Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult wrote "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" after he was diagnosed with a heart condition and started thinking about his own mortality.
"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow started with the first line from an obscure poem called "Fun" that read, "All I wanna do is have some fun."
"Jump Around" by House Of Pain turns into a diss track at the end when they dedicate it to Joe "The Biter" Nicolo, whom they claim stole the concept and used it on the Kris Kross song "Jump."
Mary J. Blige introduced three new words with her hit "Family Affair": hateration, holleration and dancerie.
"Soul Man" was a new term when the song was written in 1967. As defined by the song's co-writer, David Porter, the Soul Man doesn't have a fancy big-city slant, but has "the emotional thing happening inside of him that made people really love him."
"Jessie's Girl" was the #1 song in America when MTV went on the air. They put it in hot rotation right away, making the song even more popular.
What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.
From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.
When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.