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33 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Music

Once you pop, the fun don’t stop! Wait, that slogan is about pop music, right?

33 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Music

September 02, 2024

Wait, so not only were these songs bangers, but they also had cool backstories? Some songs have all the luck. Do you know how many songs out there never get heard by more than like 15 people, while also having zero interesting “making-of” stories? We’re not exactly sure, but it’s gotta be a lot.

We’ll find that stat for one of our many stats-based lists. For now, let’s stick to the tunes!

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33

ANGIE WAS THE NAME OF THE WOMAN WHO CAUGHT MICK JAGGER AND DAVID BOWIE IN BED TOGETHER. Angela Bowie was David's wife at the time, and she says she walked in on the pair naked in bed together when she returned from a trip. I think they were composing 'Angie, she quipped. Bowie and Jagger deny the story. CRACKED.COM http://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-04/entertainment/ca-450 1_angela-bowie — Source

32

Hallelujah

THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS ISN'T ABOUT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. It's about the Second Coming, and by extension, the end of the world. It's based on scriptures from the book of Revelation, which is the apocalyptic part of the Bible. CRACKED.COM Revelation 19615 — Source

31

Look at Your Game, Girl, a bonus track from Guns N' Roses' 1993 album, The Spaghetti Incident?, was written by Charles Manson. GUNS N ROSES THE SPAGHETTI NCIDENTE g ONE OF you The song was in Manson's album Lie: The Love and Terror Cult. It was released in 1970 to help pay for his legal counsel. 23 years after its initial release, AXL Rose insisted that GN'R do a cover version of that song and include it in their album. Manson lost a lawsuit filed against him by one of his victim's family in 1971. The court ordered him to — Source

30

MIA

Paper Planes by MIA The song satirizes negative stereotypes about immigrants. MIA herself was denied entry to the US, even when she was signed to Interscope Records. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

The Beatles

CRACKED.COM Paul McCartney was afraid he was plagiarizing Yesterday. After dreaming up the melody, McCartney wasn't sure it was actually his creation. For a time he went around asking people in the business if they had heard it before. I thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it, he said. — Source

28

Under Pressure

CRACKED.COM Queen's collaboration with David Bowie on Under Pressure was pure impromptu. David Bowie just happened to be by the studio where Queen was recording tracks for their 10th studio album when both parties decided to work on an original piece during a 24-hour session. Mercury and Bowie even did their vocals separately without hearing each other as they sang their part. — Source

27

Bad

Bad was originally going to be a collaboration between Michael Jackson and Prince. Producer Quincy Jones says it was his idea to put the two rivals together, and turn that antagonistic energy into pop gold. Apparently it was a hard pass, for Prince. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Sam Smith sang Stay With Me all by himself -- no choir. Не got the choir effect by layering his voice (while standing in different spots) about 20 times, and what we hear is the finished demo. The song was written in 34 minutes and recorded in a single take, but it wasn't until he'd added the harmonies that he felt like the whole song suddenly made sense. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran wrote Afire Love for his grandfather, who never really knew the singer due to Alzheimer's disease. Не began writing the song two weeks before his grandfather passed away. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Outkast

Andre 3000 OUT KAST wrote OutKast's Ms. Jackson as an apology of sorts to the mother of his former partner MS. JACKSON Erykah Badu. Badu wasn't entirely thrilled with the track at first, but when asked how her mother felt about it she said She bought her a 'Ms. Jackson' license plate, she had the mug, she had the ink pen, she had the headband, she had everything... loved it. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Shaggy

CRACKED.COM Shaggy's hit song It Wasn't Me was inspired by a skit Eddie Murphy did in Raw about men being unfaithful and denying it. — Source

22

Taylor Swift

During the shooting of the music video of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, heavy-metal music was played around the perimeter of the studio so no-one could hear the unreleased song. CO 99 AND WW CRACKED.COM — Source

21

3 Doors Down

Brad Arnold from 3 Doors Down wrote Kryptonite when he was 15 during his math class. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Steven Tyler

