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36 Little-Known Facts About Musicians and Their Craft

A Taylor Swift fact you don’t already know? Quite possibly!

36 Little-Known Facts About Musicians and Their Craft

March 19, 2024

You kids go have fun in your mosh pit. We’re fine right here in our fact pit. It’s a lot like a mosh pit, really. We’re definitely hearing music the whole time, but while you’re drowning in a sea of music fans, we’re drowning in a sea of music facts! And luckily for us, music facts have a lot less elbows.

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36

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony lommi lopped off 2 fingertips when he was a welder. Не was told he'd never play again. But he adapted his playing style, giving Sabbath their signature sound. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

35

GIANIS The Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes all went to high school together. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

34

The Beastie Boys

The Beastie Boys used to open for themselves in the '80s. They were a heavy metal band called Triphammer. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr narrated Thomas the Tank Engine. Не was, at long last, the best at something amongst The Beatles. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Aerosmith

94663 ROCK 1216 Aerosmith has made more money from Guitar Hero than from any of their albums. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Disney wanted ABBA, not Elton John, to do the music for The Lion King. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Rocket Queen by Guns N' Roses features audio of actual sex... LI URL ...between Axl Rose and Steven Adler's girlfriend, recorded in-studio. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

29

The Beatles

The other Beatles watched George Harrison lose his virginity. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Metallica's Cliff Burton died because he shotgunned top bunk. Burton won a wager with Kirk Hammett, and made him switch bunks, just before the fatal bus crash. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury had 4 extra teeth in his upper jaw. Не was embarrassed of his overbite, but thought corrective surgery might mess with his signature voice. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

26

ABBA dressed like... that, due to Swedish tax law. The law says costumes are only tax deductible if they can't conceivably be worn in normal circumstances. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Katy Perry

Katy Perry carries around locks of Taylor Swift's and Miley Cyrus' hair. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

24

CAROLE KING WROTE YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN RESPONSE TO JAMES TAYLOR'S FIRE AND RAIN. When King heard Taylor's loneliness, she wrote a song to let him know he wasn't alone. Taylor recorded King's song for his own album, forgetting to ask for her permission first (she didn't mind). CRACKED.COM — Source

23

THE JONAS BROTHERS' LOVEBUG WAS MILEY CYRUS. Cyrus and Nick Jonas met while taping an episode of Hannah Montana, and dated in their early teens. In spite of a breakup, the two are on good terms. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

CRACKED.COM OUTKAST'S MS. JACKSON WAS ANDRÉ 3000'S APOLOGY TO ERYKAH BADU'S MOM. André dated Badu in the '90s, and they had a child together. After the break- up, André felt the need to express his regrets to his child's grandmother. — Source

21

THE GIRL DIDDY NEEDED IN I NEED A GIRL (PART ONE) WAS JENNIFER LOPEZ. While there are many people Diddy is talking about, one significant incident this song was inspired by was Diddy's 2001 break-up with J-Lo after the two dated on and off for years. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Pink

CRACKED.COM PINK'S SO WHAT IS ABOUT HER SEPARATION FROM HER HUSBAND. VO Oddly, she still had the guy, Carey Hart, in the music video. It's not as awkward now as it was then, since the two got back together a couple years later. — Source

19

U2

CRACKED.COM STUCK IN A MOMENT YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF WAS U2'S FAREWELL TO MICHAEL HUTCHENCE. The somber song is performed as a fictional conversation about suicide between Bono and the INXS co-founder Hutchence, who hung himself in 1997. — Source

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18

STYLE BY TAYLOR SWIFT IS ABOUT HARRY STYLES. Among other songs, Style was inspired by the relationship between Swift and Styles. I'm lucky if everything helped create those songs, he said in a Rolling Stone interview. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Katy Perry

KATY PERRY'S I KISSED A GIRL WAS INSPIRED BY SCARLETT JOHANSSON. Perry opened up a magazine, saw a picture of Johansson, and said to her boyfriend, If Scarlett Johansson walked into the room and wanted to make out with me, I would make out with her. Thus a song was born. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

Terrible weather hit the UK, New Zealand, and Romania when Umbrella topped their charts This became known as the Rihanna curse. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

15

The Beach Boys' Never Learn Not to Love was written by Charles Manson. Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson was close with Manson, until the band reworked and recorded one of his songs without crediting him. Manson was furious. Considering the Family's victims were murdered over much less that that, the Boys got off easy. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Drake

Drake got his high school diploma at 25-years-old. Не had dropped out of high school to play a high schooler in Degrassi. Не returned to school in 2012, after he was already Grammy-nominated. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

13

J. Cole was a first-chair violinist in high school. From 5th to 12th grade, the emcee played violin, earning the top spot at Terry Sanford High School. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Paul McCartney once let a stranger who claimed to be Jesus Christ into his house McCartney thought, Well, it probably isn't. But if he is, I'm not going to be the one to turn him away. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Dan Spitz is a watchmaker ANTHRAX CRACKED.COM The heavy metal guitarist said touring with Anthrax became mundane, and more like a job. So he quit the band to pursue his lifelong love of tinkering with timepieces. — Source

10

First Aid Kit was inspired by the dictionary. Klara Söderberg said, I was 13...and looking through a dictionary, looking for a name...I think music should be like a consolation to help you get through everyday life... CRACKED.COM — Source

9

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

8

Ed Sheeran's childhood friend was financially struggling so he wrote Thinking Out Loud with her The song has since been streamed almost 2 billion times on Spotify and has gone triple platinum in the UK. She never has to worry about money again. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

7

6

The Who

WHO ARE You IS ABOUT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS. Who? NHO? who? Specifically, it's about Pete Townshend hashing out royalties for The Who's American sales. After 14 hours of negotiations, the execs handed Townshend a check, and he went on the bender described in the song. CRACKED.COM Geoffrey Giuliano, 1996. Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend. — Source

5

Fountains of Wayne was named after a lawn ornament store. In Wayne, NJ, there was a store with the name, and the band thought it was amusing. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

The Weather Girls It's Raining Men The Weather Girls' It's Raining Men was co-written by actor, producer and long-time musical director for David Letterman, Paul Shaffer. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Taylor Swift grew up on Christmas tree farm She spent some of childhood on Pine Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania, which she honors in her Christmas single aptly called Christmas Tree Farm. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Nicki Minaj worked at multiple Red Lobsters before she was famous She was fired from multiple locations. She once followed a customer who hadn't tipped and taken her pen out to their car. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

1

lan Anderson was a fish farmer JETHRO TULL CRACKED.COM At one point in the 90's, he employed 400 people at the salmon farm he ran out of his home. Salmon breeding and rock flute have more in common than you might think: It's not a million miles away from rock and roll. There's a little bit of theatricality about it, too. — Source

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