"All Star" was written as a confidence builder for fans who were bullied for liking Smash Mouth.
Mariah Carey and P. Diddy show up in the Mary J. Blige "No More Drama" video, since they were going through Shakespeare-level drama.
One of the most successful cover songs is Fugees' "Killing Me Softly," a 1996 reworking of Roberta Flack's 1973 hit. Originally, Fugees wanted to change the title to "Killing Him Softly" and make it about the dangers of drug abuse.
Yoko Ono has always denied requests to cover "Imagine" with the line "no religion, too" omitted or changed.
"Kokomo" gave The Beach Boys their first #1 hit in 22 years. They picked the title because it sounded tropical.
"Coming Home" by Diddy - Dirty Money was originally iwritten for for T.I., who was getting out of prison at the time.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.
In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.