But in certain cases the songs aren't about some abstract girlfriend, they're about a real girl, someone the songwriter knew, or loved, or wished he had. And there it is, for all the world to hear about, getting heavy airplay and climbing the charts: A famous person's love, or lust, or loathing, for someone else. And if this girl in the tune wasn't famous beforehand—presto, she is now.
Here are 25 Billboard Top 40 songs, all about real, live, natural-born females.