The Pretenders are named after the 1956 song "The Great Pretender" by The Platters.
Before she was famous, Lady Gaga was a staff songwriter, and wrote the song "Quicksand," which Britney Spears recorded in 2008.
Elton John's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin wrote the original lyrics for Starship's "We Built This City." It was the first Hot 100 Top 10 hit Taupin wrote without John.
Elton John's classic "Levon" runs 5:22, and Elton wouldn't let his record company edit it down for the single. His next single was "Tiny Dancer," which is even longer, running 6:12.
Paul McCartney based the "Eleanor Rigby" story on old ladies he met at his housing estate. He saw how sometimes when they died, nobody really noticed.
The '60s hit "Then He Kissed Me" was covered by The Beach Boys as "Then I Kissed Her."
When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.
"Mr. Jones" took on new meaning when the song about a misguided view of fame made Adam famous.
The "All I Want" singer went through a long depression, playing some shows when he didn't want to be alive.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.
Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.