Here's how some of your favourite artists
came up with their stage names
ABBA
An acronym for the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.
AC/DC
A band member saw AC/DC on a sewing machine. It stood for 'Alternating Current / Direct Current'. The band didn't realize it was also slang for bi-sexual, which caused a few misunderstandings in their early days.
AEROSMITH
Taken from the 1925 book, 'Arrowsmith' by Sinclair Lewis.
AMBOY DUKES
Guitarist, Ted Nugent took the name from a Detroit group who had just broken up and started using it for his new Chicago band. 'The Amboy Dukes' was actually the name of a novel about gang members and their lifestyle. In later interviews, Nugent said that although many people have given him a copy of the book, he has never actually read it.
ASSOCIATION
After breaking away from a thirteen member band called "The Men", someone suggested a name for their new group, "The Aristocrats". Singer-songwriter Terry Kirkman's wife went to the dictionary to look up the word for them and found a better name on the very same page..."The Association".
BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE
A combination of band members' last names and the trucker's magazine 'Overdrive'. The band was originally called Brave Belt, then Bachman-Turner, then the final name.
BAD COMPANY
Taken from a 1972 movie starring Jeff Bridges.
BADFINGER
The working title of the Beatles song "A Little Help From My Friends".
BAY CITY ROLLERS
While searching for a name, they blindly stuck a pin on a map. It landed on Bay City, Michigan.
BEATLES
Original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe came up with the Beetles in 1960, which was a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. John Lennon is generally credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with the Beatles spelling.
BEAU BRUMMELS
The San Francisco area group took the name Beau Brummels in deference to their love of British beat music. Beau Brummel was a dashing young Englishman who lived from 1778-1840 and was known for his wit and fancy clothes.
BEE GEES
Although the press often refers to them as the 'Brothers Gibb', the band said that they took their name from two friends that helped them out in their early days... Bill Goode and a disc jockey named Bill Gates.
BLACK SABBATH
Named after a 1963 horror movie starring Boris Karloff.
CILLA BLACK
British singer Cilla Black, best remembered for her number one U.K hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart", had her stage name changed by accident. A reporter for the local paper remembered the wrong color as her surname while writing a favorable review. Her real name is Cilla White.
BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
Founder, Al Kooper came up with the name when he was on the phone with a promoter, while gazing at a Johnny Cash album cover. The album was called, "Blood Sweat & Tears". The inspiration for the band name did not come from Winston Churchill's quote, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat", as was widely reported when the band first started to gain attention in 1967.
BLUE CHEER
Blue Cheer was a 60's nickname for high-quality LSD.
BLUE OYSTER CULT
A combination of a recipe that the band's manager read in a book and the band's fascination with the occult.
GARY U.S. BONDS
For his first hit, "New Orleans", attention was brought to the record by having promotional copies sent to radio stations in sleeves inscribed "Buy U.S. Bonds" - hence at age 19, Gary Anderson became Gary U.S. Bonds.
BONO
U2's lead singer, Paul Hewson was inspired by a hearing aid store in Dublin, Ireland called 'Bono Vox'.
BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S
Keyboard player Booker T. Jones led the band. M.G. stands for Memphis Group.
THE BIG BOPPER
Disc Jockey, Jiles Perry Richardson took the name 'The Big Bopper' in reference to his 240 pound frame. In the 1950s, a bopper was someone who was really into rock and roll.
DAVID BOWIE
David took his last name from the Bowie knife ("that big old bear killin' knife"). His given name is 'David Jones', but he didn't want to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
THE BUCKINGHAMS
As The Pulsations, the band auditioned for a Chicago TV variety show called All Time Hits, but were turned down because they "weren't British enough". They later re-auditioned using the name The Buckinghams and appeared on the show for nearly 17 weeks.
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
The band took their name from a brand of heavy asphalt roller they saw while stuck in Los Angeles traffic.
THE BYRDS
A band called the Beefeaters was having Thanksgiving dinner when they tried coming up with a new name. Singer, Gene Clark offered "The Birdsies." Nobody liked that name and producer Jim Dickson said, "How about the Birds"? "Birds" was slang in England for girls and the band didn't want to be called "the Girls". Guitarist, Roger McGuinn came up with the B-Y-R-D-S spelling, and it stuck.
