Sir Mix-A-Lot is credited as a writer on The Pussycat Dolls' biggest hit, "Don't Cha," because it interpolates his 1988 song "Swass," where he goes, "Don't you wish your boyfriend was swass like me?"
"Run To You" by Bryan Adams was written for Blue Oyster Cult, and the guitar part is modeled after "Don't Fear The Reaper." BOC turned it down, so Adams recorded it for his album Reckless.
A roadie for the Allman Brothers came up with the line "The road goes on forever" for "Midnight Rider," and got a songwriting credit for his contribution.
Stevie Nicks wrote "Landslide" before she joined Fleetwood Mac. She was considering going back to school when she and her boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham were asked to join the group.
The Matchbox Twenty song "3 AM" is about the difficult times lead singer Rob Thomas spent caring for his mother, who had cancer.
The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" came top of a 2013 Spotify poll to find out which songs music fans most commonly hear people singing incorrectly. Many believe Annie Lennox is singing: "Sweet dreams are made of cheese, who am I to disagree?"
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.
Toto's keyboard player explains the true meaning of "Africa" and talks about working on the Thriller album.
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.