In The Beatles' "When I'm 64," Paul McCartney asks a woman if she'll still be there for him when he's 64. In 2006, he got his answer when shortly before his 64th birthday, he and Heather Mills separated.
The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.
Gina in Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" is based on a singer named Maria Vidal, who was working as a singing waitress using the name Gina Velvet.
The movie The Breakfast Club opens with a passage from David Bowie's "Changes" ("And these children that you spit on...")
Ronnie Van Zant wrote the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Gimme Three Steps" after making the mistake of dancing with a girl whose boyfriend was in the bar and probably had a gun. He asked for a 3-step head start.
"Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry is about a real guy - an ex who would seem really interested at times but would then just disappear.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.
How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.