Prince kept doves at his Paisley Park mansion. And yes, sometimes they did cry.
Until December 5, 1998, a song had to be issued as a single to make the Hot 100. Aaliyah's "Try Again" was the first tune to top the chart based on airplay alone, without any sales figures being included.
Ella Langley's country crossover hit "Choosin' Texas" was co-written by Texas native Miranda Lambert, who told Ella a story about getting pulled over with a kangaroo in her car (yes, a real kangaroo - a baby). "She's from Texas, I can tell," Langley said, which sparked the song.
The music video for "You Are A Tourist" by Death Cab For Cutie was done live on the internet, becoming the first live, scripted, single-take music video recorded that way.
Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall" was the first ever James Bond theme song to reach #1 in the UK.
Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.
A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.
Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.