Alan Lomax, along with his father John, helped catalogue, record and preserve folk music from every corner of the globe. He could also play; in this photo from the Library of Congress, he's playing the Mountain Music Festival in Asheville, North Carolina.
An unexpected guest vocal: Marianne Faithfull on the Metallica song "The Memory Remains." A star in the '60s, this collaboration helped revive her career.
The Doobie Brothers' swampy #1 hit "Black Water" is about the Mississippi River, evoking the rafting adventures Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.
"Babylon," in David Gray's song, refers to London, which was once known as the "modern-day Babylon."
"Personal Jesus," a song about "being a Jesus for somebody else," was inspired by Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song" was written as a sad song about depression, but listeners heard it as a funny, ironic song.
Jeff Lynne sang the word "groose" in the chorus of "Don't Bring Me Down" as a nonsense placeholder, but left it in when he found out it means "greetings" in German ("gruss").
Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.
Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.
Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.
