Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on "Beat It" as a favor to Quincy Jones, who produced the album.
The idea for "The Man Comes Around" came to Johnny Cash from a dream he had where he was in Buckingham Palace and the Queen said to him, "Johnny Cash, you're just like a thorn tree in a whirlwind."
"Stay" by Shakespears Sister is based on a 1953 B-movie called Cat-Women Of The Moon.
One of Tom Petty's most personal songs is "Room At The Top," which he stopped performing because it brought back painful memories.
The Lady Gaga/Beyoncé collaboration "Telephone" isn't just about turning down an unwanted caller, it's an analog for how Gaga was feeling overwhelmed, like a phone was always ringing in her head.
The Foo Fighters song "Everlong" isn't about Kurt Cobain, but Dave Grohl's girlfriend at the time, Veruca Salt frontwoman Louise Post.
First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?
MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.
The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.