♫"I tried to be like Grace Kelly, mmh
But all her looks were too sad, aah..."♫
But all her looks were too sad, aah..."♫
"Is that a cheat code? Naming your song after someone who's more famous than you?"
— Dignan from HIVEMIND, "Guess the Popular Rap Song from the Sample 11"
A music trope, where a band or singer names one of their songs after a notable celebrity, either living or dead. The song is not usually about the celebrity, and they may or may not be referenced in the lyrics. The celebrity's name is usually used as either a byword for an ideal, a metaphor, or as a comparison. May overlap with Celebrity Elegy and Celebrity Break-Up Song.
Examples
- Blue Öyster Cult's "Joan Crawford Has Risen From the Grave" plays on both the glamour and legendarily unpleasant personality of Joan, especially obvious in the video.
- Jay-Z's "Tom Ford", from his album Magna Carta Holy Grail. The use of the fashion designer's name is as a byword for elegance and class.
- "Anna Wintour" by Azealia Banks is named after the famous Vogue magazine editor.
- Beyoncé has a song called "DOLLY P" from her country album Cowboy Carter.
- Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw". About the bonding a couple had over Tim McGraw's music. Swift also has a song called "Clara Bow".
- In turn, Matt Cooper's "Taylor Swift" which references her songs.
- J. Cole's "Kenny Lofton" and "Chris Tucker".
- Joywave's "Mr. Eastman", referring to the founder of Eastman Kodak.
- Lupe Fiasco's "Joaquin Phoenix".
- Big Sean and Kanye West's "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay".
- Subverted with Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor's "Marvin Gaye" where the artist's name is actually used as a Sexual Euphemism.
- Rick Ross' "MC Hammer"
- Drake's "Girls Love Beyonce", which is really an extended cover of the song's namesake's "Say My Name." He also has the song "Madonna."
- Luna also has a song called "Madonna", which is about looking up to Madonna as an inspiration.
- Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand"
- David Bowie's "Andy Warhol"
- Manila-based musician Eyedress has "Sofia Coppola".
- Gorillaz's "Clint Eastwood" from Gorillaz
- "Danny Glover" by Young Thug
- "The Gospel of John Hurt" by alt-J, which references the namesake's role in Alien in the lyrics.
- "Sterling Hayden" by Tom Russell.
- "Tonya Harding", "Saul Bellow" and "For Clyde Tombaugh" by Sufjan Stevens. The former is pretty much a straightforward ode to / biography of ice skater Tonya Harding.
- The Scissor Sisters' "Paul McCartney"
- "Gondry" by Hyukoh
- Weezer's "Buddy Holly".
- OutKast's "Rosa Parks". Controversially, they got sued by Parks for this; although Parks died and OutKast disbanded before anything really ever got settled.
- Mika's "Grace Kelly"
- HKT48 has "Einstein yori Dianna Agron" (Dianna Agron Above Einstein), which references Glee.
- Kendrick Lamar's "Michael Jordan"
- Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere", from Paul's Boutique.
- Lil B has both "Justin Bieber" and "Miley Cyrus".
- Nicki Minaj's "Marilyn Monroe".
- Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger"/
- Lil Wayne's "Bill Gates" and "John".
- Chiddy Bang's "Ray Charles".
- Kanye West's "Barry Bonds" and "Christian Dior Denim Flow".
- Mac Miller's "Donald Trump". Trump has threatened legal action against Miller as a result of this song.
- Lil Nas X also made "Donald Trump" before he made "Old Town Road". Additionally, he also made "Kim Jong-un".
- MGMT's "Brian Eno", referring to Brian Eno.
- "Stanley Kubrick" and "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" by Mogwai
- British rapper Stig of the Dead also did a song titled "Kubrick".
- "Daft Punk" by Pentatonix.
- Kim Carnes may have helped bring back Bette Davis into the youth consciousness in the early '80s with "Bette Davis Eyes", but the song only goes so far as to explain what someone who has Bette Davis[-type] Eyes might be like.
