Ed Sheeran wrote the 2014 love song "Thinking Out Loud" about his girlfriend at the time, Athina Andrelos. They split the following year, and Ed started seeing Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2019; songs like "Perfect" and "No Strings" are about her.
Will.I.am, literally dreamt up "I Gotta Feelin'." Said the Black Eyed Pea: "Have you ever had a dream where there's a melody in your dream? I'll wake up out of my sleep and record that! 'I Gotta Feelin' was one of those songs."
The eerie percussion and guitar for Portsihead's "Sour Times" was sampled from Lalo Schifrin's "Danube Incident," music composed by the Argentine composer for an episode of Mission Impossible.
Sia Furler wrote "Titanium" and wanted to give the tune to Katy Perry. She turned it down, so David Guetta recorded it instead using Sia's original demo guide vocal. It became a big hit, especially in the UK, where it went to #1.
Eminem sampled a song by Labi Siffre on "My Name Is." Siffre, a gay activist, made Em take out some gay humor in the lyric before allowing it.
"Anaconda" was originally recorded by Missy Elliott in 2012, but she decided to shelf the track so it went to Nicki Minaj, who released it two years later.
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.
The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.
Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."
A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
