if nothing else these songs will provide
some name recognition
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
looking at the top 10 songs named after
famous people
for this list we’re looking at the most
memorable and meaningful songs that
share their titles with the name of
someone famous the only exceptions we
have are for joke songs so for those
expecting to see songs like Weird Al’s
Jerry Springer this isn’t the list
you’re looking for baby I’m sleeping
with your sister which although well
I’ve been sleeping with your best friend
Jane yeah me too and I’m asleep over
there John whoopee whoopee you bet
number 10 Rosa Parks Outkast by the late
1990s beloved hip hop group outcasts
were at the top of their game and with
the release of Rosa Parks they’d become
a force to be reckoned with Andre 3000
and Big Boi make reference to the
legendary civil rights activist in the
chorus telling everyone to hush like
fuss and to move to the back of the bus
because they’re the type of people that
make the club get crunk with a committee
go burn it down let’s go bust you in the
mouth with the chorus now state
while there’s no denying that outcasts
aren’t worthy of that kind of status it
didn’t stop them from getting in trouble
with the actual Rosa Parks who sued them
in 1999 saying they misappropriated her
name-o that they were wrong man telling
they scattered a it was dope stage
number nine James Dean Eagles
even with only three films under his
belt actor James Dean left a permanent
mark on pop culture before his
unfortunate death in 1955 the Eagles
definitely believe this dedicating a
whole song to him on the third album on
the border
you
in the song Glenn Frey sings about the
larger-than-life persona and impact of
the titular rebel without a cause over
some of the band’s tightest musicianship
the track also coined the phrase too
fast to live too young to die
referencing Dean’s death in a car crash
and providing an accurate description
for others who might meet a similar fate
number eight Brian Wilson barenaked
ladies
like Brian Wilson
usually upbeat and light-hearted BNL
took on a more somber tone for this ode
to the Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson
the singers battles with mental illness
have been well-documented and the
barenaked ladies make many references to
the problems that Wilson faced including
dr. Eugene Landy the psychologist who
was later revealed to be taking
advantage of Wilson ring up and a Santa
Fe how’d you like that dr. Landy tell me
and not just a pedagogue the song was so
well received by Wilson that he himself
covered it for a live album in 2000 an
experience that the band later described
as surreal Hey when a beach boy says he
likes her song you listen
number seven Betty Davis eyes kim carnes
this early 80s classic was actually
recorded in 1974 by singer Jackie
DeShannon she’s gay but it wasn’t until
Karns covered and rearranged it in 1981
that had worked itself into the cultural
consciousness backed by otherworldly
synthesizers Karn sings about an equally
mesmerizing woman who shares eyes with
the award-winning actress from the
Golden Age of Hollywood
the track spent nine weeks at the top of
the Billboard Hot 100 became the biggest
song of 1981 and even earned Karnes
recognition from Betty Davis herself for
helping to bring her back into the
spotlight
she’s got better dead
the company um but they responded number
six Rock Me Amadeus
Falco’s
the mid-80s were shockingly fertile time
to talk about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a
year after the biopic of the famous
Austrian composer won the Oscar for Best
Picture singer Faldo scored a number-one
hit with a song about him to this day
were still amazed that this was as big a
hit as it was
it was a song about a classical composer
from the 1700s sung almost entirely in
German in an era dominated by
synthesizers and electronic drums
despite that the song became iconic
making Falco the first german-speaking
artist to have a number one hit on two
US charts
number-5 Bela Lugosi’s dead bauhaus el
amigos is dead ready for something
really macabre in 1979 English group
Bauhaus hit the scene with this early
example of goth rock the track which
clocks in at 9 minutes makes reference
to the iconic horror film star who still
remains the most well known screen image
of Dracula despite Lugosi dying over two
decades prior to the song’s release it’s
not hard to see where Bauhaus took
inspiration from whether in their dark
Gothic style or lyric site referenced
bags and account himself
number four mr. Crowley Ozzy Osbourne
no stranger to the occult or bizarre the
Prince of Darkness decided to give up
the pretense on this cut from his debut
album inspired by a book about the
titular man this Blizzard of Austin out
sees Ozzy singing about the legendary
British occultist Aleister Crowley back
to the iconic work of guitarist Randy
Rhoads
while the song remains one of Aussies
best tracks it does compare him to a
magician and master of the occult which
