Elton John "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"

Asked by Barbara Walters to use his music to sum up the various stages of his life, Elton John sat at his piano, thought a moment and then played "Rocket Man" to represent the 1970s. He joked that the line "I'll be high as a kite by then" was the pitiful truth. Elton chose "Sad Songs" to represented the 1980s and then paused before smiling as he played "The One" to represent his present life in the 1990s. For the first time in years, Elton was clean, found love and was about to become super-rich thanks to his music in Disney's The Lion King. That interview with Walters aired in 1994 and so much has changed in 25 years. As he continues his farewell tour, Elton promises to tell-all in his upcoming autobiography. What haven't we heard? I suppose we'll have to stay tuned...

Toni Braxton "Another Sad Love Song"

"Another Sad Love Song" played that March morning in 1998 when Toni Braxton walked onto the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show.  Braxton was on the show to discuss, among other things, her bankruptcy.  Having sold more than 20 million albums, no one could comprehend Braxton's money woes...including Oprah.  Oprah questioned Braxton's spending habits and accountability (Oprah couldn't comprehend why Braxton needed Gucci silverware).  During Braxton's Behind the Music episode on VH-1, Braxton discussed her interview with Oprah and claimed Oprah was "so frickin' mean" to her and the interview caused people to look down on her.  If you have a spare 18 minutes, take a look and see if Oprah was "so frickin' mean" or just showing her some tough love.  I'm gonna side with Oprah on this one...

John Mayer - "Heartbreak Warfare"

The name John Mayer still meant something in 2009.  His bluesy ballad "Heartbreak Warfare" dominated the radio while tales from his personal life frequented the tabloids.  A year later, Mayer withdrew from the public eye following uproar from controversial interviews with Rolling Stone and Playboy Magazine.  In those candid interviews, Mayer dished on his sexual conquests with ladies such as Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson.  He also explained his disinterest in dating black women.  Following the flap, Mayer withdrew and refused to do interviews.

Madonna - "Causing A Commotion"

Certain trivial things unexpectedly stick in my brain.  One such memory using up precious space on the hard drive known as my memory is an interview between Madonna and Matt Lauer.  I don't recall when the interview happened, but I remember Lauer posed the question: "Do you think your fans will let you age?".  At the time, I recall it being an insightful question.  In August, Madonna turned 58 and she will forever be challenged to appear more youthful.

Barbara Streisand & Neil Diamond - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"

The morning show I produced back in 2003 had the opportunity to interview Neil Diamond.  While we all knew of Neil Diamond, we really didn't know what to do with the interview.  The host of the show had an idea: the female co-host would do the interview solo but, after the interview, the host would ask Neil a series of questions that Neil would "ignore".  The gist of the bit would be that we received word before the interview that Neil Diamond didn't like the host and would refuse to answer any questions from him.  We taped the interview as planned and played it back.  What followed was an onslaught of Neil Diamond fans who emailed the station complaining about what we had done.  They claimed (falsely) that the interview was completely fabricated because Neil talked about the Cubs instead of the Red Sox (it was true--Neil did talk about the Cubs).  I can only imagine what these same fans did when Saturday Night Live did that Neil Diamond Behind The Music parody.