Eric Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" while waiting for his girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, to get ready for a night out. By the time she was ready, he had written the song.
The Grateful Dead considered "whipping that chain" and "lugging propane," but settled on "high on cocaine" for "Casey Jones."
Ed Sheeran's first single was "The A Team," a song about a drug-addicted prostitute.
"Kickstart My Heart" is about all the ways Motley Crue gets their blood flowing without drugs. It was inspired by their bass player Nikki Sixx, who claimed he had to be revived with a shot of adrenaline to the heart after an overdose.
Pink Floyd's "Talkin' Hawkin'" uses a sample of Stephen Hawking's synthesized voice taken from a speech he made for a 1994 British Telecom commercial.
Bob Seger's song "Beautiful Loser" was inspired by book Leonard Cohen published in 1966 called Beautiful Losers.
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."
Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.
As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.
The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.