Look for your favorite. Read a few. Read them all. Click the artist’s name for a song. Enjoy!
ABBA – It is an acronym made from each band member’s first name: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
AC/DC – Generally standing for ‘alternating current/direct current’ on batteries and such, Margaret Young – guitarists Angus and Malcolm’s younger sister – gave them the idea for the band after seeing it debatably on the back of either a sewing machine or vacuum cleaner.
Aerosmith – Joey Kramer, the band’s drummer, came up with this “imaginary band name” while doodling in a high school notebook
The Airborne Toxic Event – They are named for the second section of Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise
American Authors – As the band describes it: “We all thought collectively that an authors mission is to tell a story about his or her experiences in life, in attempt to inspire change or new forms of thought. There is nothing like a good story. America just happens to be the setting for ours”
The Alabama Shakes – From Athens, Alabama, the band was originally called the Shakes, but as they gained popularity the name was too easily confused with other bands so they added ‘Alabama’ to the front
The All-American Rejects – When looking for a name, somebody suggested “all-Americans” another suggested “the rejects.” The band decided to combine the two
All Time Low – The band’s name comes from a song called “Head on Collision” by New Found Glory
Aloe Blacc – He chose the name Aloe because he wanted something ‘smooth’ that represented his rhyming style while he rapped. The name stuck for his singing career
Arcade Fire – As lead vocalist Win Butler recalls: “The first kid who beat me up when I was 12, was a high school kid who always used to talk about how the old arcade burned down and all these kids died…”
Arctic Monkeys – Front man Alex Turner had written the name down in his school notebooks, but the band was encouraged to keep it by punk performer John Cooper Clarke
As I Lay Dying – The band is named after the similarly named William Faulkner novel from 1930 called As I Lay Dying
Avenged Sevenfold – Comes from Genesis 4:15 in the Bible: “But the LORD said to him, ‘Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him
Avicii – Avici is a level of Buddhist hell. When starting out, Tim Bergling – Avicii’s real name – tried to make that the name on his Myspace music profile but the name was already taken. He added an extra ‘i’ so he could make the profile
AWOLNATION – Front man Aaron Bruno said that he and his friends went by AWOL when they would rap because he would get very anxious at parties and such and just leave unannounced. When he started his solo act, he said that the word ‘nation’ just sort of fell into place
Backstreet Boys – Named after an Orlando flea market that many of the Floridian band members knew of
Bad Company – According to front man Paul Rodgers, the band’s name, first single, and album – which all share the same name – came from a 1972 Jeff Bridges western also of the same name
The Band – Originally called the Hawks, Bob Dylan asked them to back him in 1965. After they broke away from him, they were literally just “the band” – Dylan’s old band
Barenaked Ladies – They wanted a name to attract attention, but “the barenaked men” didn’t have the same ring
Bastille – Literally just lifted the name from Bastille Day, the French holiday that commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution
The Beach Boys – The band had originally gone by different names, but they chose the name for their surf rock band as a suggestion from their agent.
The Beatles – After going through a bunch of names including the Quarry Men, Johnny & the Moondogs, and the Silver Beetles, John Lennon was inspired by Buddy Holly’s band, the Crickets. He then changed the spelling – from Beetles to Beatles – to create a musical pun
The Bee Gees – Started by Barry Gibb and his two brothers, the name was originally an abbreviation for ‘the Brothers Gibb,’ which was then spelled out as ‘Bee Gees’
Biggie Smalls – The name comes from the 1975 movie Let’s Do It Again, but after he was sued he changed his name to the Notorious B.I.G.
