Ed Sheeran's first single was "The A Team," a song about a drug-addicted prostitute.
The EMF song "Unbelievable" samples the raunchy comic Andrew Dice Clay saying, "What the f--k was that!"
Bono came up with the idea of focusing on a soldier's last thoughts as he dies from his wounds in the U2 song "White As Snow" after reading William Golding's 1956 novel Pincher Martin.
Paper Mate paid for Autograph's "Turn Up The Radio" video in exchange for prominent placement of their erasable pen.
Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on "Beat It" as a favor to Quincy Jones, who produced the album.
The White Stripes song "We're Going To Be Friends" is very innocent, but Jack White feared it would be interpreted cynically. It wasn't, and was even adapted into a children's book.
A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.
How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?
It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.
A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.