Kelly Rowland was the first Destiny's Child member to have a hit away from the group: her Nelly duet "Dilemma."
Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire" after a 21-year-old told him, "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s."
Ellie Goulding's hit song "Lights" is about her fear of the dark, which forces the singer to sleep with the lights on.
A gospel choir appears in Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" video, but the vocals on the song are all Smith - about 20 tracks of his voice were used to make him sound like a chorus.
Lily Allen wrote "Something's Not Right" for the soundtrack of the Peter Pan prequel, Pan. The song was inspired by the heartache that Allen experienced after suffering a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant with her first child by husband Sam Cooper in 2010.
Tom Cochrane wrote "Life Is A Highway" to pull himself out of a funk following an exhausting humanitarian trip to Africa.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.
A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.
These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.