Songs that mention other artists?

[sirthx2]

Elvis is probably mentioned in 1,000 songs.

[dubler]

Thin Lizzy- Do anything you want to do (Elvis)
Thin Lizzy- Having a good time ( Mentions other band members)
Motley Crue - Smokin in the boys room ( Mentions other band members)
The Sisters of Mercy- Doctor Jeep (Lucille Ball & Pee Wee Herman, might be stretching the rules here)
Pink Floyd- Vera (Vera Lynn)
Peter Murphy- Marlene Dietrich’s favourite poem
Cake- Frank Sinatra
Billy Bragg- England, half English (Morrissey)
Eddie Money- Take me home tonight (Ronnie Spector)
Blue Oyster Cult- Joan Crawford

[Indy_Rob]

1985 - Bowling For Soup

First one I thought of.

Mötley Crüe - "Poison Apples" mentions Mott the Hoople

[dubler]

Steel Panther- Death to all but metal
Puscifer- Cuntry Boner

https://youtu.be/LJvvxEs1_pE?si=_flLQzoY3c8QQ8Ru

[SexxAtraxxion]

Tuff - The All New Generation (1991)

Time ain't in a bottle and nothing stays the same
Somewhere in the 50s music made a change
People started pointing when the king began to shake
They called it rock n' roll and it was love or hate
Elvis Presley, Richie, Jerry, Little Richard, Buddy, Barry
You know The Beatles had a hard day's night

The all new generation (We're one big rocking)
Rock n. Roll is communication (Ain't no violation)
Boys will be boys. Girls, girls, girls (Scream and shout let it all out)
Singing out loud (All around the world)

Hippies turned to punkers and rockers turned to glam
Everyone's a poser now unless you like to slam
Violence ain't your answer nor drugs I'm proud to say
We gotta stick together now cause music's hear to stay
The Who, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones,
And old Van Halen. Aerosmith told you, Walk this way

Elvis Presley, Richie, Jerry, Little Richard, Buddy, Barry
Cooper, Kiss, The Oz and Motley, Poison, Axl, Jon Bon Jovi
Skid Row is the youth gone wild

[HoldenSSV]

Heaven - In The Beginning

[JamesHetfieldsAcneScars]

S.O.D. Fist Banging Mania mentions Motley Crue in the second verse....


You see them in the front
At every fuckin' show
Fist banging maniacs
With heads that move so slow
Who wants to see a fist
Right in their fucking face
They should learn to mosh
Or leave the fuckin' place


You know that they mean well
But it still makes you frown
Why can't they really thrash
And put their fist bangs down
Save that fist bang shit
For bands like Motley Crue
Or when you come see us
We'll dive on top of you

[dubler]

The Cult- Sacred Life (Andrew Wood, Kurt Cobain)
Neil Young- Hey hey, my my (Johnny Rotten)
The Ex-Idols- Kind of a Sid & Nancy song (Sid Vicious, Johnny Thunders)

https://youtu.be/qJ1xvDa_p1I?si=LxqZkgeiaHgHOorH

[CrankerBait]

Neil Young (with Pearl Jam) talks about Led Zeppelin and maybe Jimi Hendrix in "Downtown".

The Who references AC/DC in "Be Lucky".

Elton John's "Empty Garden" is about John Lennon.

"When Smokey Sings" by ABC is about Smokey Robinson.

That shitty "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 is about, well Mick Jagger.

"David Bowie" by Phish.

[Sleek]

From Mr. Tillman by Father John Misty:

"Jason Isbell's here as well, and he seemed a little worried about you"

[DangerZone]

Dylan mentions Neil young in “highlands”

Motley Crue mentions a bunch of celebs in ‘use it or lose it’

Neil young names Johnny rotten in ‘hey hey my my’

Def Leppard names major Tom, sgt pepper & others in ‘rocket’

[Gibsonite]

Frank Zappa w/Terry Bozzio - Punky's Whips

[RaceFan3]

Steel Panther - Death to All But Metal mentioned above is a great example.

First one I thought of though was Molly Hatchet - Gator Country. They sing about Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, Dickie Betts, Elvin Bishop, Marshall Tucker Band, and The Outlaws all in that song.

[GreatWhiteSnake]

How about fictional artists? Always liked this one...

Couldn't stop moving when it first took hold
It was a warm spring night at the old town hall
There was a group called, "The Jokers" they were layin' it down
'Cause ya know I'm never gonna lose that funky sound

[kreamygoodness]

Bowie's Drive-In Saturday mentions Jagger, Twiggy and Sylvain Sylvain.

[Stinky McFister]

I always love hearing Pantera giving it up for their contemporaries in Godamn Electric (Slayer and Black Sabbath). Always thought that was a badass move

[Gibsonite]

How about fictional artists? Always liked this one...

Couldn't stop moving when it first took hold
It was a warm spring night at the old town hall
There was a group called, "The Jokers" they were layin' it down
'Cause ya know I'm never gonna lose that funky sound

The Jokers were actually a real group featuring Dickey Betts before he went on to join The Allman Brothers Band

[The Sacred Cowman]

Van Halen's Can't Stop Loving You (Ray Charles)

[Indy_Rob]

Dream Theater have done this at least twice.

