The opening lines to "Free Bird," "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" came from the girlfriend of Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins, who asked him that question during an argument.
Michael Stipe hadn't finished the lyrics when R.E.M. recorded "Radio Free Europe." He calls the vocal "complete babbling."
The Isley Brothers' "That Lady" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar for his 2014 single "I." Lamar turned up at Ronald Isley's house to personally ask permission to borrow from the song.
Mariah Carey and P. Diddy show up in the Mary J. Blige "No More Drama" video, since they were going through Shakespeare-level drama.
The song "Knock On Wood" was confusing to UK listeners because the saying there is "Touch Wood."
"All Around The World" by Lisa Stansfield has a sultry spoken intro inspired by Barry White. He was honored by the homage, and in 1992 joined Stansfield to record a duet version of the song.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.
The Cult frontman tells who the "Fire Woman" is, and talks about performing with the new version of The Doors.
Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.
Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.
A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.