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Steve Vai gets a buzz

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Jay-Z: 99 problems and a biro ain't one

37. Jay-Z hasn't written any of his lyrics down for more than a decade.

38. James Joseph Brown Jr, who died on Christmas Day 2006, was meant to be named after his father Joe but a mix-up on the birth certificate meant Joseph became his middle name. Once he reached adulthood, Brown legally removed the 'Jr' despite (or because of…) Junior/Little Junior being his nickname as a boy.

39. Hard rock production guru Brendan O'Brien (Soundgarden, AC/DC, Pearl Jam) plays Hammond organ on Bob Dylan's MTV Unplugged.

40. Timbaland has claimed to have the sounds from every drum machine ever made.

Tom Morello: ambassador of guitar

41. Tom Morello's father, Ngethe Njoroge, a Kenyan, was the country's first ambassador to the United Nations.

42. Chic's Le Freak was originally called Fuck Off. These were the words that were sung as the main hook, but they were changed to 'Freak out' before the song was recorded.

43. One of the rumoured reasons behind Prince's decision to pull The Black Album just before its release in 1987 is that he had a bad experience on Ecstasy.

44. Edward Van Halen's middle name is Lodewijk, after composer Ludwig van Beethoven. (Lodewijk is the Dutch version of Ludwig.)

45. Steven Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen, Silvio Dante in The Sopranos) wears a bandana to cover permanent loss of hair from a car accident, where he hit a windscreen with his head.

The Chemical Brothers: exiting Planet Dust

46. The Chemical Brothers were originally called The Dust Brothers, but had to change their moniker after the US production duo of the same name threatened legal action.

47. One of the samplers in Propellerhead's Reason is called the NN-19. This is in tribute to Paul Hardcastle's 19, his 1985 hit that features stuttered samples as its name hook.

48. Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye recorded most of the vocal parts for their 1973 duets album in separate studios. A pregnant Ross was worried that Gaye's marijuana smoking would damage the health of her unborn child.

The ARP 2500: speaks to aliens

49. The famous synth motif from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was played on an ARP 2500.

50. Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante once planned to audition for Frank Zappa – until he found out about Zappa's strict 'no-drugs' rule for his band.

Part 3 of MusicRadar's 101 facts tomorrow.