20 Interesting Facts About Musical Artists And Their Songs

All through history, artists and musicians have brought happiness, comfort, and perspective to people. And even if musicians pass away, their music endures.The greats will always endure, and they will be recalled and discussed in deserted bedrooms, music classrooms, and empty minds staring out the window when traveling over large distances or while waiting in a busy subway on the way to work.We've put together a handy list of things about the greatest performers in history that you probably didn't know below.Continue reading, have fun, and think about what you have read.

1. Micheal Jackson nearly lost his life due to “Billie Jean”

Source: YouTube

The King of Pop didn’t see that his vehicle was on fire because he was so preoccupied with the song, working on it in his thoughts while he was driving. Luckily, he was warned by somebody who was riding a bicycle nearby.

2. Maroon 5 actually means it when they wrote “Harder to Breathe”

Source: YouTube

The song first appears to be about love; however, it is in fact about Maroon 5 feeling overwhelmed by their record label because it was forcing them to compose more pieces. In the end, the song paid off.

3. A collection of poems inspired Coldplay’s moniker

Source: Ticketmaster

Originally, the band named themselves “Starfish.” However, they later chose the name Coldplay from a book named “Child’s Reflections, Cold Play” by Philip Horky. It appears that Chris Martin and his pals made the right decision.

4. Kevin Jonas builds custom homes

Source: The Things

The eldest Jonas abandoned pop stardom to capitalize on suburban sprawl. He established Jonas Werner Fine Custom Homes, a company where he designs and constructs enormous, opulent homes.
Kevin shared: “I like to get my hands dirty. I’ve been blessed in my life where I get to say ‘You know what? I want to do this.’”

5. Johnny Rotten did something on purpose with “Pretty Vacant”

In order to be able to say “c**t” on the radio, Johnny stressed the last syllable when recording the song “Pretty Vacant.”

Source: RAY STEVENSON/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

6. “Dude Looks Like a Lady” is about Vince Neil, from Mötley Crüe.

Source: Phillip Faraone/Ethan Miller/Getty Images

According to Steven Tyler, the boys from Aerosmith spotted Neil from the back, in a bar, and assumed he was a woman. When he turned around, they realized their mistake and started riffing with the phrase, “dude looks like a lady.”

7. About the disturbing song ‘Die Eier Von Satan’ by Tool

Source: YouTube

Tool’s disturbing song ‘Die Eier Von Satan”, from the album Aenima, is written and sung in German. However, when the lyrics were translated, they disclosed a cookie recipe.

8. Celine Dion’s 1998 Christmas album features the heartfelt ballad “The Magic Of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone).”

Source: Celine Dion/Instagram

The song was written by Twisted Sister frontman and hair metal icon Dee Snider.

9. Keith Richards literally composed “(I Can Get No) Satisfaction” in his sleep

Source: Graham Wiltshire/Getty Images

Richards woke up in the middle of the night, recorded about 30 seconds of the song on a tape recorder, and then fell back asleep. In the morning he didn’t remember any of it, until he played the recording.

10. Fact about Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”

Source: YouTube

“Hit me, baby” isn’t sexual or abusive but just strange phrasing by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, who thought “hit” was synonymous in English with “call” (as in “hit me up.”)

11. Daft Punk was based on a bad review of the pair’s earlier project

Source: Chad Batka for The New York Times

The pair was originally named Darlin’, and a critic called their work “a daft punky thrash.”

12. David Lee Roth dabbled in emergency medicine

Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

During his 20-year hiatus from Van Halen, he mostly pursued a solo career. But he carved out 2 full years to serve as an EMT in New York City. He reportedly went on over 200 emergency ambulance calls.

13. Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb” isn’t about recreational drugs

Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Pink Floyd didn’t do drugs. The song is about the time Roger Waters was given heavy sedatives against his will and had to perform despite being “barely able to lift his arm.”

14. Robbie Williams regularly uses hidden tracks on his albums

Source: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock

Sing When You’re Winning’s final track has 25 minutes of silence, followed by Williams saying “no, I’m not doing one on this album.” Robbie Williams made his fans listen to silence for 25 minutes for hidden content that wasn’t there.

15. Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” became big because of Shrek

Source: YouTube

The song went mostly underappreciated for years, even as other artists kept covering it, until a version of it was used in a movie about an ogre, a princess, and a donkey. Then it started popping up everywhere.

16. The true meaning of Semisonic’s song “Closing Time”

Source: WireImage

Although the song seems to clearly be about leaving a bar, it’s actually a metaphor for being born, in anticipation for frontman Dan Wilson’s upcoming fatherhood.

17. Chevrolet used Ice Cube’s song “Roll All Day” in a commercial for its newly-released Aveo

Source: Auto Evolution / Getty Images

While they focused on the lyrics “We can roll all day if I can ride all night” in the ad, the song is not about cruising in a car with a good MPG rating. The song is about Cube cruising around looking for s*x, eventually telling the girl she needs to get out of his car after she rejects Ice Cube’s request.
The song ends with Ice Cube’s car stolen: “She jumped in my car, took off, now I’m stuck. And all I want to do was f***.” In the end, Cube “had to stroll all day” and “had to walk all night.”

18. Jimmy Eat World was making fun of the guitarist’s little brother’s weight

Source: Jimi Giannatti Photography

Tom Linton’s younger brother Jimmy was the subject of childhood taunting, which is how the band eventually acquired its mean-spirited name.

19. There is no such place as “south Detroit” in the song “Don’t Stop Believing”

Source: IMDb

The area just south of downtown Detroit is across the border in Windsor, Ontario. Steve said that “I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west, and it didn’t sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it’s actually Canada.”

20. Steely Dan’s name is a very unexpected one

Source: Rolling Stone

Steely Dan was a jazz-rock duo from the late 1970s. They were named after a giant, steam-powered dildo from the book “Naked Lunch” by William S. Burroughs.