Billy Joel is surprised that "Piano Man" is so successful. He called it "an old, long song about a guy at a depressing piano bar."
Tom Petty was a big star on MTV, but he ran afoul of their policies with the line "let's roll another joint" in "You Don't Known How It Feels." The network ended up reversing the word "joint" so it was unintelligible, then giving the video a VMA for Best Male Video.
45% of the royalties for "Somebody That I Used To Know" go to the estate of the Brazilian classical guitarist Luiz Bonfá, whose song "Seville" Gotye sampled.
The death of John Lennon was an influence on the Stevie Nicks hit "Edge Of Seventeen." He's the one with the "words of a poet and voice from a choir."
Jo Dee Messina's 1996 country classic "Heads Carolina, Tails California" was inspired by a book released the previous year called Border Music by Robert James Waller, where the main character flips a coin to decide his next destination.
When "Theme From Shaft" won an Oscar in 1972, Isaac Hayes became the first African American to win in the Best Song category.
Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.
The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.
Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.
The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.
Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."
Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.