definitely did nothing to help shake the
public perception that the metal star
was a practitioner of the dark arts and
that ended up being an image that would
come back to haunt him
number three Clint Eastwood guerrillas
featuring del the funky homosapien at
first listen this song from guerrillas
doesn’t seem to have as much to do with
the multi Academy award-winning actor
director but this funktastic debut
single is a lot more than its killer
bass grooves and rap verses if someone
let me out of mikeg yeah top of me is
nothing cuz I’m counting though a
combine that imagery with the music of
the guerrillas and you got a tune
awesome enough to stand next to Eastwood
himself I got sunshine in a bag
the future is coming although there has
been no word from the man with no name
about his thoughts on the track
guerrillas frontman Damon Albarn is
confident he would love the song as he
says Eastwood is quote an intelligent
man
oh please try the fish number two Buddy
Holly Weezer it might still be
overshadowed by its own video but this
song released on what would have been
the Holly’s 58th birthday remains one of
Weezer’s most well known tracks
amazingly Rivers Cuomo had to be
convinced by their producer to include
the song on their debut album with Cuomo
believing it wouldn’t fit in with the
rest of their sound
but this lovable track where Cuomo
compares himself and his lover to the
beloved 50s rock and roll pioneer and TV
star Mary Tyler Moore turned out to be a
perfect addition to Weezer’s nerd rock
personas
and you’re
ah
our number one pick here are a few
honorable mentions Barbra Streisand
look I know girls love Beyonce girls
love them with your consciousness girls
a-wings go missing and surely you ain’t
no different these days it’s hard to
meet women
number one roll over Beethoven Chuck
Berry
the father of rock-and-roll putting the
most famous classical composer of all
time in his place you gotta have some
serious chops for that
luckily Chuck Berry had the musical
talent to pull this off
would Beethoven actually roll over in
his grave if he knew that the music he
pioneered had given way to rock and roll
hell even Tchaikovsky gets dragged into
this battle of riffs and
but berries boasting wasn’t without
cause rolling stone would later deem
this the ultimate rock and roll call to
arms declaring a new era
so do you agree with our list what do
you think the best songs named after
famous people are
for more musical top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
some name recognition
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
looking at the top 10 songs named after
famous people
for this list we’re looking at the most
memorable and meaningful songs that
share their titles with the name of
someone famous the only exceptions we
have are for joke songs so for those
expecting to see songs like Weird Al’s
Jerry Springer this isn’t the list
you’re looking for baby I’m sleeping
with your sister which although well
I’ve been sleeping with your best friend
Jane yeah me too and I’m asleep over
there John whoopee whoopee you bet
number 10 Rosa Parks Outkast by the late
1990s beloved hip hop group outcasts
were at the top of their game and with
the release of Rosa Parks they’d become
a force to be reckoned with Andre 3000
and Big Boi make reference to the
legendary civil rights activist in the
chorus telling everyone to hush like
fuss and to move to the back of the bus
because they’re the type of people that
make the club get crunk with a committee
go burn it down let’s go bust you in the
mouth with the chorus now state
while there’s no denying that outcasts
aren’t worthy of that kind of status it
didn’t stop them from getting in trouble
with the actual Rosa Parks who sued them
in 1999 saying they misappropriated her
name-o that they were wrong man telling
they scattered a it was dope stage
number nine James Dean Eagles
even with only three films under his
belt actor James Dean left a permanent
mark on pop culture before his
unfortunate death in 1955 the Eagles
definitely believe this dedicating a
whole song to him on the third album on
the border
you
in the song Glenn Frey sings about the
larger-than-life persona and impact of
the titular rebel without a cause over
some of the band’s tightest musicianship
the track also coined the phrase too
fast to live too young to die
referencing Dean’s death in a car crash
and providing an accurate description
for others who might meet a similar fate
number eight Brian Wilson barenaked
ladies
like Brian Wilson
usually upbeat and light-hearted BNL
took on a more somber tone for this ode
to the Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson
the singers battles with mental illness
have been well-documented and the
barenaked ladies make many references to
the problems that Wilson faced including
dr. Eugene Landy the psychologist who
was later revealed to be taking
advantage of Wilson ring up and a Santa
Fe how’d you like that dr. Landy tell me
and not just a pedagogue the song was so
