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Highlights
- John Mayer’s “Paper Doll” is speculated to be about Taylor Swift, with over 76 million streams on Spotify.
- Kanye West’s “Blame Game” was inspired by Amber Rose, with over 81 million streams on Spotify.
- Miley Cyrus’ “7 Things” was inspired by Nick Jonas, with over 127 million streams on Spotify.
The music industry is booming with songs that live rent-free in our heads. With the thousands of songs that are held in our collective memory, have you ever wondered which ones are inspired by other famous people?
Not surprisingly, there are plenty of hit songs out there that are inspired by other celebrities, and in this article, we ranked the most popular songs inspired by other celebrities (listed in Entertainment Weekly’s top 23) and ranked them according to their number of streams on Spotify:
10 John Mayer’s “Paper Doll” Was Inspired By Taylor Swift
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 76,838,507
John Mayer’s “Paper Doll” is speculated to be about Taylor Swift. The two reportedly dated for a few months away from the public eye before calling it quits.
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Following Swift’s obvious nod to Mayer in “Dear John,” “Paper Doll” was released, telling a story of a woman who Mayer fell for (“Was it to far to fall?/ For a little paper doll?).
9 Kanye West’s “Blame Game” Was Inspired By Amber Rose
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 81,140,617
Kanye West’s song “Blame Game,” featuring John Legend, was inspired by his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose. Appearing on his 2010 “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” West opens the track with “Whose fault?” which is then followed by a story of a couple going back and forth arguing. Although Rose isn’t directly mentioned in the song, West makes references to their 2010 breakup, making it obvious who the song was about.
8 Miley Cyrus’ “7 Things” Was Inspired By Nick Jonas
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 127,391,286
Miley Cyrus’ hit 2008 song “7 Things” was inspired by her ex-boyfriend, Nick Jonas. Subtle hints of the song’s origin are apparent in the “7 Things” music video where Cyrus is seen rocking a diabetes necklace.
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In an interview with MTV News, the director of the music video said the necklace was given to Cyrus by the song’s subject, which in turn, confirmed that Jonas, who has Type 1 diabetes, was the muse for “7 Things.”
7 Britney Spears’s “Everytime” Was Inspired By Justin Timberlake
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 147,476,339
Britney Spears’ 2003 song “Everytime” was inspired by her relationship with “Cry Me a River” singer Justin Timberlake. Following the relationship’s ending, Spears released “Everytime” to give her point of view of what happened.
Spears took the breakup harder (“And every time I try to fly I fall / Without my wings, I feel so small / I guess I need you baby”), seeing that Timberlake’s side of the story is reputably in his hit song “Cry Me a River.”
6 Amy Winehouse’s “Me & Mr. Jones” Was Inspired By Nas
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 155,860, 233
Appearing on her 2006 “Back To Black” album, Amy Winehouse’s “Me & Mr. Jones” was about legendary rapper Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas.
At the time, the two were in a public relationship, and Winehouse made it clear in “Me & Mr. Jones” that no one can stand between her and her man.
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5 Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” Was Inspired By Marilyn Monroe
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 159,860,725
Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” was inspired by the dazzling life of Marilyn Monroe. Using her birth name in the first lyrics of the song (“Goodbye, Norma Jeane / Though I never knew you at all / You had the grace to hold yourself), John leaves no room to speculate who the song was dedicated to.
4 Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” Was Inspired By Eminem
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 323,461,814
Mariah Carey’s 2009 hit song “Obsessed” was about rap god Eminem. Following claims by Eminem saying that the two dated (which Carey repeatedly denied), “Obsessed” was birthed.
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The “Obsessed” music video even shows Carey dressed as Eminem. Scenes show the Eminem lookalike sitting in a room full of Mariah Carey paraphernalia and following her around. The catchy lyrics “why you so obsessed with me?” were not lost on Eminem.
3 Selena Gomez’s “The Heart Wants What It Wants” Was Inspired By Justin Bieber
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 502,012,249
Selena Gomez’s “The Heart Wants What It Wants” was inspired by the ending of her public relationship with Justin Bieber.
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Gomez wasn’t shy when confirming who the song’s subject was in a 2014 interview with Ryan Seacrest after Seacrest blatantly said, “Obviously, it’s about your relationship with Justin. There’s no secret there.” In which she later expressed, “He [Justin] has heard it, and he has seen the video… he thought it was beautiful.”
2 Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” Was Inspired By Courtney Love
Spotify Streams as Of December 2023 – 568,168,430
Probably one of the best diss tracks was in 2004 when Gwen Stefani released “Hollaback Girl,” which is widely theorized to be inspired by singer Courtney Love. Although Stefani didn’t overtly mention Love in “Hollaback Girl,” the song coincidentally came out after Love referred to Stefani as a “cheerleader” in the press, according to Entertainment Weekly.
After the opening chorus of “Hollaback Girl,” Stefani sang, “I heard that you were talking sh**, and you didn’t think that I would hear it,” which many are convinced referred to Love’s press comments.
If that wasn’t enough for Stefani to imply who her diss track was for, then the “Hollaback Girl” music video made things clear: The video has a scene of Stefani dressed in a cheerleader uniform.
1 Taylor Swift’s “Style” Was Inspired By Harry Styles
Spotify Streams As Of December 2023 – 1,059,789,987
Taylor Swift is not only famous for her catchy pop music, but is also known to never let an ex-boyfriend go without the gift of a breakup song. Harry Styles was no different.
First released in 2014 on Swift’s “1989” album, “Style” appeared as the third track with Swift shamelessly confirming the song was about the “As It Was” singer. In a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, Swift humorously said, “We’ve should’ve called it ‘I’m Not Even Sorry.’ Come to think of it, Harry does have that ‘long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt’ vibe.”