Mental Floss

MUSIC





Stephen Sondheim speaks at the Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars annual gala hosted by The Dramatists Guild Fund on October 21, 2013.

Composer, lyricist, and Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim passed away on November 26, 2021 at the age of 91. Celebrate his life with a look back at a few of the many iconic songs he wrote over the course of his career.

Erin McCarthy












notthesa.me

For music videos, just standing in front of a camera and pretending to play your hit single doesn’t cut it anymore. These amazing modern videos don’t just let fans watch and listen—they give the viewers control.

Rebecca OConnell
getty images

Musicians often get inspiration from their own record collections. Beyond musical style, on-stage persona, and look, some bands directly take their names from songs or lyrics from another band.

Rudie Obias


Beethoven-Haus, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Stubborn and self-involved, dramatic yet loving of his friends, Ludwig van Beethoven was a virtuoso pianist and canonical composer of dozens of symphonies, concertos for piano, piano sonatas, and string quartets.

Gili Malinsky




Getty Images / Rialto Pictures

Whether it’s a large orchestral score or the hushed strumming of a lone guitar, the music in a film is an essential part of the whole. But sometimes, instead of a traditional score or multi-artist soundtrack, filmmakers choose a single act to provide the

Sean Hutchinson