Rising Singer-Songwriter Josie Dunne Tells Her Parents' Love Story in New 'Old School' Video: Watch
"Old School" marks the 21-year-old's debut single, with a cute video starring her parents.
In a world where divorces are almost more common than marriages, Josie Dunne is one of the lucky ones. At just 21 years-old, the rising singer-songwriter hasn’t had a marriage of her own, but she’s had the best example of true love right in her own home: her parents.
Marty and Marcy Dunne’s love story is a rare one. Not only are their names one letter different, but they were born five days apart, in the same hospital, baptised next to each other, lived two blocks away from one another, and have been part of each other’s lives since they can remember — and 28 years after getting married, they’re still in love as they ever were.
"They’ve been such a great example that love is real,” Josie tells Billboard. "There’s so much negativity around the idea of being in love or getting married just because so often these days it doesn’t work out. They definitely make me optimistic."
So when it came time for Josie to release her debut single, she felt there was no better way to kick off her career than with an ode to the love that she has witnessed and desires herself: you know, that “Old School” kind of love. But it wasn’t just the personal inspiration that made her feel close to the song, as “Old School” was the first time Josie — who signed to Warner/Chappell publishing in 2014 and is now signed to Atlantic Records — felt like she found the sound she was looking for as an artist.
"I really love the heart and grit of Motown, R&B soul, but I wanted to mix it with something that’s super fun to dance to and just feels good,” she says. "I grew up on a lot of that Motown stuff, so having that be the focus of the song and having the title be 'Old School' – like, pun intended – that was super cool.”
Even cooler for Josie, though, was getting to share her parents’ love story in her video for the song, which stars Marty and Marcy. Filmed in Josie’s childhood home (which also happens to be where her father grew up in La Grange, Ill.), the “Old School” vid tells the full story of how their love went from platonic to lifelong, and is as fun for the viewer as it was for them to make it.
"They were eating it up,” Josie says of her parents on set, with a laugh. "The makeup person would go around and touch up my mom and I, and then my dad would be like, 'Uh, excuse me? Where’s my makeup?’”
And while there were plenty of laughs during filming, there were also several moments where Josie saw just how in love her parents are. “In the scene where my mom is writing letters, my dad was sitting and watching her on the monitor, and he just started bawling like, 'She’s so beautiful!’”
It was an experience Josie feels added another layer to her already tight family, something that not a lot of kids get to have with their parents; as she puts it, the video is “the ultimate photo album.” And if there’s one thing she’s taken away from getting to know her parents’ story even more, it’s that true love is out there — even if it’s not as easy and perfect as the one she grew up knowing.
"Everybody keeps saying, 'Josie, good luck ever finding somebody to compete with that... your bar must just be too high,” she laughs. "It’s almost too good to be true. But love is alive, I believe it.”
Watch the charming “Old School” video below.