Although often believed to have been inspired by a childhood friend with whom Kevin Rowland had a romantic, and later sexual, relationship in his teens, there was actually no real Eileen.
On 7 August 2005, the song was used to wake the astronauts of Space Shuttle Discovery on the final day of STS-114 in reference to commander Eileen Collins.
It reached number one in the United States, and was band's second number one hit in the UK.
"Come On Eileen" won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards.
In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's sixth favorite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.