Rob Reiner named his 1986 movie "Stand By Me" after the song, since he thought The Body, a Stephen King story on which it was based, sounded like a horror movie.
Bob Seger's "Beautiful Loser" was inspired by a book written by Leonard Cohen called Beautiful Losers.
John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath got its title from a line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."
Billy Joel is surprised that "Piano Man" is so successful. He called it "an old, long song about a guy at a depressing piano bar."
Hugh Laurie, star of the TV show House, had a minor hit in 2011 with "Police Dog Blues," an old Blues song from 1929.
A 2011 Gold's Gym poll found "Stronger" by Kanye West the best song to work out to. Second place was the Rocky theme.
Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.
Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."
Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.
Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.
With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.