"Sweet" Connie Hamzy Parente (January 9, 1955 – August 21, 2021), also called "Sweet Sweet" Connie or Connie Flowers, was an American woman who was known as a

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is us ...

who claimed to have had sex with numerous

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

ians. Hamzy also received attention for her claim that she was propositioned by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

, then governor of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

Life

Hamzy was born to Joetta (1929-2014) and Winfred Hamzy (1920-1984). Hamzy claimed to have given oral sex to various members of the many bands that traveled through Little Rock. Her alleged groupie escapades were detailed in a '' Cosmopolitan'' profile in 1974, and in 1992 she wrote a tell-all article for '' Penthouse''. She is mentioned in

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succ ...

's song " We're an American Band" ("Last night in Little Rock, put me in a haze / Sweet, sweet Connie, doin' her act / She had the whole show and that's a natural fact.") Hamzy published a memoir in 1995 under the title ''Rock Groupie: The Intimate Adventures of "Sweet Connie" from Little Rock.'' She is also mentioned in

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...

song "Pleasin' For Reason" from their 1974 album '' Road Food'' as well as in the title track of

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American Rock music, rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, ...

's 1985 '' Standing on the Edge'' album. In 1991, Hamzy was briefly in the news because of her claim that in 1984 she had been approached by an Arkansas state trooper on behalf of Bill Clinton. She claimed that she and Clinton had looked for "a place where they could have some privacy for an assignation, but couldn't find one."

George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Robe ...

later recounted that Clinton told him a different story of his meeting with Hamzy. According to Clinton, Hamzy had approached him in a hotel lobby, flipped down her bikini top, and asked him, "What do you think of these?" Stephanopoulos secured

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

s from three people who had been accompanying Clinton and confirmed Clinton's recollection. When asked about Hamzy by reporters, Stephanopoulos responded by denying the story off the record and offering to provide the affidavits, also off the record.

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline Ne ...

reported Hamzy's allegations once; neither CNN nor other mainstream news organizations pursued the story further. She was interviewed on the '' Howard Stern Show'' on December 4, 1991, and again on December 8, 2010. In 1996, Hamzy sought to run as an independent for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

from Arkansas's 2nd congressional district, but ultimately did not appear on the general election ballot. Hamzy was featured in a segment of the '' Insomniac with Dave Attell'' episode in Little Rock. She died August 21, 2021, in a hospital in her hometown after a short illness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamzy, Connie 1955 births 2021 deaths Groupies People from Little Rock, Arkansas American media personalities Writers from Arkansas