Carly Simon wrote "Anticipation" while waiting for her first date with Cat Stevens.
The TV show Cheers was nearly canceled after its first season, but the theme song, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," was very popular. To satisfy viewer demand, the theme was made into a full song and released as a single.
The "Free Bird" lyric, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" was something Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitarist's girlfriend said to him during a fight.
The song title "Cake By The Ocean" originated from DNCE's Swedish producers using the wrong name for the drink "Sex on the Beach."
The song "Don't Worry Be Happy" doesn't use any instruments - it's all Bobby McFerrin using various parts of his body to make the sounds.
Jay-Z did the rap on "Crazy In Love" at the last minute. He and Beyoncé had started dating and the Texan songstress asked him to get on the song the night before she had to turn in her album.
Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.
Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.
A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.