CRACKED COM The iconic drum beats at the end of Livin' On The Edge by Aerosmith... were played on a bass drum that Steven Tyler stole from his high school after senior prom. — Source

19

A Charlie Brown Christmas producer Lee Mendelson banged out the lyrics to Christmas Time is Here in one sitting. It was the last minute, and all his lyricist friends were busy. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Rihanna

Rihanna's Diamonds took 14 minutes to write. (The producer said, That's insane.) It sold 3.5 million copies. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love in ten minutes on a guitar despite only knowing a few chords. CRACKED COM — Source

16

Eminem

Busta Rhymes shattered a windshield when he first heard Eminem PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT Busta Rhymes was on a tour bus when he first listened the Slim Shady LP and was so moved that he smashed his head against the bus' windshield. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera's big break was thanks to Mulan Her successful single Reflection from the 1998 Disney movie led to her record signing and releasing Genie in the Bottle. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson tried to be a Christian singer ESSICA SIMPSON Christian labels said she was too pretty. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Britney Spears

Britney Spears was almost in a girl band. The band Innosense was managed by Lou Pearlman (of Backstreet and N'SYNC fame) and Justin Timberlake's mom. Britney left to pursue her solo career. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Lil’ Bow Wow

Lil' Bow Wow got his name from Dr. Dre Не makes an apperance in Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice music video. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

The Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys are the most successful boy band. In the rivalry between *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, BSB sweeps on the basis of commercial success. They are one of the bestselling artists of all-time. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

J-Lo

Jennifer Lopez was a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson She also danced back-up for New Kids on the Block before she was famous. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Max Martin

Max Martin wrote all the pop songs you love from the era The Swedish songwriter wrote the career-defining singles of the biggest pop stars of the time: ...Baby One More Time, I Want It That Way, and It's Gonna Be Me. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Lorde

ROYALS LORDE When asked about her Grammy-winning song, she said, There's part of me that's like 'these melodies are just not as good as something I could have written now', or like 'I definitely wouldn't have written this lyric this way if I had've written it now'...It definitely feels like a bit of a relic now. CRACKED — Source

7

Nicki Minaj

STARSHIPS NICKI MINAJ Nicki Minaj said she regrets a lot of her discography, including, I wish I never recorded 'Anaconda.' I like the video but ugh. My first ever solo song on Billboard was 'Your Love.' To this day I like the video but I hate the song. I could go on and on. I hate 'Starships,' I mean ew, 'Starships?' I'm like, 'Why did I do that?' I really think that every time I hear it. CRACKED — Source

6

The Who

PINBALL WIZARD THE WHO Dolvdor Pete Townsend said in 1996, This is awful, the most clumsy piece of writing I've ever done. CRACKED — Source

5

Mandy Moore

CANDY MANDY MOORE Mandy Moore was quick to dismiss her early catalog, saying, Ugh, those were awful--just awful! If I had the money, I would give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums. CRACKED — Source

4

Kanye West

GOLD DIGGER KANYE WEST Ironically, Kanye West wrote the song just for the money, admitting he never cared for it. Не said in an interview, I knew I would get paid for doing 'Gold Digger. CRACKED — Source

3

TLC

CREEP TLC Lisa Left Eye Lopes was totally against the song's message suggesting it was okay to cheat on a cheater. She was opposed to releasing it as a single but was outvoted in the group. CRACKED — Source

2

R.E.M.

SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE R.E.M. The band attempted to change up their sound with the pop song, but as Michael Stipe said, It was a hit but none of us are particularly fond of it...It's a song primarily written for children. CRACKED — Source

1

Eminem

CLEANIN' OUT MY CLOSET EMINEM In his song Headlights, Eminem expressed his regret to the song about his estranged mother, with lyrics includingBut I'm sorry, momma, for 'Cleanin' Out My Closet and That song I no longer play at shows/And I cringe every time it's on the radio CRACKED — Source

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