Who doesn’t love a good feature track?

There’s something special that happens when two (or more) artists respect each other enough to get into the studio and hash out some music that inspires them - and their respective fanbases - it’s even better when the song becomes a MASSIVE hit!

Now usually, when a collaboration effort is released - it’s because the artists in question are undeniably hot acts in their own right.

Think of tracks from Maroon 5 and Cardi B, Post Malone and Swae Lee, The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Rihanna and Calvin Harris, or Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes - each artist’s popularity helped bring the other to a whole new level.

Of course, this makes sense, after all - Pop music is SUPPOSED to be popular, so whether the genre mashups are a match made in heaven, or even a little off the beaten path - the equation is simple - Hot Artist PLUS Hot Artist EQUALS Hit, Baby!

But what if I told you that one of the biggest collab tracks in Billboard history (and the first of the millennium) was made by an old school guitarist who hadn’t released a hit single in over 15 years, and an alt-pop soft rocker who had never actually released music outside of the comforts of his (admittedly quite popular) band?

Let’s Don’t Forget About It! - This is the Story of Santana and Rob Thomas’ ‘Smooth’ with newly unearthed audio from Santana and Rob Thomas himself!

There aren’t many pop artists who are at the top of their game 40 years into their career. Let’s be real here, pop music is often considered a young person’s game, one that generally favours younger artists.

As we’ve witnessed here on Encore with Justin Bieber, Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears, Usher and others, careers can start in an artist’s pre-teen years, but they often slow down as the decades go by.

But there are always anomalies, and that’s where Kylie Minogue comes in. Making her first musical appearance back in 1985 at the age of 17, Kylie Minogue - or simply Kylie, sans last name - has officially been in the music industry for 40 years now. Of course, that’s not any kind of record - Tony Bennett had an 85-year career! - but when it comes to consistently maintaining relevance in pop music, Kylie might be in a league of her own.

This is the story of Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' with newly unearthed audio from Kylie Minogue herself.

Before being known as one of the greatest guitarists of modern times - John Clayton Mayer was just a kid from Connecticut who was obsessed with three things:

Canadian Actor Michael J. Fox in his Iconic role as Marty McFly in the 80s sci-fi adventure romp Back To The Future.

The Blues.

And of course - the instrument that tied those other two obsessions together - The Guitar.

And, by the way - I don’t use the word obsession lightly - According to John, this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill relationship with the instrument that many a teenage boy find themselves enamoured with - John was so single minded with becoming a guitar virtuoso his parents actually took him to be psychologically evaluated over his commitment to guitar playing - it was the only thing he ever wanted to do - like… ever.

After high school, John Mayer had hoped to skip college completely to become a full time independent musician - but he was convinced by his parents to seek further education, and enrolled in the lauded Berklee College of Music at age 19.

At Berklee, Mayer met eventual Zac Brown Band musician Clay Cook, who swiftly convinced him to… Drop out of Berklee after only two semesters. By 1999, John would package up his 9 best songs for his debut EP Inside Wants Out as a companion record to all of his touring - and by the year 2000 - with the help of a lawyer, he would sign with small label Aware Records, who would fund the original recording of an internet-only release of his debut record Room For Squares.

Although it was originally a bit of a slow-burner, Room For Squares would spend 95 weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, eventually going platinum off of the successes of No Such Thing and Grammy-Award Winning Follow up single ‘Your Body is A Wonderland'.

Just like Room For Squares before it, Mayer’s virtuosity in both guitar playing and songwriting got him over the line with discerning pop music fans; his followup, Heavier Things would debut at Number One on the Billboard 200 - and with the success of single 'Daughters', would beat Squares’ 95 week run with a 98 week sprint on the chart.

But, after three big hits that launched him into the ‘sensitive songwriter guy’ stratosphere, John Mayer was ready to break the space-time Continuum.

This is the story of John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change, with newly unearthed audio from John Mayer himself.