The first release of "The Sound Of Silence" was acoustic, and went nowhere. It became Simon & Garfunkel's first hit when a producer at their label overdubbed it with electric instruments.
When Adele needed to cry during the filming of the video for "Hello" she played Labrinth's 2014 single "Jealous." "You could play it at my kid's birthday and I'd burst into tears," she said.
Frank Sinatra was 64 when he had his last hit: "New York, New York." The song pegged him to New York City, leaving Las Vegas to Elvis.
In her 2020 memoir, Mariah Carey revealed that "Honey" is about her fling with New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter. She and her husband, Tommy Mottola, were in the midst of a breakup.
Before she was famous, Lady Gaga was a staff songwriter, and wrote the song "Quicksand," which Britney Spears recorded in 2008.
Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.
One of the most successful songwriters in the business, Desmond co-wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca," "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Livin' On A Prayer."