Ronnie Dunn wrote "Boot Scootin' Boogie" before he teamed up with Kix Brooks to form Brooks & Dunn. It was originally recorded by the country group Asleep At The Wheel, but Brooks & Dunn did it themselves when it got its own line dance.
Will.I.am, literally dreamt up "I Gotta Feelin'." Said the Black Eyed Pea: "Have you ever had a dream where there's a melody in your dream? I'll wake up out of my sleep and record that! 'I Gotta Feelin' was one of those songs."
Neil Young was married when he wrote "Cinnamon Girl," which clearly was not about his wife. He had a hard time explaining it to her.
When "Turn On The Radio" topped the January 1, 2011 Country chart, Reba McEntire became the first female solo act to have a #1 hit on that tally in four straight decades.
Ed Sheeran wrote the 2014 love song "Thinking Out Loud" about his girlfriend at the time, Athina Andrelos. They split the following year, and Ed started seeing Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2019; songs like "Perfect" and "No Strings" are about her.
"Killing An Arab" by The Cure was inspired by Albert Camus' book The Stranger.
The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.
Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.