The Black Eyed Peas – The black-eyed pea is often referred to as soul food and the band said that their music was just as soulful
The Black Keys – A schizophrenic artist who was friends with the band would often leave messages on drummer Patrick Carney’s home phone mentioning how “your black key is taking too long”
Black Sabbath – The group titled one of their first songs “Black Sabbath” after a movie from 1963 and it evoked a ‘unique’ reaction from audiences. Because a naming dispute with another band, they changed their name from Earth to the much scarier name of their early song
Blues Traveler – Taking their inspiration from The Blues Brothers, the band originally called themselves The Blues Band but changed their name to Blues Traveler when they were signed
Boston – They are literally just from Boston, Massachusetts
Bowling For Soup – The name derives from a Steve Martin comedy routine where he talks about a game show called “Bowling for Shit.” The band didn’t want to have such a vulgar connotation, so they changed a few letters
The Byrds – Most likely influenced by the Beatles in purposefully misspelling their band name which was named for an animal
Cage the Elephant – As singer Matthew Shultz recounts, “We were in Knoxville, Tennessee, hanging outside a club after a show – this is probably in 2006 – and we saw this guy with a shaved head and a long goatee yelling and screaming and talking to himself. I’m pretty sure he had some mental issues going on. He all of a sudden beelined towards us. Everyone jumped into our car and shut the doors. But I didn’t make it into the car. I was stuck outside. I thought for sure the guy was gonna stab me or something, but then he came up to me and gave me a hug. The whole time he was saying, ‘You have to cage the elephant, you have to cage the elephant.’ Afterwards, I was like, ‘We gotta name the band that’ ”
Cat Stevens – In Stephen Demetri Georgiou’s own words, “I couldn’t imagine anyone going to the record store and asking for that Stephen Demetri Georgiou album. And in England, and I was sure in America, they loved animals”
CeeLo Green – His original name being Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, he asserts that CeeLo is a nickname for DeCarlo
Chicago – Like Boston, literally just named for the city that the founding members called home
Childish Gambino – A Wu-Tang Clan name generator spit the name out and he decided to keep it
The Clash – The bassist in the band noticed how frequently the word was used in a newspaper he was reading, so the band decided to use it as a name
Cobra Starship – Bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta had two jackets: one said ‘Cobra’ on the back and the other said ‘Starship Disco.’ They decided to combine the two names
Coldplay – Originally called Starfish, the band was given permission to use ‘Coldplay’ by another band that had been using the name but no longer wanted it
Counting Crows – Front man Adam Duritz heard the following old English divination in a movie called Signs of Life from which he derived his band name: “If you hang on to the flimsiness of anything you may as well be standing there counting crows…”
Cream – The late-60s supergroup was formed by the then already established musicians Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce. Essentially, they were the musical ‘cream of the crop’
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Most of the name has double meanings. Creedence was a misspelling of the word ‘credence’ which focused on faith and believability. It was arrived upon because Tom Fogerty was friends with a boy named Credence Nuball. Clearwater reflected the emerging environmental movement and came from a beer commercial. Revival only had one meaning: they were simply trying to revive their rock n’ roll dreams of their childhood
The Cure – Originally the Easy Cure because of an early song, the band dropped ‘easy’ to not sound ‘too American’
Daft Punk – Originally calledDarlin’, the band changed their name after a music critic published a negative review of their material describing them as ‘daft punky thrash’
Death Cab for Cutie – Though they regretted it in their later years, the band named themselves after a song of the same name by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, which appeared in the Beatles movie Magical Mystery Tour
The Decembrists – This band is named after a short-lived rebellion in the Russian army that took place in the 1820s
Deep Purple – “Deep Purple” was a song written by Peter DeRose in the 1930s. It was also the band’s guitarist Richie Blackmore’s grandmother’s favorite song.
