Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on "Beat It" as a favor to Quincy Jones, who produced the album.
The comedian Steve Martin had a hit in 1978 with "King Tut." The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who Martin would open for on tour, were his backing band on the song.
"London Calling" by The Clash was written amid widespread fears that the Thames River was going to flood the city.
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."
Part of the "Cruel to Be Kind" video was shot during Nick Lowe and Carlene Carter's wedding.
The Rick James song "Cold Blooded" is about Linda Blair from The Exorcist, his girlfriend at the time. In James' lingo, "cold blooded" means sexy, not cruel.
With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."
Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.
Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.
Toto's keyboard player explains the true meaning of "Africa" and talks about working on the Thriller album.
How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.