Carly Simon Auctioned Off the Inspiration Behind ‘You’re So Vain’ and More Music Myths That Are True

Did Van Halen really ban brown M&Ms backstage? Did Aerosmith narrowly avoid the plane crash that killed members of Lynyrd Skynyrd? Did Carly Simon really sell the secret behind “You’re So Vain”?

They sound like classic rock ’n’ roll urban legends, but every one of these stories is absolutely true!

Van Halen’s Brown M&M “Ban” Was About Safety, Not Candy

Van Halen didn’t hate chocolate — they were testing promoters. The band’s concert rider was famously as thick as a phone book, packed with crucial technical requirements involving stage weight limits, electrical wiring and power loads, per Safety Dimensions . Buried inside was the now-legendary demand: No brown M&Ms. If the band walked backstage and found brown M&Ms, they knew the promoter likely ignored the rest of the contract, too. That gave Van Halen the right to cancel the show — with full pay — before unsafe conditions could endanger the band or the audience.

Dave Gahan’s Vampire Phase

During Depeche Mode’s 1993 Devotional Tour, frontman Dave Gahan was deep in what he later called his “vampire stage.” He reportedly slept in a coffin before shows. Journalist Andrew Perry even claimed Gahan tried to “curse” him by biting his neck. Gahan later admitted to Uncut magazine, “I definitely could have been a vampire, in my own head. Even the bed I slept in in Los Angeles was shaped like a coffin — huge double bed shaped like a coffin!”

The Beach Boys Recorded a Song Written by Charles Manson

In 1968, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson befriended an aspiring musician named Charles Manson after picking up two of his followers. Manson sold Wilson a song called “Cease to Exist” in exchange for cash and a motorcycle. The Beach Boys reworked it, retitled it “Never Learn Not to Love,” and released it without giving Manson songwriting credit, according to Business Insider. Furious, Manson reportedly sent Wilson a single bullet as a warning.

Graham Nash Wrote a Hit Song in Two Minutes — on a Bet

Before boarding a flight from Maui, Graham Nash was challenged by a friend who bet him $500 that he couldn’t write a song before leaving. Nash wrote “Just a Song Before I Go” in two minutes, per Daily Press. Crosby, Stills & Nash recorded it without changing a single note, and it became a 1977 hit. Nash still proudly says, “I still have his $500.”

Little Richard Fired Jimi Hendrix for Stealing the Show

Little Richard’s band once paid $175 to retrieve a young guitarist’s gear from a pawnshop. That guitarist was Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix joined the tour — but his flashy stage antics quickly upstaged the headliner. “People were screaming, and I thought they were screaming for me,” Richard said during an episode of VH1’s Legends. “I look over and they’re screaming for Jimi.” Hendrix was soon fired — for being too good.

Carly Simon Auctioned the “You’re So Vain” Secret

Carly Simon’s 1972 smash “You’re So Vain” may be pop music’s greatest mystery. Who was the song really about? In 2003, Simon auctioned off the answer for charity, according to CBS News. The winning bidder — NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol — paid $50,000 to learn the truth, with one strict condition: He could never tell anyone. Besides the secret itself, the prize also included a private lunch of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, vodka on the rocks and a personal performance of the song.

Aerosmith’s Lucky Escape from a Doomed Flight

On Oct. 20, 1977, a private Convair CV-240 crashed outside Gillsburg, Miss., killing Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines and three others. One week earlier, Aerosmith had planned to charter that same plane. But after hiring a mechanic to inspect it, they were advised not to fly. They listened — and survived. Guitarist Joe Perry later told Crave Online, “It was a terrible tragedy, and we just considered ourselves incredibly lucky.”