"Cotton Eye Joe" is a folk song dating to the 1800s, but it became a hit when a Swedish act called Rednex did a psychokinetic version in 1994.
The White Stripes song "We're Going To Be Friends" is very innocent, but Jack White feared it would be interpreted cynically. It wasn't, and was even adapted into a children's book.
On Metallica's "The Unforgiven," James Hetfield modeled his vocals on Chris Isaak.
"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" was not written for the movie, but for Rick Hanson, a wheelchair athlete whose 1985 "Man In Motion" tour logged 24,856 miles on his wheelchair in 34 countries while raising $26 million for spinal cord research.
"Dirty Water" became a Boston sports anthem in the '00s, but it was written by a guy from California after almost getting mugged on a visit to the city.
Alicia Keys, Elton John, Fergie, and Rihanna all sang on "All of the Lights" by Kanye West.
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.
Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.
Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.