Eminem sampled a song by Labi Siffre on "My Name Is." Siffre, a gay activist, made Em take out some gay humor in the lyric before allowing it.
Otis Redding often ad-libbed vocals at the end of songs, but for "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" he just whistled instead - it became some of the most famous whistling in song history.
The Ben Folds Five song "Brick" is about a difficult time when Folds' girlfriend got an abortion.
One of the first hit songs used in a major marketing campaign was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones. Microsoft paid $3 million to use it in commercials for Windows '95.
Harry Chapin's wife Sandy wrote the lyrics to "Cat's In The Cradle," which were actually about her first husband.
When "Turn On The Radio" topped the January 1, 2011 Country chart, Reba McEntire became the first female solo act to have a #1 hit on that tally in four straight decades.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."
Waters tells the "Gypsy Woman" story, shares some of her songwriting insights, and explains how Dennis Rodman ended up on one of her songs.
Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.