Carla Thomas became the first woman to achieve a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with a song she wrote herself when "Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)" reached #10 in 1961. Thomas was just 16 years old when she wrote it.
Mariah Carey's "My All" is about her affair with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
The B-52's chose the location of their song "Private Idaho" because the state has a reputation for being wacky and mysterious. The title is a play on the phrase "private eye."
The Mary J. Blige song "No More Drama" samples the theme to the appropriately dramatic soap opera The Young And The Restless.
"Yellow" by Coldplay is a deep, meaningful song, but the title has a rather prosaic origin: it came from the phone directory, known as "the yellow pages."
Walk The Moon vocalist Nicholas Petricca got the idea for "Shut Up and Dance" when he and his girlfriend were taking forever to get drinks at a Los Angeles club bar. Petricca was getting frustrated, so his girlfriend told him to, "Shut up and dance with me!'"
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.