RAY CHARLES
His real name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he did not want to be confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
CANNIBAL AND THE HEADHUNTERS
Around 1964, a Los Angeles group called Bobby and the Classics brought in a new lead singer named Frankie Garcia who had earned the nickname "Cannibal" after he had bitten someone during a street fight in his younger days. After changing their name to Cannibal and the Headhunters, the group would go on to score a US Top 30 hit with "Land Of 1000 Dances".
CHEAP TRICK
They claim they asked a Ouija board what they should call their band.
CHUBBY CHECKER
During a recording session, the wife of producer Dick Clark asked Ernest Evans what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me Chubby". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words got an instant laugh and from then on, Ernest Evans would use the name "Chubby Checker".
CHICAGO
Their first album was released as 'Chicago Transit Authority', but after the city of Chicago threatened to sue them, the name was shortened.
CLASH
Taken from a newspaper headline describing 'A Clash With Police'
COMMODORES
In 1967, at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, six students decided to merge two local bands, "the Mystics" and "the Jays". Legend has it, that one of the group members tossed a dictionary into the air, and when it landed, pointed to a random word on the page it opened to. The word was "Commodores".
ALICE COOPER
The band say the name was spelled out by their Ouija Board. After they split up, lead singer Vincent Furnier started using it as a solo act.
ELVIS COSTELLO
He combined Elvis Presley and Lou Costello.
CREEDANCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
Originally called The Golliwogs, unconfirmed reports say the band took their new name from Norvel Creedence, a friend of band leader John Fogerty. John's favorite beer was called Clearwater, which, after it disappeared from the market for a time, was re-introduced by another brewery. The result: Creedence Clearwater Revival.
THE CRICKETS
After learning that he was unable to re-record "That'll Be The Day" because of earlier contract obligations with Decca Records, producer Norman Petty wanted Bubby Holly to come up with a name for his three piece group. They hoped that Decca wouldn't recognize the singer's voice as one that they once had under contract. Inspired by one of Buddy's favorite groups, The Spiders, Holly, Jerry Allison and Niki Sullivan got out an encyclopedia and started looking at insects. Grasshopper was dismissed immediately, but they did give some consideration to beetles. Finally, it was Allison who suggested crickets, noting that "they make music by rubbing their legs together."
CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH
While still trying to decide on a name for the new group, the trio considered calling themselves The Frozen Noses as a vague reference to their growing cocaine habit. They also came close to including their drummer, Dallas Taylor, but decided that drummers were expendable.
THE CYRCLE
In 1963, a band called the Rhondells was brought to the attention of Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. Rumor has it that it was John Lennon who suggested the new name and attention getting spelling of "The Cyrkle".
DEEP PURPLE
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother liked the Bing Crosby song "Deep Purple".
DEF LEPPARD
Inspired by a drawing Joe Elliot made of a leopard with no ears, a 'Deaf Leopard'.
JOHN DENVER
John Henry Deutschendorf adopted the stage surname "Denver" in tribute to the Rocky Mountain area he so cherished.
DION AND THE BELMONTS
Dion DiMucci and his friends named their group The Belmonts after a street in their Bronx, New York neighborhood, where they would hang out & sing street corner harmonies.
DIRE STRAITS
Their name describes the financial situation they were in when forming the band.
FATS DOMINO
Antoine "Fats" Domino came by his nickname because he stood 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 225 lb.
DOOBIE BROTHERS
Tom Johnston says that the band, originally known as Pud, were sitting around a breakfast table when a friend who was not part of the band said "why don’t you call yourselves the doobie brothers". The guy was just kidding and that they all took it that way, but later on someone said "hey, that’s not such a bad idea" and the name stuck.
DOORS
From a William Blake quote 'If the doors of perception were to be cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite'. The Doors were originally called the Psychedelic Rangers.
DOVELLS
In December, 1960, a vocal group called The Brooktones signed with Cameo / Parkway Records, who suggested they change their name to the Deauvilles (after the Deuville Hotel in Miami Beach). The boys didn't object to the new name, but thought it was too hard to spell and changed it to the Dovells.
BOB DYLAN
Robert Zimmerman was a big fan of poet Dylan Thomas.
EAGLES
Inspired by the Byrds, who were a big influence on the Eagles. They started out as the Teen Kings and later, the Emergencies.
EARTH, WIND and FIRE
Originally called the Salty Peppers, the group recorded for Capitol for a couple of years without drawing much notice. In 1971 they signed with Warner Brothers and renamed themselves Earth, Wind and Fire after the elements in the astrological chart.