Def Leppard – According to lead singer Joe Elliot, “People always ask me how we got the name Def Leppard. Actually, it came from a poster I had made which depicted a rather strange-looking jungle cat with a hearing horn at his ear. I called him the deaf leopard. The guys in the band loved the poster, and after a bit of work, we decided to call ourselves Def Leppard. The name is funny, but it has strength.” The name was probably partially based off that of Led Zeppelin
Dire Straits – The band took the name because it aptly described their financial situation at the time
The Doors – Front man Jim Morrison came up with the name after reading a quote by the 18th century British poet William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear as it is, infinite”
Dr. Dre – Born Andre Young, Dre combined the name of Dr. J – his favorite basketball player – with his first name
Dream Theater – After another band forced them to change their name from Majesty, the band was suggested their current name – the name of a now-destroyed California movie theater – by drummer Mike Portnoy’s dad
Dropkick Murphys – Named for Boston folk hero John “Dropkick” Murphy, the band decided to name themselves after the football, wrestling, and boxing legend as an homage to their home town
Duran Duran – The band lifted the name from the evil Dr. Durand Durand found in the 1968 cult film Barbarella
The E Street Band – Looking for a name for his band that supported him on his first album’s tour, Springsteen picked the street of his original keyboardist’s (David Sancious) mother’s house, E Street, Belmar, New Jersey, where the band often practiced
Eagles – Though some claim it is their homage to the Byrds, other sources indicate that the California rockers chose Eagles because of its connection to Hopi mythology
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – As front man Alex Ebert explains, “I’d written this novel about this kid named Edward Sharpe who was sent down…well, it’s a long story, but he gets sent down from outer space to sort of help out humanity. And at the same time I’d been really into physics and into mathematics and I devised a system of mathematics called magnetic zeroes as a form of addition. It’s sort of a metaphorical mathematics, but zero’s magnetic. Anyway, so I combined the two, and there’s the name”
Elton John –Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he adopted, and later legally changed his name to a combination of Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and lead singer Long John Baldry
Eminem – Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, his name was originally M&M, a play on his initials, but eventually he changed the spelling
Fall Out Boy – Initially having no name, the band asked for a name at a concert and a drunken guy shouted out ‘Fall Out Boy’
Five for Fighting – Big hockey fan, front man John Ondrasik adopted the term from the hockey rulebook’s rhetoric about the penalty for fighting
The Flaming Lips – According to front man Wayne Coyne, “I’d read somewhere about a group called the Flaming Hands, which was a name I’d liked and that led to the Flaming Lips”
Fleetwood Mac – The only two constant members of the band, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, combined their last names to create the name
Flo Rida – Literally just his home state, Florida, broken up
Florida Georgia Line – Songwriters Brian Kelley and Tylar Hubbard chose their name because of their respective home states
Florence + the Machine – Florence Welch claims, like many others, that she needed a name before a gig and just came up with it
Foo Fighters – While recording demos that became the Foo Fighters first album, Dave Grohl was reading a lot of books about UFOs. Foo Fighters is a WWII term for a UFO. Though he played every instrument on the first album, Grohl wanted his name to sound as if it were band
Foster the People – Initially called Foster & the People after front man Mark Foster, the name was often misheard as Foster the People. They decided to change the name because of the positive vibes it gave off
Fountains of Wayne – The band took its name from a now-closed garden store in Wayne, New Jersey
Four Seasons – Originally called the Four Lovers, the band adopted its current name from New Jersey cocktail lounge
The Fray – The band jokingly chose the name because of their tendency to argue over lyrics
fun. – Somebody initially suggested the name Ice Cream and though the band hated the name, they liked the idea that it evoked. They settled on Fun, but when you googled ‘Fun’ all that came up was “go-karts and porn,” so the band decided to add a period and make the ‘F’ lowercase
The Gaslight Anthem – The name comes from the Gaslight Café in New York City where Bob Dylan would often perform. Anthem was added because it was the only word that seemed to fit
