David Bowie's "Heroes" is about his producer Tony Visconti and his girlfriend, but Bowie didn't admit this until the '00s, since Visconti was married at the time.
Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" is based on the book of the same name by William Burroughs.
"Do The Bartman," released at the peak of Simpsons-mania, has uncredited backup vocals by Michael Jackson, who later appeared on the show.
The title of Florence + the Machine's "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" was inspired by the Los Angeles skyline.
The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.
Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall" was the first ever James Bond theme song to reach #1 in the UK.
Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
Richie talks about producing the first two Kiss albums, recording "Brother Louie," and the newfound appreciation of his rock band, Dust.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.