Here Are 17 Songs Written About Celebrities

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Sometimes we just want to listen to a song and sing along or have a kitchen dance party. But sometimes it can be fun to do a deeper dive into the lyrics and try to play musical detective to figure out what the song is really about and even who inspired it. Although it is always fun to decode a song, it can be extra fun to figure out that a song we might love is also inspired by one of our favorite celebrities.

The nice thing about the fact that celebrities often date, fall in love with, and even marry other celebrities is that this means plenty of material exists to add to your playlist of iconic songs written about famous people. We've got songs about love, lust, revenge, and at least one song we'll never listen to the same way again!

'thank u, next'

The love affair between Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande was short but intense. The pair started dating, got engaged, and broke up, all in less than a year. That isn't a lot of time for most people, but it was enough to inspire at least two songs from Ariana. She had chart success with thank u, next and had a song called pete davidson on her 2018 album Sweetener.

'Is It Over Now?'

There is almost nothing Taylor Swift fans enjoy more than trying to figure out which famous ex-boyfriends, current loves, friends, or enemies inspired her on any given song. We know her short relationship with Harry Styles inspired several songs, including the recent vault track Is It Over Now?, which is so dang catchy. We're kind of glad those two hooked up, because this song is a bop!

'Flowers'

Who doesn't love a good post-divorce/break up song that reminds us that we don't need a partner to make us happy, even if that partner was a Hemsworth brother? Miley Cyrus wrote several songs inspired by her ex-husband Liam, and some (like Malibu) were definitely happier than others. This is clearly from her getting over it era.

'Famous'

The Kayne West song Famous (and the accompanying NSFW video) was controversial. That's because not only did the video feature a very realistic naked wax figure of Taylor Swift (created and shown without her consent) but it also called her out by name with the claim that he "made that b—- famous."

'All of Me'

The swooningly romantic song All of Me by John Legend is a nice reminder that not all songs about celebrities are about breakups or revenge. He shared on Instagram that the song was inspired by his wife of 10 years, Chrissy Teigen, whom he called "the love of my life."

'Sex on Fire'

Some songs are written and inspired by true love, and some are written and inspired by a heady combination of love AND lust. The 2008 Kings of Leon song Sex on Fire was written about Victoria's Secret model Lily Aldridge, who later married the band's lead singer, Caleb Followill.

'Swish Swish'

Although Katy Perry tried to play coy about the inspiration for her 2017 song Swish Swish, many of her fans and people in the media thought it was written to fire back at Taylor Swift. Taylor, whose song Bad Blood was rumored to be about Katy, wasn't named, but lyrical cues pointed in her direction.

Thankfully, the two seemed to have patched up their feud in recent years, so we're not expecting any more diss tracks from either of them any time soon.

'Cry Me a River'

Well, here's a song that hasn't aged well. After Britney's memoir came out and the truth about how shady Justin was as a boyfriend was revealed, this song about featuring a Britney lookalike isn't as great as it used to be. She might have cheated (the alleged inspiration for the song) but he was no saint either.

'Everytime'

Clearly Britney and Justin's breakup had a big impact on both of them and inspired song writing on both sides. Her emotional ballad Everytime was inspired by her feelings of loss after her relationship with Justin ended in 2002.

'Lose You To Love Me'

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber had a famously on-again, off-again relationship and might have been each other's first big love affair. After they finally called it quits for good, Selena processed her feelings about Justin in the hit song Lose You To Love Me.

'Call Out My Name'

Their relationship didn't last long (only about 10 months) so we sometimes forget that Selena Gomez and Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) were an item. Some fans might not realize that his 2018 song Call Out My Name seems to reference his relationship with Selena.

'Lovebug'

The 2008 Jonas Brothers song Lovebug is a sweet tribute to young love, and it was inspired by none other than Miley Cyrus. Nick Jonas and Miley had some puppy love back in 2006 to 2007 when they were still in their Disney days, and it inspired this song.

'Fix You'

Coldplay's 2005 emotional hit song Fix You was written after lead singer Chris Martin's then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow lost her father, actor Bruce Paltrow, to cancer in 2002.

'Obsessed'

There are celebrity-inspired songs about love and lust and breakups, and then there is the 2009 Mariah Carey song Obsessed. This song, about Eminem, is basically telling him to back up and stop telling people that they dated. The two had a messy feud for years, and this song was part of all of it.

'All Too Well'

Look, there is really no way we can write a list like this and not have the actual masterpiece (and possibly Taylor's best song) All Too Well. Although fans were thrilled when Taylor finally released the 10-minute version of the song, we suspect that the song's inspiration, Jake Gyllenhaal, might not have been quite as pleased.

'Perfect'

Kanye West wasn't the only person who was inspired to write a song about Taylor Swift. We suspect, however, that she was much less upset about the One Direction song Perfect than she was about Kayne's gross tune.

'You Oughta Know'

For a whole generation of women, there were few musical song inspirations that felt more surprising than finding out that Alanis Morissette's angsty, ragey song You Oughta Know was about Dave Coulier, the goofy uncle from Full House. That guy was the cause of all that rage?!