ELTON JOHN
Reginald Dwight took his stage name from two other British musicians, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
ENGLAND DAN and JOHN FORD COLEY
John Colley and Dan Seals originally billed themselves as "Colley and Wayland", (Seals' middle name). That didn't quite work, and it was Dan's brother, Jim Seals, who suggested they incorporate Dan's childhood nickname, "England Dan". It was a reference to the fact that, as a youngster, Dan had fixated on the Beatles and briefly affected an English accent.
FIVE AMERICANS
With the onslaught of the "British Invasion" by bands with strange sounding names, the group decided that they were not bugs or beasts of any kind, they were simply, Five Americans.
FLEETWOOD MAC
A combination of the last names of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.
FOGHAT
When interviewer Gary James asked drummer Roger Earl: "Is there a significance to the band's name?" Earl had this to say: "No real significance. Lonesome Dave (Peverett) threw out the name when he was like twelve or thirteen. He was playing like kind of a scrabble game with his brother and Dave came up with a name and insisted it was a name. Dave eventually was right. We were on our way into the studio to do the artwork for the first album and we didn't have a title for the band. So, we had to decide. ©
FOREIGNER
British guitarist Mick Jones started the band in New York. Since he was a foreigner, he chose that for the name.
THE FOUNDATIONS
Before they brought us "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup", the band selected the name The Foundations based on their surroundings, a rehearsal space in the basement of a coffee shop in Bayswater, England.
FOUR SEASONS
A band called the Varietones auditioned to appear at a local bowling alley, but were turned down flat. Instead of just walking away, they adopted the name of the place and became The Four Seasons.
GENESIS
The first book in the Bible. The name was part of their first album title 'From Genesis to Revelation', which was suggested by their original manager, Jonathan King.
GRATEFUL DEAD
Refers to a series of Old English folk tales with the same basic theme. A traveler enters a village and finds the villagers desecrating, or refusing to bury the body of a dead man because he died owing creditors money. The traveler pays the dead man's debts and sees to a decent burial. Later in his travels, the man is saved by a mysterious event, which is credited to the dead man's grateful spirit. Hence, the Grateful Dead. The band was originally the Warlocks, and picked Grateful Dead out of a dictionary after realizing there was another band called the Warlocks.
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
The band named themselves "Grand Funk Railroad" after a Michigan landmark, The Grand Trunk Railroad.
GUESS WHO
When George Struth of Quality Records heard the band's version of "Shakin' All Over", he feared that the effort would be lost in the flood of British records and came up with a plan to garner some interest by radio program directors. A number of promotional copies were pressed with just a plain white label, the song tile and the words 'Guess Who?', implying that the disc may have been the product of someone more famous.
HERMAN'S HERMITS
In 1963, Peter Noone joined a Manchester beat group called The Heartbeats, after their vocalist failed to show for a gig. On stage, Peter used the name Peter Kovak. The change to Herman came after the band remarked on his resemblance to the character Sherman in the TV cartoon 'The Bullwinkle Show', although he misheard the name as Herman. Soon after, the band changed their name to Herman and The Hermits, although it soon became abbreviated to Herman's Hermits.
THE HOLLIES
According to those close to the band, they chose the name from some Christmas holly decorating Graham Nash's house - not in homage to Buddy Holly, as a long time rumor has it.
THE HUES CORPORATION
According to group member Bernard St. Clair Lee, the band wanted a name that would make people think of money and when you think of Howard Hughes, you think of money. When their manager Wally Holmes went to a lawyer, he said 'you can't spell it that way. You have to come up with a different spelling.' So Holmes came up with "Hues", which means the color hue.
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Gordon Mills was a clever manager and promoter who knew that a performer had to call attention to himself in any way possible. His idea for singer Gerry Dorsey, was to change his name to something that people would remember. He convinced Gerry that an audience would never forget the name "Englebert Humperdinck", the name of the Austrian composer who wrote "Hansel and Gretel".
JANIS IAN
Rather than using her real name, Janis Eddy Fink, she uses her brother's middle name, Ian.
TOM JONES
After Gordon Mills became Thomas Jones Woodward's manager, he took advantage of the free publicity generated by a hit movie that was in theatres at the time, and changed his stage name to "Tom Jones".
IRON MAIDEN
Named after a medieval torture device. It was a box big enough to admit a man, with folding-doors which were studded with sharp iron spikes. When the doors were closed, these spikes were forced into the body of the victim, who was left there to die in horrible torture.
