Famous Names: 40 Songs Named After Celebrities & Characters

Names come up a lot in music. But how often do artists sing about famous people? Check out these 40 songs with famous names. These song titles cover well-known actors and actresses, musicians, politicians, and scientists. We also included songs named after popular characters. Fairy-tale princesses? Check! Western film acting legends? They’re here! We also have the mom from Stranger Things, a famous Rolling Stones frontman, a few literary characters, figures from the Bible and Greek mythology, and even the well-known subject of a certain da Vinci painting.

Enjoy these 40 songs with famous names in their titles:

Actors:

1. Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
2. Hilary Duff – “Mr. James Dean”
3. Lady Gaga – “John Wayne”
4. Gorillaz – “Clint Eastwood”
5. Muse – “Jimmy Kane”
6. Fall Out Boy – “She’s My Winona” – named after Winona Ryder

Musicians:

1. Green Day – “Lady Cobra” – Lady Cobra is featured on Green Day’s song, “Nightlife”
2. Panic! At The Disco feat. Lolo – “Miss Jackson” – named after Janet Jackson
3. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger” – named after Mick Jagger
4. Jack’s Mannequin – “Doris Day”
5. Staind – “Layne” – named after Layne Staley of Alice In Chains
6. Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
7. Natasha Bedingfield – “No Mozart”
8. Amy Winehouse – “Me And Mr. Jones” – named after Nas
9. Green Day – “Amy” – named after Amy Winehouse

Fictional Characters

1. Lana Del Rey – “Black Beauty”
2. Metallica – “Enter Sandman”
3. Evanescence – “Snow White Queen”
4. Coldplay – “Charlie Brown”
5. Green Day – “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?” – character from The Catcher In The Rye
6. Gym Class Heroes feat. Patrick Stump – “Cupid’s Chokehold”
7. Lana Del Rey – “Lolita”
8. Avril Lavigne – “Alice” – from Alice In Wonderland
9. Sara Bareilles – “Hercules”
10. Kelly Clarkson – “Judas”
11. Lady Gaga – “Judas”
12. BANKS – “Judas”
13. Florence + The Machine – “St. Jude”
14. Sara Bareilles – “Cassiopeia”

Historical Figures

1. Kelly Clarkson – “Cleopatra” (demo)
2. Weezer – “Cleopatra”
3. Ghost – “Elizabeth” – named after the Hungarian noblewoman of Báthory
4. Foster The People – “Houdini”
5. Fall Out Boy – “Pavlove” – named after the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov
6. Kelly Clarkson – “Einstein”
7. Something Corporate – “Ben Franklin’s Kite”
8. Muse – “JFK” + “Defector”
9. Janelle Monáe – “Sally Ride”
10. Panic! At The Disco – “The Ballad Of Mona Lisa”
11. The All-American Rejects – “Mona Lisa”

What famous names did we miss? Let us know some more song titles inspired by celebrities and characters below!

And come back next week for some more songs named after people. Instead of the famous figures highlighted here, part 2 of our “Names” playlist will include songs named after regular people the songwriters may have known. What songs do you think will make the list? Come back next Tuesday to find out.

As always, keep checking back here for more Tunesday playlists and other fun blogs. You can also check up on all the latest news.

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