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You’re probably familiar with the Vanessa Carlton banger “A Thousand Miles,” but the singer is the only person who actually knows who the song is about. However, plenty of people are convinced it was inspired by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton.
In 2002, Vanessa Carlton found herself thrust into the spotlight courtesy of “A Thousand Miles,” the inescapable single from her debut album that eventually went platinum, garnered a number of Grammy nominations, and was immortalized in the cinematic classic that is White Chicks.
A couple of years ago, Carlton sat down with Vice to recount her meteoric rise to stardom and revealed the tune is an unrequited love song about the crush she had on a student at Julliard during her time in New York City in the mid-1990s, adding, “I can’t say the person’s name because they’re a famous actor.”
That clip resurfaced earlier this week courtesy of a tweet commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the release of “A Thousand Miles,” as multiple users responded to the post by noting there’s evidence that suggests Glenn Howerton—who is best known for playing Dennis on It’s Always Sunny—was the student in question.
“A Thousand Miles” was written in 1995, and a number of internet sleuths who set out to get to the bottom of the matter have identified a list of potential culprits who attended Julliard around the same time, including:
- Glenn Howerton
- Oscar Isaac
- Alan Tudyk
- Anthony Mackie
- Wes Bentley
- Lee Pace
Now, it’s obviously worth mentioning a Reddit user said they were a member of a Vanessa Carlton fan group on Facebook that featured a post from someone who claimed the singer said Bentley was the inspiration at a show they attended (I was unable to find the post in question after a cursory search).
As a result, there’s no concrete proof “A Thousand Miles” is actually about Howerton, but there’s also no concrete proof it isn’t.