This is a list of songs about famous people, where a famous person has either been featured in the lyrics, or the song's creators have later said that the song was about them.

Actors/Actresses

• Marlon Brando: "Advertising space" by Robbie Williams
• Johnny Carson: "Johnny Carson" by The Beach Boys
• David Cassidy: "Jackie's Strength" by Tori Amos
• Montgomery Clift:
  • "Monty Got A Raw Deal" by R.E.M.
  • "The Right Profile" by The Clash
• Coluche: "Putain de camion" by Renaud
• Tom Courtenay: "Tom Courtenay" by Yo La Tengo
• Claire Danes: "My So Called Life" by The Ataris
• Tony Danza: "Old School Hollywood" by System of a Down
• Bette Davis: "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes
• James Dean:
  • "A Young Man is Gone" by The Beach Boys
  • "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" by Daniel Bedingfield
  • "James Dean" by The Eagles
  • "Jimmy, Jimmy" by Madonna
  • "Mr. James Dean" by Hilary Duff
  • "Picture Show" by John Prine
  • "Young James Dean" by Girlyman
  • "Rock On" by David Essex
• Patrick Dewaere: "Chanson pour Patrick Dewaere" by Raphaël
• David Duchovny: "David Duchovny" by Bree Sharp
• Frances Farmer:
  • "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle." by Nirvana
  • "Lobotomy Gets 'em Home" by The Men They Couldn't Hang
  • "The Medal Song" by Culture Club
  • "Ugly Little Dreams" by Everything but the Girl
• Dwight Frye: "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" by Alice Cooper
• Clark Gable:
  • "Dear Mr Gable: You Made Me Love You" by Judy Garland
  • "Clark Gable" by The Postal Service
• Heather Graham:
  • "Wonderful" by Adam Ant
  • "Gotta be a Sin" by Adam Ant
• Cary Grant: "Cary Grant's Wedding" by The Fall
• David Hasselhoff : "David Hasselhoff" by Hank Pine and Lily Fawn
• Jill Hennessy: "The Ballad of Jill Hennessy" by Mollycuddle
• Andy Kaufman:
  • "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.
  • "The Great Beyond" by R.E.M.
• Nicole Kidman: "BMX Bandits" by Wheatus
• Chasey Lain: "The Ballad of Chasey Lain" by The Bloodhound Gang
• Jennifer López: "Jennifer López" by Xiu Xiu
• Bela Lugosi: "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus
• Natasha Lyonne: "Natasha" by Rufus Wainwright
• Shirley MacLaine: "Ballad of Me and Shirley Maclaine" by Danny Wilson
• Jayne Mansfield:
  • "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield" by The 5,6,7,8's
  • "Kiss Them For Me" by Siouxie and the Banshees
• Steve McQueen: "Steve McQueen", by Sheryl Crow
• Marilyn Monroe:
  • "Goddess of Love" by Bryan Ferry
  • "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John
  • "Photograph" by Def Leppard
• Mary Tyler Moore: "Buddy Holly" by Weezer
• Maila Nurmi: "Vampira" by the Misfits
• River Phoenix:
  • "Matinee Idol" by Rufus Wainwright
  • "RP (forget the metaphors)" by Roommate
  • "River" by Natalie Merchant
• Natalie Portman: "Natalie Portman" by Ozma
• Winona Ryder: "Rollerskate Skinny" by Old'97s
• Charlie Sheen: "Charlie Sheen" by King's X
• Martin Sheen: "Noting really ends" by dEus
• Kathleen Turner: "Kiss of Kathleen Turner" by Falco
• John Wayne: "John Wayne Was a Nazi" by MDC
• Renée Zellweger: "You Had Me At Hello" by Kenny Chesney

Artists

• James Ensor: "Meet James Ensor" by They Might Be Giants
• Vincent van Gogh: "Vincent" by Don McLean (covered by Josh Groban)
• Mark Rothko: "Mark Rothko Song" by Dar Williams
• Pablo Picasso: "Pablo Picasso" by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
• Andy Warhol:
  • "Andy" by Maureen Tucker
  • "Andy Warhol" by David Bowie
  • "Do You Believe in Shame" by Duran Duran
  • "I Shot Andy Warhol" by Yo La Tengo
  • "Songs for Drella", an album by John Cale and Lou Reed