Goo Goo Dolls – Originally called the Sex Maggots, a club refused to book them unless they changed their name. They settled on Goo Goo Dolls after seeing an ad in a copy of True Detective magazine for a ‘goo goo doll’
Green Day – Named for a slang term describing a day filled with pot
Guns N’ Roses – Though he was only in the band for a short time, when Tracii Guns joined Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin’s band they decided upon the name Guns n’ Roses based on their names
Gym Class Heroes – Drummer Matt McGinley and MC Travie McCoy chose the name because they became friends in their high school gym class
The Head and the Heart – They had been trying to come up with a name for a long time and one of their songs says something to the sort of ‘don’t follow your head, follow your heart.’ After booking a few gigs under that name, nobody hated the name and everybody just accepted it
Hoodie Allen – Being a Jewish kid from New York City, he tried to create a name that not only would stick in people’s minds but would reflect who he was. He settled on his current name because it was a play on Jewish New York director Woody Allen’s name
Hootie and the Blowfish – The name was a tribute to two of the band’s classmates at the University of South Carolina, one who wore thick, owl-like glasses and the other having large cheeks. The band now admits that the name wasn’t supposed to be permanent, and they hoped to come up with a better on
Hot Chelle Rae – In an interview with CNN, guitarist Nash Overstreet began to explain the moniker: “I was on MySpace one day…and met this really, really attractive blonde…She kept infiltrating, meeting everyone we knew, only online. One day, a friend of ours – and Jamie chimed in saying he had the suspicion the whole time – asked, ‘Do you think she’s real?’ ” The woman – who did turn out to be fake – used the name Chelle Rae as her handle
Ice Cube – When girls would call the house for his older brother, a young Ice Cube would try to hit on them. His older brother said that he was way too smooth so he gave him his iconic nickname
Icona Pop – Founding member Caroline Hjelt’s mother was out to dinner with some Italian friends and the Italians asked if her daughter’s band was going to be the next ‘iconic pop band.’ In Italian, they used the phrase ‘Icona Pop’
Imagine Dragons – Imagine Dragons is actually an anagram for a word or phrase that the band refuses to reveal
Iron Maiden – This metal band’s name was taken from a medieval torture device
Jay-Z – Known as ‘Jazzy’ growing up, he changed his name to Jay-Z to pay homage to his mentor Jaz-O
Jet – The name comes from the second Paul McCartney & Wings track from their album Band on the Run, also called “Jet”
Jethro Tull – The band’s manager, who studied history in college, came up with the name Jethro Tull after an English agricultural inventor. The name somehow stuck
Jimmy Eat World – Not actually named for front man Jim Adkins, the name came from a drawing that guitarist Tom Linton’s little brother Ed created while fighting with their other brother, Jim. After losing a fight, Ed drew a picture of Jim shoving the whole world into his mouth with the caption “Jimmy Eat World” in an attempt to tell his brother he was fat
John Mellencamp – Without telling him, his first manager changed his name to ‘Johnny Cougar’ to make it more appealing, but he soon changed it to the more adult ‘John Cougar.’ After becoming established, he reverted back to the original John Mellencamp
Journey – The name was simply a suggestion from a roadie
Kansas – Like Boston, simply named for the place the band was founded and it’s members called home
Kid Cudi – His stage name comes from his real name Scott Mescudi
Kid Rock – While DJing the predominantly black Detroit nightclub scene, the patrons often said that they enjoyed “seeing that white kid rock.” Though he hates the name, it stuck
The Killers – The name comes from a fictional band found in New Order’s music video for their song “Crystal” released in 2001
Kings of Leon – A band of three brothers and their cousin, they wanted to name the band after their father and grandfather whose middle names were both Leon. ‘Sons of Leon’ made no sense because of their cousin, so they went with ‘Kings of Leon’ because “if there’s a Queens of the Stone Age, we can certaintly be the Kings,” said front man Caleb Followill
KISS – Drummer Peter Criss had previously been in a band called Lips. After hearing this, guitarist Paul Stanley came up with the iconic name KISS
Lady Antebellum – The name came about during a photo shoot where they used a pre-Civil War southern mansion as a backdrop. ‘Antebellum’ refers to the pre-Civil War period
Lady Gaga – The name comes from the 80’s dance pop song by Queen, “Radio Ga Ga”
Led Zeppelin – Guitarist Jimmy Page was forming a band called the New Yardbirds. Accounts differ, but somebody ended up saying that Page’s band would crash like a ‘lead balloon.’ Page drew the idea from this comment.