Just Let Me Breathe:

"A daily dose of eMpTyV
Will flush your mind right down the drain
Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain,
Make yourself a household name"

Octavarium has an entire section that references other bands, songs, and pop culture figures:

Sailing on the seven, seize the day, tripper diem's ready
Jack the ripper, Owens Wilson, Phillips and my supper's ready
Lucy in the sky with diamond
Dave's not here, I come to save the day for nightmare
Cinema show me the way to get back home again
Spinning round and round
(Looking outward, reaching in) Scream without a sound
(Leaning over, crawling up) Stumbling all around
(Losing my place only to) Find I've come full circle
Flying off the handle
With careful with that axe
Eugene gene the dance machine
Messiah light my fire gabba gabba
Hey hey, my my generation's home again
Spinning round and round
(Looking outward, reaching in) Scream without a sound
(Leaning over, crawling up) Stumbling all around
(Losing my place only to) Find I've come full circle

[poserboy71]

"Got my Kiss records out"
-Surrender-Cheap Trick

"...my favorite Rock group Kiss, I've got Ace Frehley and I've got Peter Criss..."
In The Garage- Weezer

[dubler]

Nick Cave- There she goes my beautiful world (Johnny Thunders)
Chili Peppers- Californication (Kurt Cobain)
Led Zeppelin- Hats off to (Roy) Harper
The Tragically Hip- Fly (Freddie Mercury)
The Mountain Goats- Andrew Eldritch is moving back to Leeds
Queen- The Miracle (Jimi Hendrix)
Pink Floyd-Nobody Home (Obligatory Hendrix perm)

[GoodJudge]

Several Neil Young mentions so far - but no-one has listed Sweet Home Alabama!!

[risingfarce]

Union - "Everything's Alright"

Beatles' songs are referenced.

Colors around me and stars in my eyes
Honey is raining from bright blue-green skies
And your song is playing
Yes, it echoes in my mind

Rainbows are pointing to strawberry fields
Walrus keeps singing to fools on the hill
And now I stop and wonder
If yesterday has passed me by (yeah)

Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)
Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)

Blackbirds are singing, they're calling my name
Imagine a change but the word's still the same
The road is long and winding
But there's love along the way (yeah)

Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)
Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)

Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)
Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)

Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)
Hello, Goodbye (Is everything, is everything alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Is everything, is everything alright)

Hello, Goodbye (Everything, everything, everything's alright)
Good day, Sunshine (Everything, everything, everything's alright)
Hello, Goodbye (Everything, everything, everything's alright)
Everything's alright




Lenny Kravitz - "California"

She played me records I had never heard
While we toked on purple hairs
Who, Zeppelin, Beatles, KISS, The Rolling Stones
While we played guitars in air



Queen - "Now I'm Here" mentions Mott The Hoople

Down in the city just Hoople and me
Don't I love him so?
Ooh, don't I love him so?


Queen - "Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)"

Music will be my mistress
Loving like a whore
Lennon is a genius
Living in every pore


Queen - "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"

In reference to Jim Croce's song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown".


Bring back, bring back
Bring back that Leroy Brown (yeah)
Bring back, bring back
Gotta bring back Leroy Brown (yeah)

[Verse 2]
Big, bad Leroy Brown
He got no common sense (no, no)
He got no brains
But he sure got a lot of style
Can't stand no more in this, here, jail
I got to rid myself of this sentence
Got to get out the heat
Step into the shade
Got to get me there
Dead or alive (babe)


Fleetwood Mac - "Gypsy"

Play on words.


So I'm back, to the velvet underground
Back to the floor, that I love
To a room with some lace and paper flowers
Back to the gypsy that I was
To the gypsy that I was




Jimmy Buffett - "Manana"

So please don't say manana if you don't mean it
I have done your lines for so very long
Don't try to describe a Kiss concert if you've never seen it
Don't ever forget that you just may wind up being gone
And I hope Anita Bryant never does one of my songs.

[Hellsinkey]

Luke (2 Live Crew)- Dr. Dre is a bitch ass
Bloodhound Gang- Fire Water Burn (Barry White, Frank Black, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix etc.)
Replacements- Alex Chilton
Happy Mondays- Donovan
Idlewild- When I argue I see shapes (Syd Barrett)

[pieceofme]

Bloodhound Gang yummy down on this mentions Bob Dylan and Peter criss

[JinglesTheChristmasMouse]

Accept’s “Dying Breed”

[inextrem]

Bruce Springsteen:
"Thunder Road" mentions Roy Orbison.
"Johnny Bye Bye" mentions Elvis Presley.

[richard cranium]

The Eagles and Steely Dan have referenced each other.

Steely Dan Everything You Did:
"Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening"

Eagles Hotel California:
"They stab it with their Steely knifes"

[Nobodyspecial]

Bad Company - Shooting Star "Jonny was a school boy when he heard his first beetles song"

Danger Danger - Rock America - I guess they just forget when they were young/When there was just one king/Elvis was his name and he sure could swing /The Beach Boys had 'em singin' "Fun, Fun, Fun"

Danger Danger - Yeah, you want it - You went from L.A. Guns/To Enuff Z'nuff/And then you partied with Poison/On the back of their bus

[Sleek]

R.O.C.K. in the USA (John Mellencamp): Frankie Lyman, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, Shangra-Las, Young Rascals, Martha Reeves, James Brown.

David Allen Coe's Willie, Waylon and Me namedrops Willie and Waylon of course, and Long Haired Redneck drops Hank Williams and Merle Haggard in there.