When David Bowie sings, "We like dancing and we look divine" in "Rebel Rebel," it's a reference to a famous drag queen known as Divine.
Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
The first time Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones all recorded together in the studio was when they backed American singer PJ Proby on his Three Week Hero album.
The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.
"Grenade" was a term used on the show Jersey Shore to mean an ugly girl. Bruno Mars says his hit song with that title was written before the show started.
The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.
The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."
The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.