Linkin Park – After legal disputes over their original name Hybrid Theory, which ended up being their first album name, the band named themselves after Lincoln Park, a town close to their hometown of Santa Monica, California. In order to secure the Internet domain name on the web, they changed the spelling
Little Mix – Originally called Rhythmix, the band chose a new name because they didn’t want to be confused with the charity of the same name
LMFAO – The group claims that they were on iChat with their grandmother and told her that their new name was “Sexy Dudes.” Grandma’s supposed response: “LMFAO”
Lorde – The name stems from her obsession with the aristocracy. She added the ‘e’ to make it more feminine
The Lumineers – Though they had gone by a bunch of names, when they were playing a show in Jersey City, New Jersey there was a different band named the Lumineers playing in the same time slot just a week later. The person running the show accidently announced them as the Lumineers and the name stuck
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Leonard Skinner was a physical education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, where the band’s founding members went to school. Though their enemy at the time – because of his hatred for long hair – the band eventually befriended him years later
Macklemore – According to the Ben Haggerty, “When I was 17 I was living in Brooklyn, NY for the summer. I was young, creative, boney and drunk a lot of the time. I use to go to thrift shops and buy the most flamboyant plaid outfits. On some Prince meets Bob Barker meets your grandpa meets Matt Lauer on sherm. When I’d go out in the city and kick it, I would dress up in these garments. When I did this I was known as ‘Professor Macklemore.’ Later, I realized that I wasn’t a professor of anything but the name Macklemore followed me”
Maroon 5 – Originally called Kara’s Flowers, only the band members and legendary pianist Billy Joel know why they changed their name to Maroon 5
Matchbox Twenty – While Rob Thomas and drummer Paul Douchette were waiting tables in Florida, a man walked into the restaurant wearing a softball jersey with number twenty on it. The jersey had many patches on it but the only one that was visible said ‘matchbox’ on it. Thomas decided to put them together for his band’s name
Meatloaf – Though Marvin Lee Aday has told 1000 different stories behind his name, the most likely is because of his large size: “When I was a kid I was so big – I was really big – that I literally could not wear blue jeans. My mother would take me to Sears, and they didn’t make blue jeans that would fit me, so I wore pleated pants in the first grade. And a commercial came on the air when I was about 5 or 6 years old, from Levis. And the commercial was ‘Poor fat Marvin can’t wear Levis.’ ” Though he was called ‘Meat’ before that, “After that [commercial],” he recounts, “nobody called me Marvin.” Eventually, he did legally change his to Michael
Megadeth – A ‘megadeath’ is a military term used to describe one million deaths in a nuclear war. Front man Dave Mustaine said that he found the term in a pamphlet while on tour with Metallica and it was supposed to evoke the ‘annihilation of power’
Metallica – The name was meant to evoke the idea of the metal music that they hoped to play
MGMT – Originally called the Management, the band decided to shorten it because another band already had the rights to it. Nevertheless, their name is supposed to be pronounced with each letter individually: M-G-M-T
MKTO – The name comes from combining the duo’s initials: Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller
Modest Mouse – The name comes from the Virginia Woolf short story “The Mark on the Wall,” in which Woolf writes, “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises”
Motörhead – Front man Lemmy Kilmister wrote a song called “Motorhead” for a band that he played in called Hawkwind. He took the name when he started his own group. The word refers to users of amphetamines. He added the umlaut over the second ‘o’ because he thought it looked cool
My Chemical Romance – Legend has it that inspiration struck the band when the younger brother of Mikey Way, the band’s bassist, was working at a library and saw a book called Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance
My Morning Jacket – Front man Jim James came upon a jacket by chance with the initials “MMJ” on the inside. He took it to mean “My Morning Jacket”
NSYNC – The name came from all of the last letters of the first names of the band members – Justin, Chris, Joey, Jason, and JC
The Naked and the Famous – The name was taken from a song called “Tricky Kid” by the musician Tricky
The National – Though it has become political in more recent years, the name was actually chosen for its meaninglessness
Neon Trees – Front man Tyler Glenn grew up in southern California, and at a particular In-N-Out Burger there were neon palm tree lights from which Glenn drew the name. It was later discovered that the father of the band’s bassist Branden Campbell actually installed the lights
Nickelback – Band member Mike Kroeger worked at a Starbucks and recalled how he would always have to give customers a ‘nickelback’ when they often paid for a $1.45 coffee with $1.50
Nine Inch Nails – In an interview front man Trent Reznor said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to think of band names, but usually you think you have a great one and you look at it the next day and it’s stupid. I had about 200 of those. Nine Inch Nails lasted the two week test, looked great in print, and could be abbreviated easily. It really doesn’t have any literal meaning. It seemed kind of frightening.”
