The first rap song to make the Hot 100 was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979. At the time, many considered rap a fad that would soon pass.
Will.I.am, literally dreamt up "I Gotta Feelin'." Said the Black Eyed Pea: "Have you ever had a dream where there's a melody in your dream? I'll wake up out of my sleep and record that! 'I Gotta Feelin' was one of those songs."
"What A Wonderful World," released in 1967 four years before Louis Armstrong died, didn't find an audience in America until 1988 when it was used in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
When the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" got screechy, Maureen Tucker stopped drumming, figuring it would bust the take, but her bandmates kept going. You can hear it at the 5:20 mark.
"Mr. Roboto" by Styx was written by their keyboard player, Dennis DeYoung, who used Japanese words and imagery to create an allegory about censorship.
Britney Spears was just 16 when her first single, "Baby One More Time," was released. She quickly became a top search term on something called The Internet.
Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.
The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.
Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.
Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.