Music|Songs

Breakup Songs You Probably Didn't Realize Were About Other Celebrities

Matt Manser
Updated February 1, 2023 38.3K views 14 items

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There's always tons of gossip to go around when a celebrity couple splits up, but that gets compounded when the split results in a breakup song. Musicians specialize in channeling their emotions into their craft, and if a musician spends their romantic life in the public eye, they may well contribute to the catalog of sad songs about famous people.

The music industry has a long history of producing secret diss tracks, but when the diss is aimed at an equally famous significant other, the songs become that much juicier. That additional impact helps explain the ongoing success of Taylor Swift and the enduring reputation of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. There's something irresistible about songs with dark meanings, although a breakup song can also be sweet and uplifting (see: “I Will Always Love You”). In any case, if you're a fan of music ripped from the tabloids, you'll want to give a listen to the tracks on this list.

  • OutKast's 'Ms. Jackson' Is About Erykah Badu And Her Mother

    OutKast's 'Ms. Jackson' Is About Erykah Badu And Her Mother

    André 3000 of OutKast dated Erykah Badu in the late '90s. The couple had a child together, but split up in 1999. André 3000 wrote "Ms. Jackson" as a way to express his feelings about how it ended, and Badu appreciated the sentiment. "When I heard André’s verse, I felt very good because his verse was really, really inspiring," she said.

    The pair have developed a strong friendship as co-parents, with André 3000 saying, "She’s like a cool sister more than anything." As for her mother, Badu said she got really into the song. "She bought herself a Ms. Jackson license plate. She had the mug, she had the ink pen, she had the headband, everything. That’s who loved it."

  • Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake' Is About Russell Brand

    Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake' Is About Russell Brand

    When Katy Perry first released "Wide Awake" in 2012, the media immediately took it as a response to the end of her marriage to Russell Brand. The song includes plenty of telling lyrics, such as: 

    I wish I knew then

    What I know now

    Wouldn't dive in

    Wouldn't bow down 

    However, the song eventually turns to an affirming message about the peace you feel after realizing things are over, with Perry singing:

    I am born again

    Out of the lion's den

    I don't have to pretend 

    For his part, Brand has no problem with Perry writing about their relationship. "She's a good person, I've got nothing but love for her," he said. "It's a nice song."

  • Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' Is About Warren Beatty... Among Others

    Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' Is About Warren Beatty... Among Others

    One of the most speculated-about songs of all time is Carly Simon's "You're So Vain." With the timeless line, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you," the song spent decades begging listeners to guess who Simon was referring to.

    Simon has been protective of the song's inspiration, but in 2015, she revealed that the song isn't about just one person, but a few different men. She also confirmed that the second verse is about Warren Beatty, including the lines:

    You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive

    Well you said that we made such a pretty pair

    And that you would never leave

    Not surprisingly, one huge fan of the song is Taylor Swift. "When I heard 'You're So Vain,' I just thought that is the best song that has ever been written," Swift said in 2013. "That is the most direct way anyone has ever addressed a breakup. It's amazing."

  • Alanis Morissette's 'You Oughta Know' May Or May Not Be About Dave Coulier

    Alanis Morissette's 'You Oughta Know' May Or May Not Be About Dave Coulier

    Before her American breakthrough, Alanis Morissette was a Canadian teen pop star. During that period in the early '90s, Morissette briefly dated Dave Coulier from Full House. In 1995, Morissette became an alternative superstar with her album Jagged Little Pill and its lead single, "You Oughta Know." The world wanted to know who the song was about, but Morissette has kept quiet over the years.

    Fans have long speculated that it's about Coulier, but it wasn't until a 2014 interview with BuzzFeed that Coulier shared what he knew. He actually asked Morissette about the song around the time it was released. "She said, 'Well, you know it could be a bunch of people. But you can say whatever you want,'" Coulier explained. He does think one line in particular is about him. "The one that got me was, 'I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner.' That was because we had already broken up and she had called... and I said, 'Hey, I'm right in the middle of dinner, can I just call you right back?'"

  • Miley Cyrus Had Liam Hemsworth In Mind When Making 'Wrecking Ball'

    Miley Cyrus Had Liam Hemsworth In Mind When Making 'Wrecking Ball'

    While Miley Cyrus did not write "Wrecking Ball" herself, it's very likely that she had ex-fiancé Liam Hemsworth in mind when recording the hit. At least that was heavily implied by an intro to the song she gave at a 2014 concert in London. Before the performance, she told the audience, "I'm gonna tell those motherf*ckers that broke my heart, particularly one, to suck my fat d*ck and to enjoy hearing this song for the rest of your life."

    She also told Ellen DeGeneres that the entire Bangerz album is about Hemsworth, saying, "I think... with starting with 'Adore You' and ending with 'Someone Else'... I think I knew more intuitively where my life was going then I actually thought I did at the time."

  • Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River' Is About Britney Spears

    Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River' Is About Britney Spears

    The video for JT's "Cry Me a River" heavily implies that the song is about his ex, Britney Spears. In 2012, rapper/producer Timbaland confirmed the speculation on an episode of E!'s True Hollywood Story. In the episode, Timbaland said that Timberlake "went to a concert and saw Britney, and Britney talked about him in the show and he was pissed." Timbaland further explained, "I was like, ‘Man, don’t worry about it’ and he's like, ‘I can’t believe she did that to me’ and he was like, 'You were my sun, you were my earth.'" And from there, a hit was born.

  • Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' Is About Jake Gyllenhaal

    Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' Is About Jake Gyllenhaal

    After the release of Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the general consensus was that the song was about her ex, Jake Gyllenhaal. The appearance of a Gyllenhaal lookalike in the song's video fueled that speculation. In fact, most of her album Red is believed to be about Gyllenhaal, and he reportedly called her after giving it a listen. Without actually naming names, Swift said an ex contacted her about Red, adding, "He was like, 'I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through a photo album.' That was nice."

  • Rihanna's 'Cold Case Love' Is About Chris Brown

    Rihanna's 'Cold Case Love' Is About Chris Brown

    "Cold Case Love," from Rihanna's 2009 album Rated R, wasn't written by the singer, herself. Instead, it was written by Justin Timberlake, Robin Tadross, and James Fauntleroy II. However, the songwriters took inspiration for the lyrics from Rihanna's well-documented relationship with Chris Brown. Rihanna confirmed this fact when asked point blank about the song in an interview with CNN. "It's a song that everybody wanted to hear," she said. "That's exactly what everybody wanted to hear. Everything I didn't say for the past eight months. Exactly how I felt about that relationship and how I feel about it now, that says it all."

  • Hole's 'Violet' Is Likely About Billy Corgan

    Hole's 'Violet' Is Likely About Billy Corgan

    Before marrying Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love was involved with The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. It's long been rumored that "Violet," the hit song from Love's band Hole, is about Corgan. Love even hinted at it during an interview on the BBC's Later with Jools Holland. In the interview, she said that "Violet" is "a song about a jerk. I hexed him, and now he's losing his hair."

  • Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' Is About Selena Gomez

    Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' Is About Selena Gomez

    Justin Bieber's "Sorry" may have been composed by five different writers (including Bieber himself), but the song was directed specifically at just one person: Bieber's ex Selena Gomez. In an interview, Ellen DeGeneres asked Bieber a hypothetical question: "If there were [songs about Gomez], which three would they be?" He answered with the songs, "What Do You Mean?," "Mark My Words," and "Sorry." He elaborated, "There’s a lot of stuff that reminds me of her."

  • Selena Gomez's 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' Is About Justin Bieber

    Selena Gomez's 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' Is About Justin Bieber

    In 2014, Selena Gomez released "The Heart Wants What It Wants," and the lyrics had people thinking about her breakup with Justin Bieber. Those lyrics include: 

    The bed's getting cold and you're not here

    The future that we hold is so unclear 

    In a 2014 interview with Ryan Seacrest, Gomez said about the song, "I just wanted to say, 'This is what I want, this is where I am in my professional life, things changed in my personal life, things changed in my heart - everything." She added, "I made some decisions that weren't great as well, and so did he, and that's why we went through all that to only make us better."

  • Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' Is About Porter Wagoner

    Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' Is About Porter Wagoner

    Before she was a star, Dolly Parton appeared regularly on The Porter Wagoner Show as the country crooner's duet partner. In 1973, Parton decided it was time to move on from their partnership and told Wagoner she was leaving. Wagoner was upset about the news, so to soften the blow, Parton wrote a song for him explaining why it was time for her to go. Although their relationship was strictly professional, "I Will Always Love You" remains a song that can ease the sting of any of breakup.

  • Paul Simon's 'She Moves On' Is About Carrie Fisher

    Paul Simon's 'She Moves On' Is About Carrie Fisher

    Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher were married from 1983 to 1984. Their relationship was tumultuous, and was hindered by her drug problems and his depression. In 1990, Simon released the song "She Moves On," which Fisher said was about her in her book, Wishful Drinking. "If you can get Paul Simon to write a song about you, do it," she said, "because he is so brilliant at it."

    These lines in particular stood out to her: 

    I'm afraid I will be taken

    Abandoned and forsaken

    In her cold coffee eyes 

    She said that other songs of Simon's were at least partially about her, including "Graceland," which includes the lyrics, "She came back to tell me she's gone."

  • Shakira's 'BZRP Music Session #53' Is About Her Split From Gerard Piqué

    Shakira's 'BZRP Music Session #53' Is About Her Split From Gerard Piqué

    In January 2023, Shakira dropped "BZRP Music Session #53," a scathing series of verses calling out her former partner, footballer Gerard Piqué. The two had been together for more than a decade before they separated in June 2022.

    In the song, Shakira throws shade at her former beau, lamenting that he spends "lots of time at the gym, but [his] brain needs a little work too"; and wishing him luck "with [her] supposed replacement." The latter verse is a reference to Clara Chia Marti, the 23-year-old Piqué began dating after leaving Shakira. "I'm worth two 22 [year olds]," Shakira sings. "You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / You traded a Rolex for a Casio."

    Just prior to her official separation from Piqué, Shakira released "Te Felicito," a song that sarcastically congratulates a cheating lover. While promoting the song, Shakira would explain that she believed Piqué was cheating on her because someone ate the strawberry jam in her fridge while she was on tour. She claims Piqué would never eat it because he disliked it, and so someone else must have been in her home while she was away.

    This revelation enraged Shakira fans on social media, and likely led to "BZRP Music Session #53" becoming "the most watched new Latin music video" in YouTube history, according to the Guardian. The song racked up 63.5 million views in just 24 hours.