Nirvana – Some say that Kurt Cobain saw a show on Buddhism the night before a show. (Nirvana is a Buddhist term for enlightenment.) In Michael Azerrad’s 1993 Nirvana biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, he cites Cobain saying, “I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk name like the Angry Samoans”
N.W.A. – Hailing from Compton, California, the name is an abbreviation of the name ‘Niggas Wit Attitudes’
O.A.R. – The name stands for ‘Of a Revolution,’ which comes from a short story that the band’s lead singer had written
Oasis – Noel Gallagher was a roadie for The Inspiral Carpets, who was scheduled to play at a venue called the Oasis Leisure Centre. The tour poster was stuck on Noel’s brother – Liam’s – wall. He soon suggested the band to change their name to Oasis from Rain, a salute to the Beatles
Of Monsters and Men – Most clearly inspired by John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, the band says that they chose the name because it sounded ‘interesting’
One Direction – Brought together on X Factor UK, vocalist Harry Styles supposedly crafted the name because the group had to go in ‘one direction’ to win it all. A punk band of the same name sued One Direction but after litigation they were allowed to keep their name
Outkast – Originally named ‘2 Shades Deep,’ the duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi decided to changed their name after getting a record deal
Owl City – Front man Adam Young says that the name is literally two seemingly random words put together, but they were chosen to take you to some sort of place and evoke some ethereal imagery
Panic! at the Disco – The name comes from the Smiths song “Panic” which contains the lyric “Burn down the disco”
Paramore – The band had been mulling names over for a long time and eventually settled on Paramore – meaning ‘for love,’ ‘secret love,’ and a bunch of different things depending on context – because it gave off the right vibes
Passenger – Initially the name of his band, after they split singer-songwriter Mike Rosenberg decided to keep the name. Rosenberg says that constantly being on the move, busking, and staying in cheap motels has made him grow into the name. “Music,” he says, “has never been a choice for me”
Passion Pit – The name comes from an antiquated term meaning ‘drive-in movie theater’
Pearl Jam – The origins of the name are unsure. Some say that it was a nickname for NBA point guard Mookie Glaylock. Others say that it comes from front man Eddie Vedder’s great-grandmother who was named Pearl. Vedder has said that they come up with Pearl and added Jam after seeing Neil Young jam on many songs. He said he liked the idea of how an oyster turns a grain of sand to a pearl because of some sort of creative conflict
Phish – The band was named for drummer Jon Fishman. Like many other bands named for animals, they changed the spelling
Pitbull – The comes from the breed of dog because it never gives up when fighting
Phoenix – The band actually says that they have actually told so many stories that they have no idea how they came upon the name. Nevertheless, they said that it worked well graphically but wasn’t too literal
Pink Floyd – The name was taken from two blues singers: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council
Plain White T’s – The band settled on this name because of the images it evoked: Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis Presley, etc.
Poison – After hearing a politician call rock music ‘poison,’ the band decided to use the description as their name
Portugal. The Man – According to the band, “It is kind of an alter ego like Ziggy Stardust and Sgt. Pepper. It’s our character to represent us as a band. In picking a country’s name, it was one name that represents a group of people. It made sense for a while, but we have regretted it ever since that day”
Psy – Park Jae-sang says that his stage name is short for ‘psycho’
Queen – According to front man Freddie Mercury, “Years ago I thought up the name Queen… It’s just a name, but it’s very regal, and it sounds splendid. It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it”
Quiet Riot – Originally called Little Women, Quiet Riot was inspired by Rick Parfitt, the guitarist from the British band Status Quo. He said that he wanted to name a band ‘Quite Right’ but his accent made it sound like ‘Quiet Riot’
Radiohead – The band became got their name after the Talking Head’s song “Radio Head”
Rage Against the Machine – The ‘machine’ that the band was ‘raging against’ was one of the first vans that they toured in. It had two transmission replacements, four transmission leaks, three oil leaks, a blown gasket, and five replacements of shocks during its run with the band
The Ramones – Jeffery Ross Hyman, John William Cummings, and Douglas Glenn Colvin established their pseudonyms Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone based on Paul Ramon, a pseudonym that Paul McCartney created for himself before the Beatles were famous
Rascal Flatts – Lead singer Gary LeVox notes, “Rascal Flatts doesn’t mean anything. Our logo is a dog that’s flat and run over, but we were actually in a club — playing at the Fiddle & Steel Guitar Bar in Nashville — and we were getting ready to sign with Lyric Street and we didn’t have a name. A buddy of ours said that was the name of his band back in the ’60s, so that’s how we got it.”