- Sonic Youth's "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"
- SZA's "Drew Barrymore"
- Adam Green's "Jessica"
- Gaelic Storm's "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe". Unusual in that the song is very literally about the singer meeting Russell Crowe, although whether it's true is anybody's guess.
- Fall Out Boy's "Uma Thurman". Additionally, "Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song so We Wouldn't Get Sued" was originally titled "My Name Is David Ruffin and These Are The Temptations", but was changed for, well, obvious reasons.
- Hilary Duff's "Mr. James Dean".
- Eagles had a 1974 song simply called "James Dean".
- Fatboy Slim's "Michael Jackson", sampling the Negativland song of the same name.
- "Tom Baker" by The Human League, a tribute track to the actor and his most famous role.
- "Timothée Chalamet, Where Are You Going?" by Kneeling in Piss.
- Porcupine Tree has "Tinto Brass", named after the Exploitation Film director who is most famous for directing Caligula.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic has done a couple of these:
- "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder", referring to the lead singer of Pearl Jam.
- "CNR" is a song describing Match Game alumnus Charles Nelson Reilly as a Memetic Badass.
- "Stuck in a Closet with Vanna White" is about the narrator describing various weird dreams he has, all of which seem to end with him stuck in a closet with Vanna White.
- "Oh Vanna", by Garcia & Garcia, was a parody song (to the tune of the Box Tops' "The Letter") about the singer efforting to get on Wheel of Fortune.
- Mr. Bungle's "Travolta" was originally an example, briefly mentioning its namesake alongside Patrick Swayze, Donald Trump, and Adolf Hitler. However, the band were forced to change the name by their label, Warner Bros. Records, to avoid a lawsuit. The title was changed to "Quote Unquote", but the lyrics were unchanged.
- Cake's "Frank Sinatra" — the lyrics mention Sinatra once, specifically his rendition of the song "Stormy Weather" but otherwise have little to do with him.
- P's "Michael Stipe", which name-checks him among other celebrities (such as River Phoenix and Sofia Coppola), and is generally about the surreal experience of finding yourself in the same social circle as celebrities.
- Pony Up!'s "Matthew Modine"
- Doja Cat's "Tia Tamera", in a sense.
- Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson".
- The Avalanches' "Frankie Sinatra", from Wildflower.
- Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead".
- Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)", a tribute to soul singer Jackie Wilson and his song "Reet Petite".
- They Might Be Giants tends to go fairly obscure when it comes to naming songs after famous people:
- "Meet James Ensor" is a song about "Belgium's famous painter" who "lived with his mother and the torments of Christ".
- "James K. Polk" is a song about the election and career of the eleventh president of the United States.
- "XTC vs. Adam Ant" is about "an imaginary rivalry between these two seminal but totally distinct early '80s rock icons."
- "Tesla" is a song about the scientist Nikola Tesla, and lists some of the many inventions he made or which were inspired by his work.
- "Michelle Pfeiffer" by Ethel Cain.
- Little Green Cars has "Harper Lee" and "The John Wayne".
- Lady Gaga also did a song titled "John Wayne".
- Ray LaMontagne's "Meg White".
- M83's "Steve McQueen".
- The Wedding Present's "Shatner".
- Wesley Willis had several of these; most of these were about concerts that Wesley attended or musicians that he enjoyed. Subjects ranged from Alanis Morissette to Kurt Cobain to Ice Cube to Jello Biafra.
- Roxy Music's "2HB" is short for "to Humphrey Bogart". The chorus of "Here's looking at you kid" is a big hint.
- The Tears for Fears song "Brian Wilson Said" is a Beach Boys pastiche.
- "Robert De Niro's Waiting" by Bananarama
- Japanese group WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA has several: "Audrey" (with the lyrics referencing several of her filmography), "Chaplin", "Twiggy", "Edison", "Picasso", and "The Wright Brothers".
- Jack Harlow has both "Tyler Herro" - which also features Herro himself in its music video - and "Dua Lipa".
- The Kid LAROI's "Addison Rae".
- Armani White's 2022 hit "Billie Eilish", which has a music video pastiching several of Eilish's music videos.
- Ice Spice had a number-four hit with "Princess Diana."
