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32 Wild And Random Music Facts That Are Pretty Darn Interesting, If I Do Say So Myself

I can't believe Dolly Parton wrote "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" in the SAME DAY.

Kayla Yandoli
by Kayla Yandoli

BuzzFeed Staff

1. Freddie Mercury allegedly snuck Princess Diana into a gay club back in the '80s by dressing her up in an army jacket and sunglasses.

Pete Still / Patrick Riviere / Getty Images

2. In Missy Elliott's "Work It," the lyrics everyone famously misunderstood are simply "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" REVERSED.

Missy Elliott in the "Work It" music video; lyrics to Elliott's "Work It"
Goldmind / Elektra Records

3. Ed Sheeran slept on Jamie Foxx's couch for six weeks before he made it big in the music business.

Jamie Foxx on Graham Norton: "I said: 'Listen, I know you don't have anywhere to go, so just chill here.'"
Kevin Winter / Getty Images / BBC

4. In Ariana Grande's music video for "God Is a Woman," Madonna was the voice of God.

Ariana Grande in the "God is a Woman" music video, with Madonna's voiceover: "And I will strike down upon thee, with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my sisters"
Republic Records

5. Dolly Parton wrote the legendary songs "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" in the same day.

Dolly Parton: "In 1972, I wrote 'I Will Always Love You' at the same time I wrote 'Jolene.' That was a good writing day!"
WSIX-FM

6. Harry Styles accidentally bit the tip of his tongue off when he experimented with mushrooms during the recording of Fine Line.

Harry sticking his tongue out in the "Lights Up" music video
Columbia / Erskine

He told Rolling Stone in 2019: "I was trying to sing with all this blood gushing out of my mouth. So many fond memories."

7. Childish Gambino got his rap name from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator.

Childish Gambino in his "3005" music video, on a ferris wheel with a teddy bear
Glassnote

8. Kurt Cobain wrote the 1993 Nirvana hit "Heart-Shaped Box" about his wife's (Courtney Love) vagina.

Kurt Cobain in Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" music video; Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain at the MTV Awards in the early '90s
DGC / Kevin.Mazur / Getty Images

9. Mariah Carey insured her legs and vocal cords for $35 million each, totaling $70 million altogether.

Island Records

10. Taylor Swift was actually named after legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor.

Elena Gomez, Taylor Swift, and James Taylor pose during the "Speak Now World Tour" at Madison Square Garden 2011
Larry Busacca / Getty Images

11. Prince loved the TV show New Girl so much, he asked Zooey Deschanel if he could be a guest star on it.

Prince to Jess and Nick: "How rude of me — I haven't given you enough time to freak out yet. You may do so now"
Fox

12. Before Panic! at the Disco made it big on their own, they used to be a Blink-182 cover band.

Panic! at the Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" music video; Blink-182's "All the Small Things" music video
Fueled by Ramen / Decaydance / MCA

13. Lauryn Hill is the *only* woman in hip-hop who has won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

The cover of "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"; Lauryn Hill winning at the 1999 Grammys
Ruffhouse / Columbia / Vince Bucci / Getty Images

Hill won in 1999 for the legendary album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

14. Adele and Jessie J went to the same performing arts high school and used to sing together during lunch.

Kevin Winter / Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images

15. One of Nicki Minaj's first jobs before becoming famous was waiting tables at Red Lobster in New York City.

Nicki Minaj on Jimmy Fallon: "If you've ever eaten at Red Lobster, I probably took your order"
NBC

16. Elvis Presley was actually a natural blonde and his stylist dyed his hair dark in the '50s by mixing shampoo, vitamin capsules, aloe vera, and herbs together.

Elvis in the 1950s; a portrait of a younger Elvis with blonde hair
Hulton Archive / Getty Images / Twitter: @KimCattrall / Via Twitter: @KimCattrall

17. Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

Whitney Houston singing "I Have Nothing" in "The Bodyguard"
Warner Bros.

18. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin is actually a cover of an Otis Redding song. Franklin rewrote the lyrics because the song originally had a misogynistic tone and now it's one of the most famous female anthems of all time.

Aretha Franklin poses for a portrait circa 1967
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

19. Carlos Santana was so high on LSD during his performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, he thought his guitar neck was a snake.

Carlos Santana saying in an interview, "The neck of the guitar started wavering like a snake, and I was like, 'Uh-oh.' I just started making faces because I was trying to keep it tame"
Warner Bros. / Metro Focus

20. Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez used to be on Barney & Friends together before they became iconic pop singers.

PBS

21. Tina Turner was actually the one who taught Mick Jagger how to dance when she toured with the Rolling Stones back in the '60s.

ABC

22. Jimi Hendrix taught himself how to play the guitar and never learned how to read music.

Jimi Hendrix playing guitar at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969
David Redfern / Redferns / Getty Images

23. Nicole Scherzinger sang 95% of the vocals featured on the Pussycat Dolls' first album.

The Pussycat Dolls "Buttons" music video
AM

24. Brandy and Ray J's cousin is none other than Snoop Dogg.

Brandy and Snoop Dogg posing at a basketball game; Ray J and Snoop Dogg posing at an entertainment event in 2011
Michael Caulfield Archive / David Becker / Getty Images

25. Pharrell helped write "Hollaback Girl" with Gwen Stefani for her 2004 album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

Gwen shushing the camera in the "Hollaback Girl" music video; Pharrell at an awards show
Interscope / Rich Pol / Getty Images

Stefani told Billboard in 2019: "I was being bullied by someone and was being called a cheerleader, which was a bad thing! Growing up, that was not cool. ... I told Pharrell we should write a song about that."

26. In Janet Jackson's 1993 music video for "That's the Way Love Goes," an unknown Jennifer Lopez played her BFF.

Virgin Records

27. And Bruce Springsteen invited an unknown Courteney Cox to dance onstage with him in his "Dancing in the Dark" music video in 1984.

Columbia Records

28. Mel B and Geri Halliwell (Scary Spice and Ginger Spice) used to hook up during their days in the Spice Girls.

Mel B and Geri Halliwell (Scary and Ginger) of the Spice Girls photographed backstage at the Brit Awards in February 1997
Photoshot / Getty Images

29. Harry Styles gave Stevie Nicks a carrot cake when they met for the first time backstage at a Fleetwood Mac show.

Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks pose together backstage at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony
Angela Weiss / Getty Images

30. After Barbra Streisand appeared on The Judy Garland Show in 1963, Garland would visit Streisand's apartment in New York City to give her career advice, saying things like: "Don't let them do to you what they did to me."

Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland on "The Judy Garland Show" in 1963
CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images

31. Beyoncé charged her parents' friends $5 to watch her perform as a kiddo.

A video of Beyoncé singing as a teen in the "Grown Woman" music video
Parkwood / Columbia Records

32. And Paul McCartney and John Lennon used to masturbate together in a circle with some of their friends.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney at an event in the late '60s
Stroud / Getty Images