"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.
"Girl Crush" by Little Big Town came from the hashtag #girlcrush, which its co-writer, Lori McKenna, spotted on Instagram.
"Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds was the only US #1 single by a female act between July 1956 and February 1958.
Lil Wayne does an unlikely rap in a remix of the Joe Jonas song "Just In Love." The pair met at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
One of the great "we're all going down" songs is "Ship Of Fools" by World Party, written when Margaret Thatcher was in power in England.
"We Will Become Silhouettes" by The Postal Service sounds happy and fun, but it's a very bleak song about a nuclear winter. Lead singer Ben Gibbard wrote the lyric while ruminating over 9/11.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.
Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.