Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who was 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.
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.
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.
Back To The Future wasn't the only movie where Michael J. Fox rocked out: He sang with Joan Jett in the 1987 movie Light Of Day, with a title track written by Bruce Springsteen.
"Sunday Girl" was written by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein to cheer up Debbie Harry after her cat had run away whilst they were away on tour. The gray cat was called Sunday Man.
U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from Batman Forever was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and a Razzie for Worst Original Song.
The former Dead Kennedys frontman on the past, present and future of the band, what music makes us "pliant and stupid," and what he learned from Alice Cooper.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.
The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.