Athletes

• Muhammad Ali:
  • "Boxing" by Ben Folds Five
  • "Just Like Ali" by Tom Cochrane
• Bill Barilko: "50 Mission Cap" by The Tragically Hip
• Rubin "Hurricane" Carter:
  • "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan
  • "Hurricane" by Mos Def
• Ty Cobb: "Ty Cobb" by Soundgarden
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "Sweet Lew" by Pearl Jam
• Davey Moore: "Who Killed Davey Moore?" by Bob Dylan
• Mike Tyson :
  • "I Can Beat Mike Tyson" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
  • "Mike Tyson" by Ludwig von 88

Authors

• Antonin Artaud: "Antonin Artaud" by Bauhaus
• Charles Bukowski: "Bukowski" by Modest Mouse
• Quentin Crisp: "Englishman in New York" by Sting
• Jean Genet: "Jean Genie" by David Bowie
• Myla Goldberg: "Song for Myla Goldberg" by the Decemberists
• Jack Kerouac:
  • "Hey Jack Kerouac" by 10,000 Maniacs
  • "(I Want to Be Jack) Kerouac" by Subincision
  • "Kerouac" by Morphine
  • "Kerouac's Dream" by Allan Taylor
  • "The House That Jack Kerouac Built" by The Go-Betweens
• Timothy Leary:
  • "Legend of a Mind" by The Moody Blues
  • "Mister Manson" by Klaatu
• JT LeRoy: "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" by Garbage
• Dylan Thomas: "For Mr Thomas" by Van Morrison
• Terry Waite: "Terry Waite Sez" by The Fall
• Virginia Woolf: "Virginia Woolf" by Indigo Girls

Comedians

• Lenny Bruce: "Lenny Bruce" by Bob Dylan
  • "A Simple Desultory Phillipic" by Simon and Garfunkel

Criminals

• Elizabeth Báthory:
  • "Cruelty and the Beast", an album by Cradle of Filth
  • "Woman of Dark Desires" by Bathory
• Ed Gein: "Nothing to Gein" by Mudvayne
• Pretty Boy Floyd: "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd" by Woody Guthrie
• John Wayne Gacy:
  • "To Catch a Killer (Serial Sing-a-long)." by Gorerotted
  • "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." by Sufjan Stevens
  • "Pogo The Clown" by Dog Fashion Disco
• John Wesley Hardin: "John Wesley Harding" by Bob Dylan
• Jesse James: "Jesse James" by The Pogues
• Marc Lépine: "Montréal Massacre" by Macabre
• Charles Manson: "Mister Manson" by Klaatu, "Charlie M." by Space
• Sacco and Vanzetti: "The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti" by John Baez
• Harold Shipman: "What About Us?" by The Fall
• Belle Starr: "Belle Starr" by Woody Guthrie
• Karla Faye Tucker: "Faye Tucker" by Indigo Girls
• Billy the Kid: "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" by Billy Joel
• Bonnie and Clyde:
  • "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" by Travis Tritt
  • "Bonnie and Clyde '04" by Jay-Z featuring Beyonce
• Ma Baker: "Ma Baker" by Boney M

Historical figures

• Steve Biko: "Biko" by Peter Gabriel
• Hernán Cortés: "Cortez the Killer" by Neil Young
• Leif Erikson: "Leif Erikson" by Interpol
• Anne Frank: "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" album by Neutral Milk Hotel
• Janie Jones: "Janie Jones" by The Clash
• Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: "Rose K." by Rasputina
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: "Jackie's Strength" by Tori Amos

Musicians

See : List of songs containing covert reference to real musicians, List of songs containing overt reference to real musicians

• Darrell Abbot: "Betrayed" by Avenged Sevenfold
• Frankie Avalon: "Old School Hollywood" by System of a Down
• Jeff Buckley:
  • "Just Like Anyone" by Aimee Mann
  • "Memphis" by PJ Harvey
  • "Memphis Skyline" by Rufus Wainwright
  • "Song For A Dead Singer" by Zita Swoon
• Kurt Cobain:
  • "About a Boy" by Patti Smith

