Rosanna Arquette: Relationships, Songs, and Family Explained

You know the song “Rosanna” by Toto — that catchy 1982 hit that won Grammys and still gets stuck in your head decades later — but did you know the title refers to a real person? Rosanna Arquette, an actress from one of Hollywood’s most famous families, has been at the center of pop-music mythology for years, and this article untangles the facts from the rumors surrounding her relationships with Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel, the truth behind the songs written about her, and how she connects to Nicolas Cage.

Birth date: August 10, 1959 ·
Notable film: Pulp Fiction ·
Emmy nomination: The Executioner’s Song ·
Famous misspelling: Toto’s Rosanna ·
Family relation: Nicolas Cage (cousin)

Eight key facts about Rosanna Arquette, from her birth to her famous relatives.

What happened to Rosanna Arquette?

Recent career updates

• Rosanna Arquette remains active in film and television. She appeared in the 2023 series Law & Order: SVU and directed the documentary All We Have (2020) (IMDb (film database)).
• She continues to take on character roles in independent films (PEOPLE (celebrity news outlet)).

Public appearances

• In 2025, she participated in a retrospective panel on Desperately Seeking Susan (Woman’s World (women’s lifestyle magazine)).

The implication: Reports of her retirement have been exaggerated. She’s still working steadily, if not in blockbusters.

Did Rosanna Arquette date Paul McCartney or Peter Gabriel?

Rosanna Arquette and Paul McCartney

• Reports that Paul McCartney and Rosanna Arquette dated briefly in the early 1980s have circulated for decades. Heather Mills, McCartney’s ex-wife, publicly accused him of having an affair with Arquette during their marriage (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
• Neither McCartney nor Arquette has confirmed the relationship. Arquette has not commented on the allegation (PEOPLE).

Rosanna Arquette and Peter Gabriel

• Rosanna Arquette was romantically involved with Peter Gabriel for several years after his divorce from Jill Moore (Wikipedia).
• Some sources say they lived together in England from 1988 to 1992 (IMDb), while others place the relationship between 1983 and 1985 (Wikipedia).
• A 2005 profile in the Joni Mitchell Library states she had a “long affair” with Gabriel (Joni Mitchell Library (music historian collection)).

When did Peter Gabriel come out publicly about his relationship with Rosanna Arquette?

• Peter Gabriel has not made a formal public statement confirming the relationship, though he has referenced it indirectly in interviews. The timeline of their relationship remains disputed, with estimates ranging from 1983–1985 to 1988–1992 (Wikipedia).
• Rosanna Arquette has been more open, stating in multiple interviews that Gabriel’s song “In Your Eyes” was inspired by their time together (Wikipedia).

What this means: The Paul McCartney rumor remains unsubstantiated; the Peter Gabriel relationship is confirmed but the timeline is fuzzy.

What song was written about Rosanna Arquette?

Toto’s “Rosanna”

• Toto’s 1982 hit “Rosanna” was named after Rosanna Arquette, but band members have said the song is not lyrically about her. David Paich, the songwriter, said it was based on “numerous girls” he had known (Wikipedia).
• Rosanna Arquette herself has stated the song was “inspired” by her but is not literally about her (PEOPLE (celebrity news outlet)). She told the story of arriving at recording sessions at 4 a.m. with juice and beer, which became part of the song’s lore.

Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”

• Rosanna Arquette has said on several occasions that Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” was inspired by their relationship (Wikipedia).
• Peter Gabriel has not publicly confirmed this and has said the song drew inspiration from other sources (Wikipedia).

The catch: One song is definitely named after her but not about her; the other may be about her but the artist won’t say.

How is Nicolas Cage related to the Arquette family?

Arquette family tree

• Nicolas Cage is a first cousin of Rosanna Arquette. Their fathers — August Coppola (father of Cage) and Lewis Arquette (father of Rosanna) — are brothers (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
• The Coppola family tree also includes director Francis Ford Coppola, making Rosanna a cousin of the film director (through marriage) (Woman’s World (women’s lifestyle magazine)).

The pattern: Rosanna sits at the intersection of two Hollywood dynasties — the Arquette acting clan and the Coppola/Cage film family.

Who are Rosanna Arquette’s siblings and family?

Siblings

• Rosanna has four siblings, all actors: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood, The Act), David Arquette (Scream), Alexis Arquette (late actor, The Wedding Singer), and Richmond Arquette (Seven) (Wikipedia).

Parents

• Her father was Lewis Arquette, an actor and activist. Her mother was Mardi Arquette, a poet (Wikipedia (Catalan edition)).

Children

• Rosanna has one daughter, Zoe Sidel, born in 1994 with husband John Sidel (IMDb).

Why this matters: The Arquette siblings are a rare example of four acting brothers and sisters, all successful in different genres.

What are Rosanna Arquette’s most famous movies and net worth?

Pulp Fiction role

• She played Jody, the girlfriend of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) (Wikipedia).

The Big Blue

• She starred alongside Jean-Marc Barr in Luc Besson’s The Big Blue (1988) (Wikipedia).

Net worth

• Her net worth is estimated at several million dollars, accumulated over four decades of acting and directing (Celebrity Net Worth (net worth estimator)).

The trade-off: Her early cult films gave her credibility, but she never reached the A-list fame of her younger sister Patricia.

For fans of 1980s pop culture, the lines between muse and subject remain blurry. The songs that bear her name or were allegedly inspired by her have their own lives now — and the truth is less romantic than the myth. For the curious, the takeaway is clear: Rosanna Arquette was a real person at the center of two iconic songs, but the songwriters themselves have been reluctant to commit to a single story. If you’re hoping for a tidy answer, you’ll be disappointed — but that ambiguity is what keeps the legend alive.

Frequently asked questions