According to Pete Townshend, he went to go see Pink Floyd perform "The Wall" live on tour with Bill Minkin, a friend of his, and Theresa Russell. Townshend immediately fell for Russell, even though she was set to marry film director Nic Roeg, who Townshend wanted to work with in the future. Clearly, Townshend is not one to concern himself with polite etiquette, so he decided to try to woo Russell.
"I got drunk as usual, but I had taken my first line of cocaine that very evening before meeting her and decided I was in love. When I came to do the vocal on the following day I was really out of my mind with frustration and grief because she didn't reciprocate" (via "It's Hard" album liner notes).
Townshend recorded a demo version of the song under the title "Theresa" but when it came time to record the final version of the song for the album "It's Hard," both Russell and Townsend were married to other people. Feeling a little vulnerable releasing a song about unrequited love, Townsend decided to change the name to "Athena." The "Spider-Man 3" actress has never publicly spoken out about her stint as Pete Townsend's muse, but she sure has a fun conversation starter should she ever need it.
Even though Townsend didn't get the girl, the song charted No. 40 in the U.K. and No. 28 in the U.S. and that counts for something, right?
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