• • "Fire, Water, Burn" by Bloodhound Gang
  • "Friend Of A Friend" by the Foo Fighters
  • "Let Me In" by R.E.M.
  • "Put Down the Gun" by James Kochalka Superstar
  • "Sleeps with Angels" album by Neil Young
  • "Tearjerker" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Eddie Cochran: "Just Like Eddie" by Heinz
• Judy Collins: " Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Ian Stuart Donaldson: "Nazis Shouldn't Drive" by MDC
• Bob Dylan: "Song for Bob Dylan" by David Bowie
• Woody Guthrie: "Songs for Woodie" by Bob Dylan
• George Harrison: "The Mystery of George Harrison's Beard" by Hartley Goldstein
• Billie Holiday: "Angel of Harlem" by U2
• Buddy Holly:
  • "American Pie" by Don McLean
  • "Buddy Holly" by Weezer
• Cisco Houston: "Fare Thee Well Cisco" by Tom Paxton
• Janis Joplin: "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by Leonard Cohen
• John Lennon:
  • "All Those Years Ago" by George Harrison
  • "Here Today" by Paul McCartney
  • "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" by Elton John
  • "The Late Great Johnny Ace" by Simon and Garfunkel
  • "I Just Shot John Lennon" by the Cranberries
  • "Life Is Real" by Queen
  • "God Part II" by U2
  • "The Ballad of John and Yoko" by The Beatles
  • "Who The Fuck Killed John Lennon?" by Eighteen Visions
• Julian Lennon: "Hey Jude" by Paul McCartney
• Mike Love: "Mike's Love Xexagon" by The Fall
• Ian MacKaye: "Who's the Small Man Now?" by Red Martian
• Thurston Moore: "I Want To Be Yr Joey Ramone" by Sleater-Kinney
• Anne Murray: "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank" by Barenaked Ladies
• Vince Neil: "Shotgun Blues" by Guns N' Roses
• Ted Nugent: "Fuck Ted Nugent" by Goldfinger
• Yoko Ono:
  • "Be My Yoko Ono" by Barenaked Ladies
  • "The Ballad of John and Yoko" by The Beatles
  • "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono" by Dar Williams
  • "Yoko Ono" by Die Ärzte
• Édith Piaf: "Piaf Chanterait Du Rock" by Celine Dion
• Elvis Presley: "Advertising Space" by Robbie Williams
• Joey Ramone: "I Want To Be Yr Joey Ramone" by Sleater-Kinney
• Trent Reznor: "Captain Bligh" by Filter
• Jessica Simpson: "Jessica" by Adam Green
• Britney Spears: 'Britney' by Busted
• Rufus Wainwright:
  • "Laurel & Hardy" by Martha Wainwright
  • "Rufus Is A Tit Man" by Loudon Wainwright III
  • "Take Good Care of the Poor Boy" by Sloan
• Brian Wilson:
  • "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies
  • "Brian Wilson Said" by Tears For Fears
  • "Mr Wilson" by John Cale

Politicians

See list of songs about politicians

• James K. Polk: "James K. Polk" by They Might Be Giants

Religious figures

• Pope John Paul I: "Hey! Luciani" by The Fall
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: "Sexy Sadie" by The Beatles

Other

• Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (Apollo 11 astronauts): "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" by The Byrds
• Rodney Bingenheimer: "Get Off the Air" by Angry Samoans
• Kevin Carter (photojournalist): "Kevin Carter" by Manic Street Preachers
• Neal Cassady (icon of the Beat Generation):
  • "Neal Cassady" by The Washington Squares
  • "That's It For the Other One" by Grateful Dead
• Sara Dylan (Bob Dylan's love):
  • "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" by Bob Dylan
  • "Sara" by Bob Dylan
• R. Buckminster Fuller (architect): "What One Man Can Do" by John Denver
• Bill Gates (owner of Microsoft): "Bill Gates" by Komputer
• Howard Hughes (aviator and playboy):
  • "Closet Chronicles" by Kansas
  • "Howard Hughes" by Leadbelly
  • "Howard Hughes" by Rasputina
  • "Howard Hughes" by Ride
  • "Me And Howard Hughes" by The Boomtown Rats
• Diana, Princess of Wales: "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John
• Mary Werbelo (Jim Morrison's love): "Crystal Ship" by The Doors
• Frank Lloyd Wright (architecht): "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" by Simon and Garfunkel

See also

Lists of songs about a topic