Christine McVie wrote "Songbird" for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album in just half a hour after she woke up in the middle of the night with the song in her head.
"Hips Don't Lie" is Shakira's in-studio mantra for her crew: If her hips are moving, the song is working. If not, best to try something else.
Kelly Clarkson's coronation song when she won American Idol in 2002 was "A Moment Like This," which was released as her first single and went to #1. Every finalist that season recorded the song in case they won.
Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams wrote the Destiny's Child song "Girl" for Kelly Rowland as an encouragement for her to end her relationship with a verbally and physically abusive boyfriend.
"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" was written by Nick Lowe in 1974. The original version with his group Brinsley Schwarz was kind of somber, but Elvis Costello made it a classic with his 1978 uptempo take.
James Brown's "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" was the first Hot 100 hit with the word "sex" in the title.
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.
How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?
A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."