David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" was likely based on various musicians in his ambit, including Iggy Pop (zIGGY), and Jimi Hendrix, who played guitar left-handed ("He played it left hand").
"Tomorrow People" by Ziggy Marley is the first song by a Marley to crack the US Top 40; the highest Bob got was #51 with "Roots, Rock, Reggae."
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who was a member of the pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.
Back To The Future wasn't the only movie where Michael J. Fox rocked out: He sang with Joan Jett in the 1987 movie Light Of Day, with a title track written by Bruce Springsteen.
Jimmy Webb was inspired to write The 5th Dimension song "Up-Up and Away" after seeing a hot-air balloon his friend flew on promotions for the Southern California radio station KMEN.
One of the last hits with a track made up almost entirely of uncleared samples is "Groove Is In The Heart" by Deee-Lite in 1990. Soon after, courts ruled that samples needed to be cleared.
Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.
These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.
Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.
"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.
Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.
When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.