Paul McCartney based the "Eleanor Rigby" story on old ladies he met at his housing estate. He saw how sometimes when they died, nobody really noticed.
Jon Bon Jovi earned his first movie credit - Young Guns II - by writing "Blaze Of Glory" for the film.
The Hollies' 1967 hit "Carrie Anne" is about the British singer-actress Marianne Faithfull, but with "Marianne" changed to "Carrie-Anne" to disguise it. Faithfull dated Allan Clarke of The Hollies.
Katy Perry's breakout hit, "I Kissed A Girl," was surprising to those familiar with her past: Her parents were pastors and she started off singing Christian music.
The band Simple Minds took their name from the line "He's so simple minded he can't drive his module" in David Bowie's "The Jean Genie."
Paul McCartney's favorite song that he wrote for someone else is Cilla Black's 1968 UK Top 10 hit "Step Inside Love."
Do you know the girl singer on Eminem's "Stan"? If so, this quiz is for you.
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.