Missy Elliott Was Super Drunk In The "Work It" Music Video, Plus 14 Other Juicy Facts About Women In Music
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1.Miley Cyrus' latest single, "Flowers," references her relationship with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth in an honest light, and she took inspiration from some of Bruno Mars' lyrics to do it.
Cyrus rewrote the chorus of Mars' "When I Was Your Man" from: "I should have bought you flowers, and held your hand. Should have gave you all my hours when I had the chance. Take you to every party 'cause all you wanted to do was dance," to: "I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand. Talk to myself for hours, say things you don't understand. I can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand — yeah, I can love me better than you can."
You can listen to "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus here:
2.When Christina Aguilera recorded her 2002 hit "Beautiful," the opening line "don't look at me" was completely ad-libbed. Linda Perry, the songwriter behind "Beautiful," told Rolling Stone in 2019: "[Christina] stood there in my studio with the lyrics in her hands, and then said to this friend she brought along, 'Don't look at me' in that little whispery voice."
"I knew I was going to keep that on the record, and I knew she was the right person for the song," said Perry. "I realized: 'Oh, she's insecure. She's one of those beautiful people who's got everything but is super insecure. Okay, this song is hers.'"
You can listen to "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera here:
3.TLC had won two Grammys in 1996, and were the biggest-selling female group by that point (10 million albums sold worldwide), but they were actually bankrupt and barely received money for their major hits.
In 1996, the LA Times reported: "The trio has received less than 1% of the estimated $175 million in revenues that the group's music has generated around the world. Analysts say that's about 40 times less than the profit that has been divided among the management, production, and record companies that represent TLC."
4.In her high school yearbook, Nicki Minaj used a Lauryn Hill lyric from Hill's 1998 song, "Forgive Them Father." The quote reads: "To survive is to stay alive in the face of opposition."
Wow! I just realized that Nicki Minaj was in my graduating class in high school!!! #LaGuardia 2000
Years later in 2016, Nicki Minaj met her hero Lauryn Hill backstage after a concert. "I'm in love with you — your spirit, your mind, and everything about you," she gushed to Hill.
You can watch Nicki Minaj meeting Lauryn Hill here:
5.Ashanti sang demo vocals on one of Jennifer Lopez's biggest hits: The Murder Inc. remix to "I'm Real." She also claimed that she helped write Lopez's second big remix, "Ain't It Funny." Ja Rule (who was also featured on both remixes) said the producers kept Ashanti's demo vocals on "I'm Real."
"It's weird because obviously you get frustrated for not getting credit or not being properly labeled," Ashanti told Metro UK last year. "But then that turns into something you get admired for."
You can listen to "I'm Real (Murder Inc. Remix)" by Jennifer Lopez here:
And you can listen to "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)" by Jennifer Lopez here:
6.Missy Elliott was drunk when she filmed this scene for the "Work It" music video because director Dave Meyers accidentally refilled her glass with wine instead of water.
"We shot that take maybe seven times from different angles, so by the time that was over, [Missy] was trashed," Dave Meyers recalled. "She was so smiley. Then, Janet Jackson came to bless us with her presence, and Missy was talking all kinds of gibberish to her — it was really a good time."
You can watch Missy Elliott's "Work It" music video here:
7.Before they made it big as members of Fleetwood Mac in 1975, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham formed a rock band in the late-'60s called Fritz. In their early twenties, they played every gig they could land — and one of their most notable gigs was opening for legendary singer Janis Joplin in Cleveland in 1970.
Janis Joplin yelled at Stevie Nicks and the rest of Fritz off the stage because their set went over their allotted time. "Being yelled off the stage by Janis Joplin was one of the greatest honors of my life," Nicks said. "On walks this girl in silky bell-bottoms, a beautiful top, lots of gorgeous jewelry, feathers in her crazy, big natural hair. Lots of attitude, arrogance, the crowd in the palm of her hand. She was not a beautiful woman, but very attractive. I was very taken with her."
8.Dionne Warwick hosted an intervention in the '90s with Snoop Dogg and Tupac about their misogynistic music lyrics. "We were kind of scared and shook up. We're powerful right now, but she's been powerful forever," Snoop Dogg said. "Thirty-some years in the game, in the big home with a lot of money and success."
Dionne Warwick said to Snoop Dogg and Tupac: "You're going to have families, you're going to have children, you're going to have little girls. One day that little girl is going to look at you and say: 'Daddy, did you really say that? Is that really you?'"
9.Taylor Swift's favorite song lyric of all time is: "I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee" from Carly Simon's 1972 hit, "You're So Vain."
Swift is a huge admirer of Simon, so much so that she brought her out on her Red tour in 2013 to perform "You're So Vain." It was an iconic moment in music herstory, and a performance I will never, ever get out of my noggin.
You can watch Taylor Swift and Carly Simon perform "You're So Vain" here:
10.In 1989, the Grammys created a new category: "Best Rap Performance." DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith (then the Fresh Prince) won the award. The Grammys didn't plan on televising the category, so to show their support, rappers like Salt-N-Pepa didn't attend the ceremony (even though they were nominated in the same category for their song "Push It").
"We boycotted the Grammys back in '89," Pepa told Billboard in 2020. "Other music was being televised — everybody was able to walk and accept their awards visually, and we took a stance for that."
Next Plateau / London
11.After her six-decade-long career and pioneering efforts that have shaped the landscape of music today, Diana Ross has been shockingly shut out at the Grammys.
The artist behind huge hits like "I'm Coming Out," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and "Endless Love" has never received a Grammy award (Ross won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy award in 2012, but never a competitive one 🤔🤔🤔).
Paramount Pictures / Motown Pictures