Marillion lead singer Fish wrote "Kayleigh" about several relationships he'd wrecked because he was so obsessed with his career. He especially had in mind a girlfriend he'd split up with, whose forenames were Kay Lee. Kay was a pharmacist in Aylesbury. "We fell in love, Fish reflected to Dutch broadcaster NPO Radio 2 in 2020, "but when I went and joined Marillion, I gave up everything. I went away to America on a tour and came back and she'd gone." The song was the first single from the Misplaced Childhood album. When it was released, British tabloid journalists went on a quest to ascertain the identity of Kayleigh. The resulting publicity helped send the song to #2 on the UK charts and push the album to #1. The three previous Marillion albums even returned to the UK chart around this time.
In Britain, Kayleigh surged in popularity as a baby name after this song took off. Years later, Fish had one of those "wow, I'm old" moments when an autograph-hunter asked him to sign an album with a dedication to his daughter: Kayleigh.
The song originally came about when guitarist Steve Rothery developed a catchy riff on his guitar. Fish put some lyrics to the riff and Marillion had their biggest ever hit on their hands. Said Rothery: "My wife to be, Jo, asked me to explain how I came up with my musical ideas, picking up a nearby guitar I started improvising what later became the 'Kayleigh' riff whilst explaining that I tried to combine melody and rhythm. I sometimes wonder if we would still have written 'Kayleigh' if she had asked me if there was anything good on the telly instead!"
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