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.
The longest-running #1 US hit for a member of the Jackson family is Janet's "That's The Way Love Goes," with eight weeks on top.
Amy Winehouse really did refuse "Rehab." She said she drank because she was lovesick, and "you can't go into rehab for that."
The Phoenix song "1901" is about Paris. Their lead singer Thomas Mars said: "Paris in 1901 was better than it is now. So the song is a fantasy about Paris."
One of Tom Petty's most personal songs is "Room At The Top," which he stopped performing because it brought back painful memories.
Young MC shows up in the George Clooney movie Up In The Air performing his hit "Bust A Move."
A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.
One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.
Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.
Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.