Music history is filled with surprising stories that often remain hidden behind the songs, albums, performances, and artists we know so well. From Aaliyah’s unusual introduction to R. Kelly and Sum 41’s dangerous escape from the Congo to Brian Wilson’s emotional completion of Smile, these facts reveal unexpected connections, creative struggles, remarkable risks, and unforgettable moments.
This collection also explores how famous songs were created, how artists overcame setbacks, and how chance encounters shaped music history. If you enjoyed the earlier installments, continue reading with Part 1 and Part 2.
1 Aaliyah’s Uncle Introduced R. Kelly
At 12, American singer Aaliyah signed with her uncle Barry Hankerson’s Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became the lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.” She recorded it at 14, and it was released in 1994.
2. Schoolhouse Rock! grew from David McCall’s observation as an advertising executive that his young son struggled with multiplication tables but could remember rock song lyrics. McCall asked jazz musician Bob Dorough to put multiplication to music. Dorough wrote “Three Is a Magic Number,” which became an animated short and helped launch the series on ABC.
3. After Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, his manager said Jackson’s sister La Toya had taken hard drives from his home containing more than 100 unreleased songs. In 2010, Sony and Jackson’s estate agreed to develop as many as 10 projects over seven years. Previously unreleased recordings later appeared on Michael (2010), Bad 25 (2012), Xscape (2014), and Thriller 40 (2022).
4. For The Lion King (1994), Disney lyricist Tim Rice first tried to recruit ABBA to write the film’s songs. Rice had worked with the group on Chess, but they were busy with an opera and declined. He then suggested Elton John, who accepted and composed the songs with Rice; Hans Zimmer composed the film’s score.
5. Ariana Grande receives less than 10% of the songwriting royalties from her 2019 single “7 Rings.” The song uses the melody of “My Favorite Things,” written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for The Sound of Music. To clear its use, Grande’s team agreed to give the earlier song’s rights holders 90% of the songwriting royalties, leaving the rest to be shared by Grande and seven other credited writers.
6 Queen’s Predecessor Sculpted Thomas Faces
Tim Staffell, who later became chief model maker for the first series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, left his rock band Smile in 1970. Freddie Mercury then joined Staffell’s former bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor as lead singer, and they formed Queen. Staffell went on to sculpt some of the original faces and figures for Thomas.
7. When Run-DMC rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels was suicidal; Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel” gave him a reason to keep living. He listened to it repeatedly, then met McLachlan at a Grammy party and told her it had saved his life. He said she sang like an angel, but to him she was “God.” McLachlan thanked him and said that was what music was supposed to do.
8. Sum 41 named their 2004 album Chuck after Charles “Chuck” Pelletier, a United Nations volunteer who helped the band escape their hotel in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The band was filming a documentary for War Child Canada when gun battles reached the area. Pelletier escorted 42 people from the hotel to armored vehicles while exposed to gunfire and later received Canada’s Medal of Bravery.
9. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” peaked at No. 9 on the US chart in 1976. After its appearance in the 1992 film Wayne’s World, it climbed to No. 2, surpassing its original peak.
10. At Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday tribute concert in 1988, the hard disk containing Stevie Wonder’s programmed Synclavier music went missing just as he was due onstage. Wonder said he could not perform, so organizers sent the little-known Tracy Chapman out for a second set that day. Her debut album went on to sell roughly two million copies in the weeks after the concert, and “Fast Car” reached the top ten in the US and UK. Wonder returned to perform later that night.
11 Raincoats’ Nirvana Tour Never Happened
Kurt Cobain loved the Raincoats, a British post-punk band whose best-known lineup was all female. In 1992, he searched a London record shop for their out-of-print debut album and was directed to cofounder Ana da Silva’s antique shop. The band returned to performing in 1994, and Cobain invited them to open for Nirvana on a planned UK tour. He died a week before it was due to begin.
12. During the Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends float’s final appearance in the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, its characters began a musical number that abruptly cut off. Rick Astley then emerged from the float and mimed “Never Gonna Give You Up,” turning the planned interruption into a Rickroll for parade spectators and TV viewers. He appeared in person, but the vocals were prerecorded.
