"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen was the song of the summer in 2012 and a major meme. It got some help from her fellow Canadian Justin Bieber, who tweeted that it was "possibly the catchiest song I've ever heard."
"The Long and Winding Road" was the last of The Beatles' 20 #1 hits in America. Written by Paul McCartney, he said it's a sad song about "the door you never quite reach."
Rihanna's 2012 hit "Diamonds" was written by Sia Furler, who two years later had a huge hit on her own with "Chandelier." Sia also wrote the David Guetta hit "Titanium."
The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.
"Cum On Feel The Noise" was originally recorded by the British glam band Slade in 1973. Quiet Riot had their first hit with the song when they recorded it in 1983.
"She Loves You" by The Beatles was the song that convinced Ozzy Osbourne to make music his life. The Beatles were a big influence on him because they were also poor kids from a small town in England.
A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.
Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.
Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.