"Piano Man" was inspired by Billy Joel's time playing at a piano bar in Los Angeles. The "real estate novelist" was a guy who always talked about writing a book, but spent all his spare time in the bar.
The title of Florence + the Machine's "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" was inspired by the Los Angeles skyline.
Brad Pitt and Elvis both get mentions in the 1997 Shania Twain hit "That Don't Impress Me Much."
The first popular song to use the phrase "Heavy Metal" was "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, which was featured in the movie Easy Rider.
"Take On Me" was just a minor hit in Norway until a new version was released with the iconic video, making it a global smash.
Janet Jackson wrote the lyric to "Nasty" in response to random guys calling her "baby."
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.
Are classic songs like "Over The Rainbow" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the public domain?
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.
Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."
Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.