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.
The Temptations sang backup on "Super Freak" by Rick James. He mentions them in the song when he says, "Temptations, sing!"
Andre 3000 played all the instruments on Outkast's "Hey Ya" except bass. Aaron Mills from Cameo played that.
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who is a singer-songwriter and a member of the Pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.
"Grenade" was a term used on the show Jersey Shore to mean an ugly girl. Bruno Mars says his hit song with that title was written before the show started.
Zayn's "Pillowtalk" reached #1 on the Hot 100, something his former One Direction bandmates never achieved.
Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.
