Katy Perry's song "E.T." came from a beat originally intended for the rap group Three Six Mafia. When her producer accidentally pulled up the beat, Perry asked to use it.
"Little Talks," released in 2011 during the folk-rock boom, was the big hit for the Icelandic group Of Monsters And Men. The song is delivered as a conversation between a longtime married couple, but the woman might be going crazy and talking to a ghost.
"Stay" by Lisa Loeb was the first #1 hit by an unsigned artist. It got a boost from Ethan Hawke, who got it into a movie he starred in called Reality Bites.
Willa Ford came up with her hit "I Wanna Be Bad" when her record company told her to tone down her music in a effort to differentiate her from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were in their "bad girl" eras.
"Your Time Is Gonna Come" became the first Led Zeppelin song to be covered when Sandie Shaw recorded it in 1969.
Led Zeppelin never won a Grammy Award; Jimmy Page and Robert Plant earned their first trophies in 2000 for "Most High," a song they wrote together that explores the role of religion in society.
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.
Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."
How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.