
Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen" is based on a real girl called Eileen that the band's Kevin Rowland had a relationship with in his early teenage years.

"Dark Fantasy" by Kanye West opens with a reinterpretation of Cinderella as read by Nicki Minaj.

Cheap Trick hated the ballad "The Flame" but recorded it because they needed a hit, and the song delivered, going to #1.

The Oasis song "Live Forever" was written in response to "I Hate Myself And I Want To Die" by Nirvana. "Kids don't need to hear that nonsense," said Noel Gallagher.

Sweet's hit "Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing in Scotland and driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.

When Petula Clark reached #1 in the US with "Downtown" in 1965, she became the first female singer from England to hit #1 in the US during the Rock Era (after 1955).
Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.
A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."
Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.
When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.
When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!