'Islands in the Stream' was another massive crossover hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' 'Islands in the Stream' was written by the Bee Gees

The Gibbs originally penned the song for themselves, but the brothers didn’t think it was the right fit, so they reworked it as an R&B number with Diana Ross or Marvin Gaye in mind; however, nothing came of those ideas. It was then pitched to country star Kenny Rogers, who wasn’t sure he was the right fit, though Barry Gibb convinced him it would work as a duet with Parton, who was recording in a nearby studio.

Prince wrote a song for Kenny Rogers under the name Joey Coco

The enigmatic artist was wildly prolific and, when he wasn't churning out his own records, often wrote and produced other people. He contributed "You're My Love" to country icon Kenny Rogers' 1986 album "They Don't Make Them Like They Used To," though you wouldn't have known that reading the record's credits because the song was attributed to Joey Coco, a pseudonym Prince sometimes used.

'9 to 5' was Dolly Parton's first No. 1 pop hit

1977’s “Here You Come Again” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but “9 to 5,” the 1980 song for a film of the same name (starring Parton alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) was the first to reach the top.

Parton recorded two albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris

The musicians were fans of one another and performed together on Parton’s variety show “Dolly” in 1976. Eleven years later, they released an album together, fittingly called “Trio.” A follow-up, “Trio II,” arrived in 1999.

Country's popularity skyrocketed in the 21st century

Thanks to the crossover success of '90s artists like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, country music found a larger audience. By the 2000s, the genre was more popular than ever, at times accounting for nearly a quarter of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Three rock stars who made great country music

Steven Tyler, Tina Turner, and Darius Rucker all crossed into country. The author claims the trio shared a common trait: they weren't chasing a new audience. Instead, they were delving deeper into a sound already present in their work.

Dolly Parton danced with disco in the late 1970s

As disco grew more popular, more artists experimented with the genre, including through remixes. One of them was Dolly Parton, who released the “Dance With Dolly” EP in 1978, which remixed two tracks from her “Heartbreaker” album to make them more explicitly aimed at the dancefloor.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' was written as a goodbye for her musical collaborator

The Whitney Houston cover is the greatest-selling song by a female artist ever. It also might be one of the most misunderstood songs in country music. The song wasn't written for a lover; Parton wrote it for Porter Wagoner, her musical partner, when she decided to pursue a solo career.

Chris Stapleton's 'Tennessee Whiskey' is the best-selling country song of all time

The 2015 track has sold over 20 million units in the US, making it the third single to be certified double diamond. (The other two are Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" and Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower.") Stapleton's track is actually a standard that was written in 1981 and recorded by several other artists, including George Jones.

Drake has more top-five Hot 100 hits than any other artist

In 2022, the rapper’s collaboration with DJ Khaled and Lil Baby, “Staying Alive,” reached the number five slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That was his 30th track to reach the top five, surpassing the Beatles’ record of 29, which they achieved in 1970 with “The Long and Winding Road.”

'Over the Rainbow' became a widely covered standard

Judy Garland’s original 1939 version won the Academy Award for best original song, though it never appeared on the Billboard pop singles chart (which didn’t appear until 1940). Twenty different versions of the song by other artists—including Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, and Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole—have appeared on numerous Billboard charts.

Prince removed the bass from 'When Doves Cry,' creating the song's unique sound

It was an unorthodox choice, especially for someone associated with funk music, a genre that relies on prominent bass lines, but Prince wanted the song—written in the 11th hour for "Purple Rain"—to have more space. It worked: The song wound up as the lead single for the album and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Destiny's Child was the biggest girl group of the 2000s

Before she was the mononymous superstar, Beyoncé Knowles was one-fourth of Destiny’s Child, the biggest girl group of the 2000s. The group’s second album, “The Writing’s on the Wall,” which included hits about female independence like “Bills, Bills, Bills,” sold 13M copies, making it one of the best-selling girl group records of all time.

Performance artist Laurie Anderson had an unexpected pop hit with 'O Superman'

Anderson was a working performance artist in New York through the 1970s and pressed a small run of the song—an idiosyncratic, vocoder-driven piece that sounded unlike anything on pop radio. Thanks to a push from influential British DJ John Peel, the song became an unexpected hit, propelling Anderson (and her art) into the mainstream.

Every ‘SNL’ host who's doubled as musical guest

This chronological list details every entertainer who’s both hosted and performed as musical guest through the show’s five decades. You’ll find some interesting tidbits, like Paul Simon breaking ground as the first to do it in 1975, and some serious headscratchers, like Garth Brooks performing as his alter ego Chris Gaines.

Listen to the 'Star Wars' disco album

The 1977 film inspired disco producer Meco to record danceable covers of sections of John Williams' score. The lead single from "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" eventually topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks.

The movie soundtrack that helped mainstream grunge

Cameron Crowe's 1992 film "Singles" coincided with the mainstream grunge explosion. The romantic comedy takes place in Seattle's music scene, making it a perfect Hollywood product for the time. It also featured cameos from some of the scene's stars, including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.

Whitney Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl rendition is often called the definitive version of the national anthem

Houston’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from Super Bowl XXV is a rather straightforward take on Francis Scott Key’s song, if you consider Houston’s impeccable vocal delivery “straightforward.” The song was released as in 1991 to benefit soldiers and families of the Persian Gulf War and then again in 2001 to benefit firefighters and victims of September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mariah Carey earns millions each year from 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'

Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit has become a holiday cash machine, generating an estimated $2.5M–$3M in annual royalties. The song consistently tops the streaming charts each holiday season.

The Brill Building was a breeding ground for girl group classics

The Brill Building was a building in New York City that housed the working offices for over 160 music industry professionals, including some of the country’s finest songwriters, such as Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, and George Clinton. Below is a 1959 picture of three more Brill Building pros: Carole King, Paul Simon, and Gerry Goffin.

As a kid, Jay-Z was inspired by the Broadway musical “Annie”

That led to the rapper’s 1998 track “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” which sampled one of the show’s most recognizable songs, “Hard Knock Life.” "When the TV version [of Annie] came on, I was drawn to it," he told NPR in 2010.

Hip-hop legend Lauryn Hill had a recurring role on 'As the World Turns'

Hill is primarily known for her music career, both in the pioneering group the Fugees and as a solo artist. But before breaking records as a musician, she was an actor. Her career started in 1991, in high school, with a recurring role on "As the World Turns."

Sylvester's 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' is a definitive LGBTQ+ anthem

The 1978 dance hit was all about self-acceptance, inspired by the artist's difficult experience growing up gay in a Pentecostal church. The song has influenced numerous contemporary artists and inspired an off-Broadway musical.

Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' reentered the pop charts thanks to a viral video

In 2020, a man from Idaho named Nathan Apodaca filmed himself drinking cranberry juice while skateboarding and mouthing along to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” a hit from their 1977 album “Rumours.” The video’s popularity on TikTok introduced the song to a younger generation (and reintroduced it to older ones). In turn, listeners sought it out on streaming platforms, sending it back into the Hot 100.

'Blowin' in the Wind' became a rallying cry for the Civil Rights Movement

The song is based on a spiritual titled "Many Thousand Gone," whose melody Dylan reworked. The result was popularized by the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary and from there became an anthem for the growing Civil Rights Movement, culminating in Dylan's appearance at the March on Washington.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.