The Oasis song "Live Forever" was written in response to "I Hate Myself And I Want To Die" by Nirvana. "Kids don't need to hear that nonsense," said Noel Gallagher.
The Pretenders are named after the 1956 song "The Great Pretender" by The Platters.
The songwriting team Leiber and Stoller wrote "Hound Dog" for a blues singer named Big Mama Thronton, who first recorded the song in 1953. Elvis covered it in 1956, and it became his biggest hit.
"Pink Cadillac" was a B-side for Bruce Springsteen in 1984, but after Aretha Franklin sang about pink Cadillacs on "Freeway Of Love" the following year, Natalie Cole covered the song and had a hit with it in 1988.
The Exorcist theme music is a portion of "Tubular Bells," a 25-minute song released by 19-year-old Mike Oldfield.
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.
"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.
How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.
His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."