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.
Jeff Lynne sang the word "groose" in the chorus of "Don't Bring Me Down" as a nonsense placeholder, but left it in when he found out it means "greetings" in German ("gruss").
"I Wish" by Skee-Lo was the first hit song to use the word "baller" in the chorus ("I wish I was a baller..."). That term pervaded pop music over the next several year.
The biggest hit of 2015 was "Uptown Funk," a collaboration between Bruno Mars and guitarist/producer Mark Ronson. Ronson says making it took "six or seven months of chasing Bruno around on tour."
John Mellencamp considers "Pink Houses" an "anti-American song," laying bare the struggles of the poor and working class.
In 2004, the word "Bootylicious" made the Oxford English Dictionary, three years after the Destiny's Child song was released. Definition: "Blend of booty buttocks and delicious."
Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?
A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.