982)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945). It was a minor hit on release, but a remixed version prepared for Winwood's 1987 compilation *Chronicles* reached the US Top 10, and in 2004 the Swedish DJ Eric Prydz used the song as the basis for his house track "Call On Me", a UK number one[2](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2021/07/16/cover-vs-original-valerie-winwood-prydz/) • [3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums). It should not be confused with the Zutons' 2006 song of the same title, later covered by [Mark Ronson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-ronson) and [Amy Winehouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-winehouse), which is an unrelated work[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/story-of-the-song-valerie-the-zutons-2006-2178613.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | Steve Winwood and Will Jennings[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945) |
| First release | Leadoff track on *Talking Back to the Night*, Island Records, 1982[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945) • [5](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/talking-back-to-the-night-mr0000850897) |
| 1982 chart peak | US No. 70; UK peak No. 51, four weeks on the Official Singles Chart from 9 October 1982 (Island, catalog WIP6818)[2](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2021/07/16/cover-vs-original-valerie-winwood-prydz/) • [6](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-valerie/) |
| 1987 remix | Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge for *Chronicles*; US No. 9, UK No. 19; the single charted on 10 October 1987 for 20 weeks[7](https://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_winwood/valerieremix.html) |
| 2004 sampling | Eric Prydz sampled the song for "Call On Me"; Winwood, impressed, re-recorded vocals for the track[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums) |
| Subject | A lost woman, used by the writers as a metaphor in songs about drug abuse[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945) |
## Writing and subject
Winwood wrote the album with Will Jennings, a lyricist he had found his most sympathetic collaborator since Traffic's Jim Capaldi[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945). Much of *Talking Back to the Night* took drug abuse as its subject, and "Valerie" is described by AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald as one of the best of these songs: rather than browbeating, the writers used the metaphor of a girl who is lost, one that "certainly could be about a generation as well"[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945).
**Who was Valerie?** Jennings and Winwood have both said in interviews that the song was based on a singer they both knew who endured hard times[8](https://americansongwriter.com/the-steve-winwood-song-that-needed-a-second-chance-at-hit-status/). Winwood himself rejected the romantic reading: "'Valerie,' for instance, isn't a song remembering this girl I was madly in love with"[9](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Musician/1980/Musician-1988-11.pdf). The Progrography discography site records that Jennings wrote the lyrics with the singer-songwriter Valerie Carter in mind, a backing singer of the period[10](https://progrography.com/steve-winwood/valerie-1987/).
## The 1982 recording
Like its predecessor *Arc of a Diver*, *Talking Back to the Night* was recorded by Winwood alone, playing every instrument himself[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums). AllMusic notes that "Valerie", the album's leadoff track, carried the same keyboard sound and tempo as "While You See a Chance", the hit from the previous album, and that Winwood kept that approach up through much of the record[5](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/talking-back-to-the-night-mr0000850897).
The album failed to match *Arc of a Diver*, stalling at No. 28 in the US, and when "Valerie" was first released as a single in 1982 it did poorly: No. 70 in the United States and No. 51 in the United Kingdom, where it spent four weeks on the chart[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums) • [6](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-valerie/). Its chart run in the UK entered at No. 74 on 9 October 1982, peaked at No. 51 a week later, and left the Top 100 by 30 October[6](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-valerie/).
## The 1987 revival
After the commercial success of *Back in the High Life* (1986) and its chart-topping single "[Higher Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/higher-love)", Winwood released the greatest-hits compilation *Chronicles* in 1987[11](https://www.classicsongsrevisited.com/valerie-steve-winwood). For that album he remixed certain older tracks with the engineer Tom Lord-Alge, and "Valerie" was among them[9](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Musician/1980/Musician-1988-11.pdf). The remixed version, issued as a single in September 1987 and produced by Winwood and Lord-Alge, reached No. 9 in the United States, where it charted on 10 October 1987 and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks, and No. 19 in the United Kingdom[7](https://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_winwood/valerieremix.html).
The 1987 treatment was modest rather than radical. Lord-Alge added bigger drums in a few notable places, and the single itself does not even use the word "remix" on its label; one retrospective calls "re-produced" the more accurate description[7](https://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_winwood/valerieremix.html) • [10](https://progrography.com/steve-winwood/valerie-1987/). The change was enough: the same song, five years apart, was a minor hit and then a Top 10 hit[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums).
## "Call On Me" and later life
In 2004 [Eric Prydz](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-prydz) sampled "Valerie" for a house track presented to Winwood under the title "Call On Me"[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums). Winwood was impressed enough with what Prydz had done to re-record vocals to fit the track, and the single went to number one in the United Kingdom and topped charts around the world, introducing the 1982 song to a new audience[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums) • [2](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2021/07/16/cover-vs-original-valerie-winwood-prydz/). Prydz, who had long avoided performing the hit he once called "super lazy", returned to it in 2025 by mixing it live into Winwood's original recording at a show in [Austin, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/austin-texas)[12](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/djs-producers/there-was-no-planning-i-was-as-shocked-as-everyone-else-eric-prydz-reveals-why-hes-changed-his-mind-about-playing-the-hit).
The song's afterlife has outlasted the album that carried it. Louder's survey of Winwood's catalog calls *Talking Back to the Night* largely forgotten but describes "Valerie", its most famous song, as an AOR anthem that "has enjoyed a long and unusual afterlife" through the 1987 remix and the 2004 rework[3](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums). The song also appears among the recommended downloads on the compilation *Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood*[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-steve-winwood-revolutions-the-very-best-of-steve-winwood-island-1996876.html).
## References
1. [Valerie – Steve Winwood, song review by Matthew Greenwald, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/valerie-mt0001328945)
2. [COVER vs ORIGINAL: 'Valerie' (Winwood/Prydz), Talk About Pop Music](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2021/07/16/cover-vs-original-valerie-winwood-prydz/)
3. [From child prodigy to platinum star: Nine Steve Winwood albums you should listen to and one to avoid, Louder (Classic Rock)](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/steve-winwood-best-albums)
4. [Story of the Song: Valerie, The Zutons, 2006, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/story-of-the-song-valerie-the-zutons-2006-2178613.html)
5. [Talking Back to the Night review by William Ruhlmann, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/talking-back-to-the-night-mr0000850897)
6. [VALERIE – STEVE WINWOOD, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-valerie/)
7. [Valerie (1987 single), Connolly & Co. Winwood discography](https://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_winwood/valerieremix.html)
8. [The Steve Winwood Song That Needed a Second Chance at Hit Status, American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/the-steve-winwood-song-that-needed-a-second-chance-at-hit-status/)
9. [STEVE WINWOOD, Musician magazine, November 1988 (WorldRadioHistory archive)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Musician/1980/Musician-1988-11.pdf)
10. [Steve Winwood: "Valerie" (1987), Progrography](https://progrography.com/steve-winwood/valerie-1987/)
11. ["Valerie" (1982/1987) by Steve Winwood, Classic Songs Revisited](https://www.classicsongsrevisited.com/valerie-steve-winwood)
12. [Eric Prydz reveals why he's changed his mind about playing THE hit, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/djs-producers/there-was-no-planning-i-was-as-shocked-as-everyone-else-eric-prydz-reveals-why-hes-changed-his-mind-about-playing-the-hit)
13. [Album: Steve Winwood, Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-steve-winwood-revolutions-the-very-best-of-steve-winwood-island-1996876.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Soft rock and adult contemporary songs › Classic soft rock ballads*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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