REM – An acronym for ‘Rapid Eye Movement,’ the group arrived at the name by randomly flipping through the dictionary
REO Speedwagon – The REO Speedwagon was an early 1900’s flatbed truck
The Replacements – The band changed their name from the Impediments to the Replacements after being banned from a club for their unruly behavior
The Rolling Stones – The name was inspired by a song by bluesman Muddy Waters, similarly called “Rollin’ Stone”
Run-D.M.C. – The group is named for two of its main members: Joseph Ward “Run” Simmons and Darryl Matthews McDaniels. Run got his name from his ability to cut between two turntables very quickly. DMC’s name is simply from his initials
Rush – The group’s name came as a suggestion from the original drummer, John Rutsey’s brother
The Script – The Los Angeles based band’s named derives from two sources. Primarily, everybody in LA is looking for the next big movie script. Secondly, when the band members would call each other on the phone they’d usually say something like “Hey, what’s the story for today?” or “What’s the script?”
The Sex Pistols – The band was formed in a London clothing shop called ‘Sex’
Simple Plan – The name comes from a movie of the same name, called A Simple Plan
Skrillex – ‘Skrillex’ was producer/electronic musician Sonny John Moore’s AOL screen name
Slipknot – The name comes from one of the band’s early songs which eventually became their song (sic)
Smash Mouth – According to lead singer Steve Harwell, “I’m a huge sports fanatic, and there was a football coach and he came up with the name “smashmouth football.” I was just watching TV one day and we were making our first record and we had a list on the wall at the studio of [band]names and… I was like “F–k that’s it, we’re Smash Mouth.” He never trademarked [the name]so we got away with it. Even today, when you’re watching SportsCenter, you’ll see smashmouth football.”
Snow Patrol – Originally called Polar Bear, the band had to change their name to avoid being sued by an American band of the same name. They chose Snow Patrol because one of their friends, while high, had mistakenly referred to them as Snow Patrol
Snoop Dogg – Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.’s mother often said that he looked like the Peanuts character Snoopy
Soulja Boy – DeAndre Cortez Way got the name Soulja Boy, like Snoop Dogg, from his mother
Soundgarden – The Sound Garden is an actual pipe sculpture in Seattle, which produces sound by the wind blowing air into the pipes of the ‘garden.’ The Seattle band took its name from this place
Steely Dan – The name comes from a type of dildo found in the controversial novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Steppenwolf – The name comes from a book by Herman Hesse
Stone Temple Pilots – Originally called Mighty Joe Young, the band was inspired by the logo of STP Motor Oil. They liked the name because they could get STP stickers at gas stations to use as promotional giveaways
The Strokes – Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. said, “It doesn’t really mean anything. We thought it was a cool rock and roll name. When I first heard it, it sounded so old, like someone would have already taken it but no one did. Then I looked it up in the dictionary and ‘a powerful blow to the face, chest or body’ was the first thing. Perfect. That’s exactly what our music is. It’s like a powerful blow to the face”
Sum 41 – The band claims to have established their name on the 41st day of their summer vacation during the 1996 summer off of high school
Swedish House Mafia – The Swedish trio was essentially given their name by friends and fans who would joke that the were the ‘Swedish House Mafia’ when they would bring other DJs to play with them
Taking Back Sunday – According to guitarist Eddie Reyes, “[The name comes from] an act of will, because Sunday’s when you should hang with your family and friends…like the Bible says, a day to kick back”
Thin Lizzy – On the cover of 1966 album Blue Breakers by John Mayall, Eric Clapton – who played on the record – is reading a copy of a comic called The Beano. Eric Bell, the band’s guitarist and a huge Clapton fan, bought a copy of the comic, which had a robot in it named ‘Thin Lizzie’
Third Eye Blind – The name comes from the metaphysical idea of the ‘third mind’s eye’
TLC – The name is actually stands for each of the band’s members rather than ‘Tender Love and Care:’ Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopez, and Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas
Twisted Sister – Legend has it that a drunken man came up to the cross-dressing, hair metal band and told them that they looked like “a bunch of twisted sisters”
Two Door Cinema Club – Being huge film fans, singer Sam Halliday suggested naming the band after the local ‘Tudor Cinema.’ Halliday misspoke and accidently said ‘Two Door’ instead of ‘Tudor’
Umphrey’s McGee – The name is based off of lead singer Brendan Bayliss’s cousin, Humphrey Magee
Uncle Kracker – Matthew Shafer was given his stage name by longtime friend Robert Ritchie – otherwise know as Kid Rock – when he was 13. According to Shafer, “Somebody wanted to call Kid Rock ‘Kracker.’ He knew what it meant, but I didn’t, so that’s when it started.” ‘Uncle’ was added when right before his debut album because of a dispute with the band Cracker
U2 – Usually associated with the U-2 Spy Plane of the Cold War era, the actually story behind the name is a bit more trivial. Steve Averill, U2’s then-future art director, has stated, “When I first met [U2]…they had qualified for the final of that band competition in Limerick and they needed to decide on a name. Adam liked names like XTC, which were short and crisp and could mean a lot or mean very little. So I made a list of ten and I put U2 on the bottom. I thought it was strong graphically and it had a variety of connotations without meaning something specific…After we discussed the list we decided to go for U2 for all those reasons”
Vampire Weekend – The name comes from a film that lead singer Ezra Koenig tried to make while at Columbia
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground was a book by Michael Leigh about the secret sexual subculture in the early 1960s from which the band drew its name
Walk the Moon – The name came from a record by The Police of the same name
Weezer – ‘Weezer’ comes from a name people would call lead singer Rivers Cuomo when he was young because of his asthma
The White Stripes – According to Jack White,”[Drummer Meg White] loves peppermints, and we were going to call ourselves The Peppermints. But since our last name was White, we decided to call it The White Stripes.”
