Latest articles by Neil Crossley
“The whole thing was so exciting for me – to actually have control for the first time”: How Kate Bush created a classic single
“Singing it in an Irish accent, it comes across in a different way”
“I wasn't prepared for what I saw that night”: How a classic song recorded live in London set Bob Marley on the path to global superstardom
And he gave away the songwriting credit to a local hero back home in Jamaica
“I immediately heard the melody in my head”: How Madonna created a dancefloor classic — with the sample from heaven
An intoxicating mash-up of ’70s disco, ’80s electropop and 2000s club music
“A man walked into the party and I thought, ‘Wow, he’s really vain’”: The No 1 song that propelled Carly Simon to stardom
It also left legions of fans speculating on who it was actually about
“I began writing a song in my head about the drudgery of being an astronaut”: The classic song that transformed Elton John into a superstar
“Unfortunately, people identify it with David Bowie’s Space Oddity”
“They needed something slow for the romantic scenes with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis”: An ’80s classic from Top Gun
“Giorgio could have farted and I would have sung it!”
The song John Lennon called “the best I've ever written” – and Yoko Ono’s uncredited contribution
“A lot of it – the lyric and the concept – came from Yoko”
“I don’t think we would’ve found any success had someone else been the lead singer”: A rock classic that’s now hit over two billion streams
How John Fogerty created Creedence Clearwater Revival’s best-loved song
“When we went to collect the Grammy for Song of the Year, I was thinking, ’How did this happen?’”: This No.1 hit is the pinnacle of yacht rock
When Michael McDonald teamed up with Kenny Loggins, there was magic in the air
“When we go into that song, everything changes. It’s like God walks through the room”: The anthem that drove U2 half mad
During the making of The Joshua Tree, half of the time was spent on this one track
“It was John’s original inspiration, I think my melody, I think my guitar riff”: The story of one of The Beatles’ most poignant songs
It was unique in its musical and lyrical sensibilities
“I walked in… and Joni Mitchell was in baby blue pyjamas”: How a weird dream inspired the New Radicals’ classic ’90s hit
And the song was so good it convinced Joni not to quit the music industry
“It’s a perfect song. Bonnie really conveys the drama”: How a classic power ballad was created
“It makes you feel like you're a Norseman in a blizzard”
“The first three times I performed it in public, I burst into tears”: Joni Mitchell's era-defining classic Woodstock
An anthem inspired by the legendary music festival – by an artist who wasn’t actually there
“Even a baby can sing, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene’”: How Dolly Parton created a country classic
“I was playing guitar pretty seriously back then,” Dolly said
“I just was not expecting the look on people’s faces”: The controversial Tori Amos song that her record company hated – before a remix hit No.1
And was this song really an attack on Courtney Love?
“It’s a song that I love, because I didn’t compromise when I wrote it at all”: The making of Lana Del Rey’s sleeper hit
“I felt happy and started writing about how sad and gorgeous the summertime felt to me”
“It was a terrible record to make. The arrangement’s so weird”: How John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp created a classic '80s No.1
His motto: “Write about something that matters to people, man!”
“It was too dark, too personal, too risky, not commercial”: The story of Lana Del Rey’s breakthrough hit
And as soon the adulation began, a backlash kicked in…
“I didn’t even want it on the album”: How Alanis Morissette created her biggest hit
“I see words as paint, so I play with them," she said
“It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable”: The ballad that sparked the breakup of The Beatles
Featuring "atrocious" bass-playing by John Lennon
“I asked if there was another way of expressing whether God was ‘just a slob like one of us’”: Inside a ’90s classic
"I knew that we were going to be hearing this for the rest of our lives”
"The greatest pop record ever made”: How The Beatles created Strawberry Fields Forever – John Lennon's masterpiece
Lennon called it “psychoanalysis set to music”
