"Handle With Care" started as a George Harrison song with guest appearances by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, but it went so well the five of them decided to form a group - The Traveling Wilburys - and record an entire album.
Otis Redding often ad-libbed vocals at the end of songs, but for "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" he just whistled instead - it became some of the most famous whistling in song history.
Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy" is about Stevie Nicks' best friend, who died of leukemia.
Angus Young created the distinctive opening guitar part for "Thuderstruck" by playing with all the strings taped up, except the B. He learned the studio trick from his older brother George Young, who was the rhythm guitarist for The Easybeats.
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."
In Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere," the title refers to the name of a horse. They took it from a song in the musical Guys And Dolls where a character sings, "I got the horse right here, the name is Paul Revere."
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.
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.
Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.
Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.