Led Zeppelin never won a Grammy Award; Jimmy Page and Robert Plant earned their first trophies in 2000 for "Most High," a song they wrote together that explores the role of religion in society.
The bedrock of David Guetta's Nicki Minaj-featuring single "Hey Mama" is a sample of "Rosie," a 1940s prison recording from folk archivist Alan Lomax that songwriter Esther Dean first showed the French DJ on YouTube.
"Womanizer" was Britney Spears' comeback song, going to #1 about 10 months after she was institutionalized to get treatment for addictions and mental health issues.
"Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" was written about the then Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen. His political shenanigans were observed by the band during their first tour of Australia.
MTV wanted Weezer to record a version of their song "Hash Pipe" as "Half Pipe" to appeal to the skateboarding crowd. The band refused, and MTV listed the song as "H*** Pipe."
Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.
Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.
The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.
The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.
