"Born in the USA" may have a darker side, but the aspects of it that made it into an anthem are also the aspects that make it easier to co-opt, regardless of what the song's actual meaning.
Read MoreAffectionately known as "BIg Mike", the Doobie Brothers' Michael Hossack made a name for himself in the early 1970s as a highly skilled and soulful drummer.
Read MorePink Floyd has been cemented as nothing short of legendary in the classic rock canon. However, casual fans of the British rock band may be surprised that its original singer, Chris Dennis, quit the band before the iconic outfit saw widespread success.
Read MoreLike the man said: With great power comes great opportunity. Few families in history understood this better than the Borgias, generations of major players in Italy's political history.
Read Morenestled deep within Earth's greenest lungs, there lies a sports arena that the Brazilian government coughed up somewhere around $300 million to build, while taking the lives of three construction workers, and it's ... uh, empty. Abandoned.
Read MoreSimon has played out the Who of "You're So Vain" since the very beginning. She auctioned off the answer to benefit a charity, under the condition that the winner was forbidden to reveal the name (or is it names?). (The name -- whichever it is -- has an "e" in it. She said.)
Read MoreIt's a scene repeated ad nauseam in World War II films. "I'd hardly arrived when the SS showed up at the door and demanded, 'Come with us!'" Margo Wölk's recalls of her experiences, which she recounted to the German magazine Der Spiegel.
Read MoreAt first listen, you might think the song is an emotional ode to someone you love, but if you go deeper, you'll discover that the song's are actually more about stalking and possessiveness rather than a shiny love story.
Read MoreNesmith tried to convince the producers to use one of his compositions, "A Different Drum." They weren't interested ("That's not really a Monkees tune," he was told), so, according to Dolenz, Nesmith "gave it to this young girl singer who was kicking around L.A. at the time."
Read More"It may well be our last album," Roland Orzabal mused in Tears For Fears -- The Seeds of Love, Adrian Thrills's 1990 book that covered the story behind every song on the Tears For Fears album The Seeds of Love. Orzabal was considering calling it Famous Last Words.
Read MoreThroughout history, explorers ventured into uncharted territories to source a body of water that could turn back biological clocks, but how seriously did they take their quests for curing waters? Here is the perplexing, sometimes tragic history of the search for the Fountain of Youth.
Read MoreThe way of the samurai: if you saw that Tom Cruise movie or played Ghost of Tsushima, you've probably got your finger on the pulse of the whole shebang, right? Surprise twist: it turns out it's a lot more complicated than that.
Read MoreThere were at least three items that defined Aztec life. Without them, the Aztecs wouldn't have been who they were. One was endearing. Another had horrifying implications. And the third ... kind of brings everything together and helps put their culture into sharper focus.
Read MoreAl's seventh birthday was auspicious -- or more precisely, the day before, because that's the day that a door-to-door salesman stopped by their house in Lynwood, California, just south of Los Angeles. He was shilling for a music school that offered lessons in guitar and accordion.
Read MoreThe whole to-do wasn't started by the plagues or crusades generally associated with the historical ballpark of the millennium in question. In point of fact, this age of cultural and financial stagnation was brought about by the meekest of all the Earth's forces: the humble gigantic volcano.
Read MoreFeuding artists can behave like reasonable adults, but some pretty big names in art history have been involved in some incredibly petty disputes. Here are some art rivalries that took things too far.
Read MoreFrom the pained emotions running throughout every chord, to the relative ambiguity of the lyrics -- i.e., was R.E.M. singer-songwriter Michael Stipe talking about an actual religion, or a relationship? -- it's no wonder this song has become so timeless.
Read MoreWhile it is known that frequent turmoil between band members and rampant substance abuse plagued the musical group, Coverdale stated that he valued his "sanity" too much and was left "utterly exhausted in every possible way" after three years of playing with Deep Purple.
Read MoreAs I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis is a popular and controversial musician in his own right. Some might even call him a "one hit wonder." Literally.
Read MoreThe Year Without Summer, as 1816 was later known as, was caused by a now obscure volcano in Indonesia called Mount Tambora, which erupted with a force that outdid the almost mythic proportions Krakatoa has developed in the imagination.
Read MoreThere are a lot of weird things you don't know about The Smurfs. Prepare to question your most basic assumptions about these mushroom-fixated arboreal ingenues.
Read MoreScience has had rivalries like any other field, but sometimes, dueling smart people take things too far. People get hurt, careers are ended, and occasionally, the onward march of science is actually hampered by competition instead of bolstered. The following science rivalries took things too far.
Read MoreVince Neil's absence between 1994 and 1997 resulted in one of the stranger periods in the band's history, when a guy called John Corabi handled the vocal duties ... and the band ended up throwing away an entire album. Let's take a look at why Mötley Crüe abandoned their Personality #9 album.
Read MoreEverybody loves Lucille Ball. And her pocketbook showed it. Here's how much she was worth.
Read More"He has 71 confirmed murders to his name, although this could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his kill count. The vast majority of these victims were criminals themselves." One more time for the cheap seats -- "the vast majority." Not all.
Read MoreAs Johnson explained to The Sunday Times in a 2018 interview, the doctors informed him that he should quit performing or else risk going completely deaf. Johnson admitted that his hearing was already impeding his performances: "The way I look at it, I had a great run."
Read MoreWho was Davy Jones? And why did he keep a locker if his work kept him out at sea so often? Wouldn't a storage unit be a more realistic option? Skim a few websites for historical societies and you'll notice that the answers are varied, evocative, and bizarre.
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