Christine McVie wrote "Songbird" for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album in just half a hour after she woke up in the middle of the night with the song in her head.
A Tribe Called Quest sampled the mellow groove of Lou Reed's 1972 classic "Walk On The Wild Side" on "Can I Kick It?" It fit their vibe, with Q-Tip and Phife Dawg trading lines about hanging out and having fun, the definition of "kickin' it."
When Metallica performed in China in 2013, they weren't allowed to play "Master Of Puppets," probably because the theme of being controlled by a higher authority didn't sit well with the Chinese government.
When The Kinks released "Lola," most people didn't realize Lola was a man. "I was dancing with this beautiful blonde, then we went out into the daylight and I saw her stubble," Ray Davies said of the inspiration.
Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, inspired the Talking Heads song "Radio Head." Tobolowsky, who worked on David Byrne's film True Stories, claimed to have telepathic powers.
Staind's big moment came in 1999 when lead singer Aaron Lewis played "Outside" on Limp Bizkit's Family Values tour. The live, acoustic version earned lots of radio play.
The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.
The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."
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.
A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.
"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.
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.