There really is a China Grove (in Texas), but Tom Johnston didn't know about it when he wrote the Doobie Brothers song.
Bono wrote U2's song "Sweetest Thing" for his wife to make up for working on her birthday. For the video, he staged an "apology parade," complete with Irish step dancers and an elephant.
"Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks was written by two Nashville songwriters after a meal in a local restaurant. One of them forgot his money, but said not to worry, "I have friends in low places. I know the cook."
Avril Lavigne has a perfume named after her song "Black Star." It smells much better than her Sk8er Boi scent, which reeks of Axe body spray and road grime.
"Sunday Girl" was written by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein to cheer up Debbie Harry after her cat had run away whilst they were away on tour. The gray cat was called Sunday Man.
The song used in introductions by the Chicago Bulls and many other sports teams is "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons project, the opening track on the Eye In The Sky album.
The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.
Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.
A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.