Stevie Wonder wrote his own version of "Happy Birthday" in an attempt to get Martin Luther King's birthday declared a national holiday.
"All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey was the first ringtone certified Gold.
Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees on their 1967 tour, and it did not go well. The young, mostly female crowd shouted "Davy" when Hendrix sang the word "Lady" in "Foxy Lady" in honor of who they came to see: Monkees lead singer Davy Jones.
You wouldn't know it from the upbeat melody, but "Walkin' On The Sun" by Smash Mouth is about the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
Jack & Diane started off as an interracial couple; Mellencamp took race references out of the song at the request of his record company.
Brian May wrote Queen's "We Will Rock You" so the crowds could participate in the song. They didn't have instruments, but they could clap their hands and stomp their feet.
Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."
Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.
Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.
Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.
Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?