Line #91 Main/CelebritySong


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Music/{{Mika}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gracekelly.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[-♫''"I tried to be like Creator/GraceKelly, mmh\
3	But all her looks were too sad, aah..."''♫-]]]
4
5	-> ''"Is that a cheat code? Naming your song after someone who's more famous than you?"''
6	-->-- '''Dignan''' from ''WebVideo/{{HIVEMIND}}'', [[https://youtu.be/fWCr-BvNpRM?t=1046 "Guess the Popular Rap Song from the Sample 11"]]
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8
9	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 CelebrityElegy and CelebrityBreakUpSong.
10
11	----
12	!!Examples
13	* Music/BlueOysterCult's "Joan Crawford Has Risen From the Grave" plays on both the glamour and legendarily unpleasant personality of Joan, especially obvious in the video.
14	* Music/JayZ'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.
15	* "Anna Wintour" by Music/AzealiaBanks is named after the famous ''Vogue'' magazine editor.
16	* Music/{{Beyonce}} has a song called "[[Music/DollyParton DOLLY P]]" from her [[NewSoundAlbum country]] album ''Music/CowboyCarter''.
17	* Music/TaylorSwift's "Tim [=McGraw=]". About the bonding a couple had over Music/TimMcGraw's music. Swift also has a song called "Creator/ClaraBow".
18	** In turn, Matt Cooper's "Taylor Swift" which [[SongOfSongTitles references her songs]].
19	* Music/{{J Cole}}'s "Kenny Lofton" and "Creator/ChrisTucker".
20	* Music/{{Joywave}}'s "Mr. Eastman", referring to the founder of Creator/EastmanKodak.
21	* Music/LupeFiasco's "Creator/JoaquinPhoenix".
22	* Music/BigSean and Music/KanyeWest's "Music/MarvinGaye and Chardonnay".
23	** Subverted with Music/CharliePuth and Music/MeghanTrainor's "Marvin Gaye" where the artist's name is actually used as a SexualEuphemism.
24	* Music/RickRoss' "Music/MCHammer"
25	* Music/{{Drake}}'s "Girls Love Beyonce", which is really an extended cover of [[Music/{{Beyonce}} the song's namesake]]'s "Say My Name." He also has the song "[[Music/{{Madonna}} Madonna]]."
26	** [[Music/{{FX}} Luna]] also has a song called "Madonna", which is about looking up to Madonna as an inspiration.
27	* Duck Sauce's "Creator/BarbraStreisand"
28	* Music/DavidBowie's "Creator/AndyWarhol"
29	* Manila-based musician Eyedress has "Creator/SofiaCoppola".
30	* {{Music/Gorillaz}}'s "Creator/ClintEastwood" from ''[[Music/GorillazAlbum Gorillaz]]''
31	* "Creator/DannyGlover" by Music/YoungThug
32	* "The Gospel of Creator/JohnHurt" by Music/AltJ, which references the namesake's role in ''Film/{{Alien}}'' in the lyrics.
33	* "Creator/SterlingHayden" by Tom Russell.
34	* "Tonya Harding", "Saul Bellow" and "For Clyde Tombaugh" by Music/SufjanStevens. The former is pretty much a straightforward ode to / biography of ice skater UsefulNotes/TonyaHarding.
35	* The Music/ScissorSisters' "[[Music/TheBeatles Paul McCartney]]"
36	* "[[Creator/MichelGondry Gondry]]" by Hyukoh
37	* Music/{{Weezer}}'s "Music/BuddyHolly".
38	* Music/{{OutKast}}'s "Rosa Parks". Controversially, they got sued by Parks for this; although Parks died and [=OutKast=] disbanded before anything really ever got settled.
39	* Music/{{Mika}}'s "Creator/GraceKelly"
40	* Music/{{HKT48}} has "Einstein yori Creator/DiannaAgron" (Dianna Agron Above Einstein), which references ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
41	* Music/KendrickLamar's "Michael Jordan"
42	* Music/BeastieBoys' "Paul Revere", from ''Music/PaulsBoutique''.
43	* Music/LilB has both "Music/JustinBieber" and "Music/MileyCyrus".
44	* Music/NickiMinaj's "Creator/MarilynMonroe".
45	* Music/Maroon5's "Moves Like [[Music/MickJagger Jagger]]"/
46	* Music/LilWayne's "Bill Gates" and "Music/{{John\|Lennon}}".
47	* Chiddy Bang's "Music/RayCharles".
48	* Music/KanyeWest's "Barry Bonds" and "UsefulNotes/ChristianDior Denim Flow".
49	* Music/MacMiller's "Donald Trump". Trump has threatened legal action against Miller as a result of this song.
50	** Music/LilNasX also made "Donald Trump" before he made "Old Town Road". Additionally, he also made "[[UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea Kim Jong-un]]".
51	* Music/{{MGMT}}'s "Brian Eno", referring to Music/BrianEno.
52	* "Creator/StanleyKubrick" and "I'm [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]], I'm Dead" by Music/{{Mogwai}}
53	** British rapper Stig of the Dead also did a song titled "Kubrick".
54	* "Music/DaftPunk" by Music/{{Pentatonix}}.
55	* Kim Carnes may have helped bring back Creator/BetteDavis 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.
