"Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers was inspired by the Jack Lemmon movie Days of Wine and Roses.
Gwen Stefani wrote the early No Doubt song "Just a Girl" as a message to her overprotective father.
Two tears roll down Sinead O'Connor's face toward the end of the video for "Nothing Compares 2 U." They were shed because she associated the song's lyrics of love and loss with her mother, who was killed in a car accident in 1985.
Jay-Z was going to ask Mary J. Blige to duet on "Empire State of Mind," but he decided on Alicia Keys when he heard the piano stabs on the track.
Kesha's 2017 track "Woman" was the first song titled "Woman" sung by a woman to reach the Hot 100. The prior "Woman" singles to reach the chart were all recorded by male acts.
Pink Floyd's "Talkin' Hawkin'" uses a sample of Stephen Hawking's synthesized voice taken from a speech he made for a 1994 British Telecom commercial.
A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.
The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."
Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.
The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.