will.i.am – Black Eyed Peas front man William Adams says that he arrived at his name because he “liked playing with words. I noticed that my name was a sentence, meaning one with will, who is strong-willed”
Wiz Khalifa – Cameron Thomaz’s name comes from two separate sources. ‘Wiz’ came about because according to Thomaz, “I would always hang out with older guys, and I was good at everything I do, so they would be like, ‘He’s a young wiz,’ so that’s where that came from.” ‘Khalifa’ was given to him by his Muslim granddad, which is Arabic for ‘leader’ or ‘successor’
The Who – Guitarist Pete Townshend wanted a name that was generic and ended up choosing the Who because it was short and looked great in print
Wolfmother – The name comes from a psychedelic book called Skinny Legs and All
Wu-Tang Clan – The name comes from a mythical kung-fu sword wielded by an omnipotent legion of warriors
Yardbirds – Famous for jump-starting the careers of guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, the group got its name from a southern slang term for ‘chicken’
Yellowcard – The name came from a joke that the band used at parties in high school: when somebody did something stupid, like drop a beer, they would give out a ‘yellow card’ for the party foul
Zedd – DJ Anton Zaslavski shared the same first name as a peer in his middle school class. The teacher started referring to him as ‘Zed,’ the European pronunciation of the letter ‘z,’ to differentiate him from the other student
ZZ Top – According to guitarist Billy Gibbons, their original name was ‘ZZ King’ in honor of legendary blues guitarist BB King. ‘King’ was switched to ‘Top’ because it sounded too similar to their hero’s name
3 Doors Down – According to lead guitarist Brad Arnold, “We came out of this building, and some of the letters had fallen off the front and it said ‘Doors Down.’ At the time there were just three of us, so we said ‘3 Doors Down’ ”
30 Seconds to Mars – Taken from a rare manuscript – possibly an obscure thesis by a Harvard graduate – called Argus Apocraphex, lead singer Jared Leto has stated, “For us, the name 30 Seconds To Mars has little to do with space, the universe or anything like that. It is a name that works on several different levels. Most importantly, it is a good representation of our sound. It’s a phrase that is lyrical, suggestive, cinematic, and filled with immediacy. It has some sense of otherness to it. The concept of space is so overwhelming and all encompassing I doubt there is a song written that doesn’t fall within it”
50 Cent – Rapper Curtis Jackson says that his name is both a metaphor for change and the name of a gangsta from his youth
98 Degrees – According to founding member Jeff Timmons, the name came as a suggestion from their manager’s girlfriend
The 1975 – According to front man Matthew Healy, “When I was about 19 I went to Majorca and I came across a beautiful Spanish villa which seemed to have all of its furniture outside…[The] house was like some kind of 1960s bazaar, original Beatles records, signed Elvis stuff, a photo of him with Hendrix…[The guy that lived there] gave me a whole load of beat generation stuff. I [also]found a mental page of scribblings. It was so [emphasis in original]mad I couldn’t figure out whether it was suicidal or totally life affirming. What stuck with me was that the page was dated, ‘1st June. The 1975’ ”