56	* Music/SonicYouth's "Music/MariahCarey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"
57	* Music/{{SZA}}'s "Creator/DrewBarrymore"
58	* Adam Green's "[[Music/JessicaSimpson Jessica]]"
59	* Music/GaelicStorm's "The Night I Punched Creator/RussellCrowe". Unusual in that the song is very literally about the singer meeting Creator/RussellCrowe, although whether it's true is anybody's guess.
60	* Music/FallOutBoy's "Creator/UmaThurman". 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.
61	* Music/HilaryDuff's "Mr. Creator/JamesDean".
62	** Music/{{Eagles}} had a 1974 song simply called "James Dean".
63	* Music/FatboySlim's "Music/MichaelJackson", sampling the Negativland song of the same name.
64	* "Creator/TomBaker" by Music/TheHumanLeague, a tribute track to the actor and [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor his most famous role]].
65	* "Creator/TimotheeChalamet, Where Are You Going?" by Kneeling in Piss.
66	* Porcupine Tree has "Tinto Brass", named after the ExploitationFilm director who is most famous for directing ''Film/{{Caligula}}''.
67	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic has done a couple of these:
68	** "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder", referring to the lead singer of Music/PearlJam.
69	** "CNR" is a song describing Series/MatchGame alumnus Creator/CharlesNelsonReilly as a MemeticBadass.
70	** "Stuck in a Closet with [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vanna White]]" is about the narrator describing various weird dreams he has, all of which seem to end with him [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stuck in a closet with Vanna White]].
71	* "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 ''Series/WheelOfFortune''.
72	* Music/MrBungle's "Travolta" was originally an example, briefly mentioning [[Creator/JohnTravolta its namesake]] alongside Creator/PatrickSwayze, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, and UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. However, the band were forced to change the name by their label, [[Creator/WarnerBrosRecords Warner Bros. Records]], to avoid a lawsuit. The title was changed to "Quote Unquote", but the lyrics were unchanged.
73	* {{Music/Cake}}'s "Music/FrankSinatra" -- the lyrics mention Sinatra once, specifically his rendition of the song "Stormy Weather" but otherwise have little to do with him.
74	* P's "[[{{Music/REM}} Michael Stipe]]", which name-checks him among other celebrities (such as Creator/RiverPhoenix and Creator/SofiaCoppola), and is generally about the surreal experience of finding yourself in the same social circle as celebrities.
75	* Pony Up!'s "Creator/MatthewModine"
76	* Music/DojaCat's "[[Creator/TiaAndTameraMowry Tia Tamera]]", in a sense.
77	* Music/BarenakedLadies' "Music/BrianWilson".
78	* Music/TheAvalanches' "Frankie Sinatra", from ''Music/{{Wildflower}}''.
79	* Music/{{Bauhaus}}' "Creator/BelaLugosi's Dead".
80	* Music/VanMorrison's "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)", a tribute to soul singer Jackie Wilson and his song "Reet Petite".
81	* Music/TheyMightBeGiants tends to go fairly obscure when it comes to naming songs after famous people:
82	** "Meet James Ensor" is a song about "Belgium's famous painter" who "lived with his mother and the torments of Christ".
83	** "James K. Polk" is a song about the election and career of the [[UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk eleventh president of the United States]].
84	** "Music/{{XTC}} vs. Music/AdamAnt" is about "an imaginary rivalry between these two seminal but totally distinct early '80s rock icons."
85	** "Tesla" is a song about the scientist UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, and lists some of the many inventions he made or which were inspired by his work.
86	* "Creator/MichellePfeiffer" by Music/EthelCain.
87	* Little Green Cars has "[[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Harper Lee]]" and "The Creator/JohnWayne".
88	** Music/LadyGaga also did a song titled "John Wayne".
89	* Ray [=LaMontagne's=] "[[Music/TheWhiteStripes Meg White]]".
90	* Music/{{M83}}'s "{{Creator/Steve McQueen\|actor}}".
91	* The Wedding Present's "[[Creator/WilliamShatner Shatner]]".
92	* Music/WesleyWillis had several of these; most of these were about concerts that Wesley attended or musicians that he enjoyed. Subjects ranged from Music/AlanisMorissette to Music/KurtCobain to Music/IceCube to Music/JelloBiafra.
93	* Music/RoxyMusic's "2HB" is short for "to Creator/HumphreyBogart". The chorus of "[[Film/{{Casablanca}} Here's looking at you kid]]" is a big hint.
94	* The Music/TearsForFears song "Music/BrianWilson Said" is a Music/BeachBoys pastiche.
95	* "Creator/RobertDeNiro's Waiting" by Music/{{Bananarama}}
96	* Japanese group WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA has several: "[[Creator/AudreyHepburn Audrey]]" (with the lyrics referencing several of her filmography), "[[Creator/CharlieChaplin Chaplin]]", "Twiggy", "[[UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison Edison]]", "Picasso", and "The Wright Brothers".
97	* Music/JackHarlow has both "Tyler Herro" - which also features Herro himself in its music video - and "Music/DuaLipa".
98	* Music/TheKidLAROI's "Creator/AddisonRae".
99	* Armani White's 2022 hit "Music/BillieEilish", which has a music video pastiching several of Eilish's music videos.
100	* Music/IceSpice had a number-four hit with "[[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Princess Diana]]."

Context Main / CelebritySong