
Alicia Keys wrote "If I Ain't Got You" just after she'd heard the news that Aaliyah had passed away. in a plane crash.

"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" by Jay-Z borrows four bars from Notorious B.I.G's "The World Is Filled." Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, New York, at the same time.
In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."

The riff for The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" was pinched from a very unpunk song, the ABBA ballad "S.O.S."

Al Green's "Take Me to the River" describes a baptism. Two years later, he became a reverend.

It was never a big hit, but "She's A Rainbow" became one of the most popular Rolling Stones songs in the digital age when it started showing up in commercials (iMac, Photoshop), and TV shows (American Horror Story: Coven, Ted Lasso).
Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.
Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.
The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.
Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.
When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.