13. When Jimi Hendrix played London’s Bag O’Nails club on November 25, 1966, the audience included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and members of the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Singer-songwriter Kevin Ayers recalled hearing stunned exclamations of “shit,” “Jesus,” and “damn” from them.
14. In December 1994, former Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson and his solo band traveled through an active firefight to reach Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. Their promised UN helicopter and protective gear never arrived, so they rode into the besieged city in an aid truck without body armor. On December 14, they played a concert for residents living under siege.
15. When Freddie Mercury released his only solo studio album, Mr. Bad Guy, in April 1985, he thanked Queen bandmates Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon “for not interfering” in its liner notes. He had chosen session musicians instead of asking the band to play on the record. Less than three months later, the four performed Queen’s celebrated Live Aid set at Wembley Stadium on July 13.
16 Eddie Van Halen’s Secret Solo
Eddie Van Halen recorded the guitar solo for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in 1982 without telling his bandmates. Van Halen had a rule against outside projects, and he played for free, assuming no one would discover his involvement. He reportedly asked to remain uncredited, but his name appeared in Thriller’s original liner notes, and his bandmates found out.
17. While flying home from London, Danny Elfman came up with the theme for Batman (1989). He could write music with a keyboard but could not notate what he heard in his head without one, so he repeatedly went to the airplane bathroom to record melodies and rhythms on a cassette recorder. Flight attendants grew concerned; Elfman joked that they seemed to think he was taking drugs. The recordings helped him reconstruct the theme after he landed.
18. In 2013, Blake Shelton called critics of newer country music “old farts” and used “jackass” in a televised interview that drew backlash in January 2013. Country veteran Ray Price objected, and Shelton apologized to him. Willie Nelson then jokingly renamed his tour the “Old Farts and Jackass Tour.”
19. In 2002, the Clash’s Joe Strummer was vacationing in Los Angeles when he learned that Johnny Cash was recording there. A fan of Cash, he visited every day and extended his trip by a week to keep watching him work. Producer Rick Rubin brought them together to record Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” with Tom Morello on guitar. The duet appeared on Cash’s Unearthed collection in 2003.
20. Children’s author Shel Silverstein won two Grammys for work in different fields. In 1970, he won Best Country Song for writing Johnny Cash’s hit “A Boy Named Sue.” In 1985, his audio performance of Where the Sidewalk Ends won Best Recording for Children.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Beat It Cast Rival Gangs
For the music video for “Beat It,” Michael Jackson cast real members of the rival Bloods and Crips. Director Bob Giraldi recalled that Jackson recruited them, apparently through the LAPD’s gang squad, so they could work together under police supervision. Tensions nearly stopped filming, but the gang members gathered to watch Jackson’s dance sequence, and the shoot continued.
22. For his “Smells Like Nirvana” video, “Weird Al” Yankovic used the same soundstage as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The parody also brought back many audience members, a few cheerleaders, and the original janitor. Director Jay Levey said the original video’s producers helped arrange the details once they knew Kurt Cobain had approved the spoof.
23. Brenda Lee, best known for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” had 47 U.S. chart hits during the 1960s. That was more than any other woman and placed her fourth among all acts, behind only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Ray Charles. Her hits included “I’m Sorry” and “I Want to Be Wanted,” both of which reached No. 1 in 1960.
24. In 1994, a UK law gave police powers to disperse certain outdoor raves and described their music as including “a succession of repetitive beats.” While the bill was under debate, electronic duo Autechre released “Flutter,” programming its rhythm so that no two bars had the same beat. The track’s sleeve suggested DJs could play it under the proposed law, though it advised keeping a lawyer and a musicologist nearby.
25. While scoring The Lion King (1994), composer Hans Zimmer saw his own childhood in Simba’s loss of his father. Zimmer’s father had died when he was six, and he said the music became “a requiem for my father.” The score won him the 1995 Academy Award for Best Original Score.
