The majority of the songs in Guitar Hero II are cover versions produced by an in-house group of musicians, rather than the original artists. However, one of those musicians, Marcus Henderson, was able to contact Buckethead and involve him directly in the game's version of his song "Jordan", which is named as an homage to basketball player Michael Jordan.

After recording the song, Buckethead told Henderson in a voicemail, "I think this is one of the best things I've ever recorded in my entire life."

When recording the cover version of "Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God, guitarist Marcus Henderson used the exact same amplifier and settings that Lamb of God guitarist Willie Adler used.

The Nilbog High School venue was named in homage to the movie Troll 2. The developers at Harmonix are fans of the cult classic and named the high school after the town the movie is set in.

In the demo version of Guitar Hero II, the cover song for You Really Got Me includes the lyric where the singer says "Oh no no!" right before the guitar solo. For the retail version of Guitar Hero II, the "Oh no no!" was removed.

When you finish the encore song 'Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight' by Spinal Tap in Guitar Hero II, the drummer will explode. This is a reference to the Spinal Tap movie where they said one of their drummers spontaneously combusted on stage.