Pop Culture | 90s | 80s | 70s

Real Life People Who Inspired 9 Famous Songs We All Love

Geffen / Warner Bros

Muses have always played a powerful role in art. From Da Vinci's Mona Lisa to Kate Moss inspiring entire fashion lines in her heyday, artists have always been able to create memorable works when they come into contact with people who make them feel something.

And it's no different when it comes to music. We've sang so many of these songs out loud, not knowing the folks who inspired them. Here are the real life people who inspired nine of the most popular songs in modern music history.

1. Uptown Girl by Billy Joel

The lyrics to Billy Joel's catchy 1983 hit describes a poor man who is in love with an upper class girl. Chances are you at least know the part of the song which goes, "Uptown girl, she's been living in her uptown world. I bet she's never had a backstreet guy. I bet her momma never told her why."

An interesting fact is that the song was inspired by the real-life Uptown girls in Joel's life. When he started writing the song, he was dating famous model, Elle Macpherson. When the relationship ended, Joel began dating Christine Brinkley, another famous model.

The song talks about him, Joel, dating a hot, upper-class girl, Macpherson, and later, Brinkley. Uptown Girl must have done its magic because Brinkley starred in the music video and married him two years later.

2. Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney was a founding member of The Beatles who remains wildly popular. When the band broke up in 1969, he was hit particularly hard by what he referred to as the band's "divorce." Paul sunk into a deep depression and later credited his wife, Linda, with helping him get through this particularly tough time.

The song Maybe I'm Amazed talks about the bond the two have and his awe at her love for him. It is just one of several songs he wrote for her during the course of their 30 year relationship before she passed away.

3. Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N Roses

In the 1980s, lead singer Axl Rose was smitten by his model girlfriend, Erin Everly. Like most lovesick young men, he decided to write a poem for her but was struggling with the right words.

One day, he heard Slash, the band's guitarist pay a riff in the upstairs room of the house they were staying in. It immediately inspired him to finish Erin's poem which he later turned into the band's biggest hits and one of the greatest rock love songs in history.

4. Take a Look at Me Now by Phil Collins

Phil Collins wrote this iconic hit after his marriage to his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli ended. He wrote the song in a moment of desperation, hoping the song could reconcile them. He said he hoped, "When she hears this, it's all going to be OK."

Although the song did not have the intended effect he hoped for, Collins is still grateful for this period of heartbreak which he says helped transform him from a musician into a lyricist. We're also grateful because without his breakup, we'd never have this karaoke song whose lyrics everyone feels guilty about knowing in its entirety.

5. Chelsea Hotel No. 2 by Leonard Cohen

In 1968, Leonard Cohen was living, poor and alone, in a cheap hotel room in New York City. The Chelsea Hotel was famous for the icons who had stayed there at one point in time so he was not particularly surprised when he bumped into Janis Joplin in the elevator one night.

Although she was looking for someone else, Cohen decided to try his luck and the two went to his hotel room and had an affair which lasted only a few hours. Afterwards, he penned a song about the encounter, specifically about Joplin giving him a blowjob on that night. About the song, Cohen later said, "She would not have minded. My mother would have minded."

6. Candle in the Wind by Elton John

Contrary to what most people think, Candle in the Wind was not originally composed for Princess Diana. The song was first recorded in 1973 and was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. In it, Elton sang about his sadness at never meeting Monroe because he was so young when she died.

When Princess Diana was killed in a car crash, Elton's lyricist rewrote the lyrics as a tribute to her. This modern version became one of the best singles of all time, causing most to forget the original version.

7. Jump by Van Halen

Not all songs have been inspired by people whom the singers knew intimately. Despite its upbeat tune, Van Halen's timeless hit, Jump, is actually about a suicidal man standing on top of a high building whom one of the band members remembered seeing on TV the day before.

The band member mused that onlookers were probably yelling at the man to "go ahead and jump." Perhaps, wisely, other band members suggested they present the song as an invitation to love instead of an encouragement to commit suicide.

