The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").
Every film star mentioned in Madonna's "Vogue" has since died. The last was Lauren Bacall, who passed away in 2014.
Bruce Springsteen wrote "Blinded By The Light," which was a #1 hit for Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The "Madman Drummers" line is a reference to Springsteen's first E-Street drummer, Vinnie "Mad dog" Lopez.
The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.
Featured in the 1978 musical Evita, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" became the biggest selling UK hit by a female vocalist (Julie Covington).
At 9:57, David Bowie's "Blackstar" was the longest song to reach the Hot 100 until 2019, when Tool bested the record with the 10:21 "Fear Inoculum."
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.
Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.
When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.
Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
