"Veronica" was inspired by Elvis Costello's grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
Lyrically, Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives" was inspired by American detective shows; musically, it was inspired by The Clash.
George Michael was 17 and on a bus to his job at the cinema when he came up with the idea for "Careless Whisper" and the lyrics, "Something in your eyes calls to mind a silver screen."
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.
Rihanna claims that "S&M" is about her love/hate relationship with the media. Apparently her paparazzi are using whips and chains.
The B-52's picked chose the location of their song "Private Idaho" because the state had a reputation for being wacky and mysterious. The title was a play on the phrase "Private Eye."
The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.
How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.
How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?
A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.