8. Layla by Eric Clapton

In the 1960s and 70s, Eric Clapton was hopelessly obsessed with his close friend's wife, Pattie Boyd. How obsessed you ask? When he realized he couldn't get her, Clapton entered a relationship and moved in with her sister just so he could be close to her. The song talks about how desperately he wants her to pay attention to him and how he longs to have her. Eric and Pattie eventually got together and got married but split up after a decade.

9. Don't Speak by No Doubt

No Doubt was one of the most iconic bands of the 90s and are remembered for many of their songs, including Don't Speak which sounds best when you're howling it in the shower. The hit song was actually inspired by Gwen Stefani's real-life heartbreak which tore the band apart.

After seven years together, Gwen's boyfriend and fellow bandmate, Tony Kanal, suddenly broke up with her. Gwen was devastated, saying later that she'd hoped she'd "get married and have babies with him."

She later penned the song to describe the heartbreak she and the rest of the band were feeling about the relationship's end. Gwen recently said she still can't sing the song without getting emotional.

Neither can we, Gwen, neither can we.

More Throwbacks

Pop Culture

The History of Roulette

Roulette is well-known as a classic casino game in both land-based and online casinos. It is based on the fundamentals of placing a bet to see where a ball will land once the wheel is spun. Offering a thrilling and elegant kind of entertainment, it has been popular for many years. But what are its origins, and how has it developed? Beginning of the Roulette WheelThere are various tales of where the Roulette wheel has its origins. The name itself points to where it was born; ‘roulette’ means ‘small wheel’ in French. Some sources date the formation of the game

Pop Culture

Top 5 Movies Set in Las Vegas

There’s something about Las Vegas that has always made it a place of great fascination for filmmakers. One of the main reasons has to be the way it looks – quite unlike anywhere else on earth. With the flashing signs that can be picked out by orbiting spacecraft and the sheer investment that has gone into creating this amazing oasis in the heart of the Nevada Desert it’s a film set that’s already been built. The fact that it’s only a relatively short distance from Hollywood itself – an hour by plane – is also strongly in its favour

Life

The Evolution of the NFL

The NFL may be the single biggest sports league in the world, but it’s been a long and winding route to reach this point. Many of the major changes that have brought us here have taken place in the last thirty years, but none of these could have happened without what had gone before. For example, while there are now 32 teams split between the National Football League and the American Football Conference, this division dates back to merger that occurred in 1970 between the NFL and its rival the American Football League. And, while there have been countless

90s

Remembering NFL in the 90's

NFL in the 90s. The Golden Years of FootballIf you can cast your mind back to what the NFL was like in the 90’s, you can perhaps remember some of the great teams and players of the time, not to mention some of the important milestones as well. Maybe you remember the Dallas Cowboys winning three Super Bowls in four years or when the Denver Broncos won a perfect season in 1998. Of course, there are plenty of memorable player moments too. Like when Dan Marino won the title of the best all-time passing leader. Or when Jerry Rice

90s

Brace Yourself: The Backstreet Boys Released A New Song And Are Going On A World Tour

The Backstreet Boys have been one of the biggest bands in the country, well, the world for several decades now. After getting their start in the early 90s, they've managed to be one of the very few bands that has stuck together and continued performing. They didn't need a big reunion, because they didn't break up. Well, let's just pretend like that whole Kevin fiasco didn't happen. But anyways, they've been putting out music and performing together for 25 years now, and they have no intention of stopping. To be fair, they did warn of this two decades ago. They

90s

Lip Smacker's New Christmas Collection Brings Back Your 90s Favorites. All Of Them.

If there was one product that you had to pick that would best represent what it was like to be a preteen in the 90s, I think a lot of us girls would agree that Lip Smackers would be the best choice. These little tubes of oftentimes glittered, scented, colorful lip-balm made us all feel like the fanciest of ladies, totally ready to grab our purses and do whatever it is that our moms did when they weren't paying attention to us. You had so many different choices too. You'd have a classic berry scented red Lip Smacker, you'd have