well received by Wilson that he himself
covered it for a live album in 2000 an
experience that the band later described
as surreal Hey when a beach boy says he
likes her song you listen
number seven Betty Davis eyes kim carnes
this early 80s classic was actually
recorded in 1974 by singer Jackie
DeShannon she’s gay but it wasn’t until
Karns covered and rearranged it in 1981
that had worked itself into the cultural
consciousness backed by otherworldly
synthesizers Karn sings about an equally
mesmerizing woman who shares eyes with
the award-winning actress from the
Golden Age of Hollywood
the track spent nine weeks at the top of
the Billboard Hot 100 became the biggest
song of 1981 and even earned Karnes
recognition from Betty Davis herself for
helping to bring her back into the
spotlight
she’s got better dead
the company um but they responded number
six Rock Me Amadeus
Falco’s
the mid-80s were shockingly fertile time
to talk about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a
year after the biopic of the famous
Austrian composer won the Oscar for Best
Picture singer Faldo scored a number-one
hit with a song about him to this day
were still amazed that this was as big a
hit as it was
it was a song about a classical composer
from the 1700s sung almost entirely in
German in an era dominated by
synthesizers and electronic drums
despite that the song became iconic
making Falco the first german-speaking
artist to have a number one hit on two
US charts
number-5 Bela Lugosi’s dead bauhaus el
amigos is dead ready for something
really macabre in 1979 English group
Bauhaus hit the scene with this early
example of goth rock the track which
clocks in at 9 minutes makes reference
to the iconic horror film star who still
remains the most well known screen image
of Dracula despite Lugosi dying over two
decades prior to the song’s release it’s
not hard to see where Bauhaus took
inspiration from whether in their dark
Gothic style or lyric site referenced
bags and account himself
number four mr. Crowley Ozzy Osbourne
no stranger to the occult or bizarre the
Prince of Darkness decided to give up
the pretense on this cut from his debut
album inspired by a book about the
titular man this Blizzard of Austin out
sees Ozzy singing about the legendary
British occultist Aleister Crowley back
to the iconic work of guitarist Randy
Rhoads
while the song remains one of Aussies
best tracks it does compare him to a
magician and master of the occult which
definitely did nothing to help shake the
public perception that the metal star
was a practitioner of the dark arts and
that ended up being an image that would
come back to haunt him
number three Clint Eastwood guerrillas
featuring del the funky homosapien at
first listen this song from guerrillas
doesn’t seem to have as much to do with
the multi Academy award-winning actor
director but this funktastic debut
single is a lot more than its killer
bass grooves and rap verses if someone
let me out of mikeg yeah top of me is
nothing cuz I’m counting though a
combine that imagery with the music of
the guerrillas and you got a tune
awesome enough to stand next to Eastwood
himself I got sunshine in a bag
the future is coming although there has
been no word from the man with no name
about his thoughts on the track
guerrillas frontman Damon Albarn is
confident he would love the song as he
says Eastwood is quote an intelligent
man
oh please try the fish number two Buddy
Holly Weezer it might still be
overshadowed by its own video but this
song released on what would have been
the Holly’s 58th birthday remains one of
Weezer’s most well known tracks
amazingly Rivers Cuomo had to be
convinced by their producer to include
the song on their debut album with Cuomo
believing it wouldn’t fit in with the
rest of their sound
but this lovable track where Cuomo
compares himself and his lover to the
beloved 50s rock and roll pioneer and TV
star Mary Tyler Moore turned out to be a
perfect addition to Weezer’s nerd rock
personas
and you’re
ah
our number one pick here are a few
honorable mentions Barbra Streisand
look I know girls love Beyonce girls
love them with your consciousness girls
a-wings go missing and surely you ain’t
no different these days it’s hard to
meet women
number one roll over Beethoven Chuck
Berry
the father of rock-and-roll putting the
most famous classical composer of all
time in his place you gotta have some
serious chops for that
luckily Chuck Berry had the musical
talent to pull this off
would Beethoven actually roll over in
his grave if he knew that the music he
pioneered had given way to rock and roll
hell even Tchaikovsky gets dragged into
this battle of riffs and
but berries boasting wasn’t without
cause rolling stone would later deem
this the ultimate rock and roll call to
arms declaring a new era
so do you agree with our list what do
you think the best songs named after
famous people are
for more musical top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
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