Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith had a band before Shinedown that was dropped by Atlantic Records, but the label offered him a development deal - that was his "Second Chance."
A pre-famous Rupaul is in the video for "Love Shack" by The B-52s. He had a solo hit with "Supermodel" a few years later.
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.
Shaggy wrote his swaggering hit "Boombastic" after learning what "shag" means in the UK.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent. The word doesn't show up in the lyric; lead singer Johnny Rzeznik said he was "trying to be pretentious and arty by calling it that."
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.
Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.
When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.
When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.
Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.