THE JAGGERZ
The band that gave us "The Rapper" in 1970 did not take their name from The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, as some have reported. The band thought up their name while on location for a photo shoot in the woods. They noticed that little briars were sticking to their clothing and in the Pittsburgh area, these little burrs are known as "jaggerz". After someone suggested the name, they wrote it out a couple of times and agreed to use it as their new moniker.
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Inspired by the blues player Blind Lemon Jefferson and the name of a friend's dog.
JETHRO TULL
Named after a British farmer from the 1800's who invented the precursor to the modern plow.
JUDAS PRIEST
Taken from the Bob Dylan tune "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest".
KING CRIMSON
Their original lyricist, Peter Sinfield, thought of it as a synonym for Beelzebub, which is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'. Beelzebub was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels.
KISS
According to Paul Stanley, Kiss was a momentary inspiration that sounded dangerous and sexy at the same time. Band members deny the rumor that the name stands for 'Knights In Satan's Service'.
LED ZEPPELIN
The Yardbirds were just wrapping up their final US tour before splitting up. Guitarist Jimmy Page was determined to keep the act going, renaming a new line-up The New Yardbirds. Keith Moon of The Who is rumored to have said "...it'll probably go over like a led zeppelin", thus inspiring the final name change. The 'Led' spelling was to make sure people pronounced the name right.
LITTLE EVA
Eva Boyd, who gave us "The Loco-Motion" in 1962, explained how she got her stage name:
"I had an aunt called Eva, so she was Big Eva and I was Little Eva".
LITTLE RICHARD
When Richard Penniman was asked how he came by his stage name, he said that in his childhood neighbourhood, there were only two nicknames used, 'lil and bro. That's when he became Little Richard.
LOBO
Roland Kent LaVoie recorded a song called "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" in 1971. Sensing the song's hit potential, but also wary of succumbing to one-hit-wonder novelty status, Lavoie adopted the name "Lobo", which means Wolf in Spanish.
LOVIN' SPOONFUL
From the lyrics of John Hurt's "Coffee Blues". It's also slang for sperm.
LULU
Marie McDonald McLaughlin was about to enroll in hairdressing school when she met and joined a six-piece band called The Gleneagles. As their spunky lead singer, she quickly became the focal point of the group. Their manager took to referring to her as "a lulu of a kid", and eventually that stuck as a more distinctive stage name.
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
Named after Robert E. Lee High school gym coach, Leonard Skinner, who punished founding members Gary Rossington and Bob Burns several times for breaking the school's strict dress code, which did not allow boys to have long hair touching the collar or sideburns below the ears. Earlier band names were 'Noble Five' and 'One Percent'.
MC5
An acronym for the Detroit band, 'Motor City Five'.
MEATLOAF
The man with one of the most colorful stage names in show business was born Marvin Lee Aday. Over the years, he has given several different stories on how he got his nickname. The most common one is that he stepped on the foot of his high school football coach, who, instead of cursing, shouted 'Meat Loaf!'.
METALLICA
Drummer, Lars Ulrich was helping a friend think of a name for a metal fan magazine. The publication chose 'Metal Mania' and Lars kept Metallica, which was one of the suggestions.
WAYNE FONTANA & THE MINDBENDERS
Glyn Geoffrey Ellis rechristened himself Wayne Fontana after Elvis Presley's drummer, DJ Fontana. The band took its name from Dirk Boarded's 1962 British horror movie, The Mindbenders.
MOODY BLUES
The band originally called themselves the M&B 5, because they wanted to perform in a Birmingham brewery called 'Mitchell's Bottlery.' The building had a big 'MB'. When that didn't work, they changed names, using one member's favorite song, Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo'.
MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Originally just called the Mothers (short for Mother****ers). Their record label persuaded them to add 'of Invention'.
MOTLEY CRUE
The band took their name after a friend remarked, "What a motley looking crew."
NAZARETH
The group who gave us "Love Hurts" in 1976 took their name from the first line of The Band's classic song "The Weight" ("I pulled into Nazareth / Was feelin' 'bout half past dead.")
THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS
The New Christy Minstrels took their name from Christy's Minstrels, a performing group founded by Edwin Pearce Christy (1815 - 1862). In the 1840s, Christy, a Philadelphia-born showman, organized an ensemble of white performers in blackface that sang Negro spirituals and contemporary popular songs with great success all over the United States and England.
THE O'JAYS
Named after the Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, who helped the band out in their early days. They were originally called the Mascots.
GILBERT O'SULLIVAN
Just as he had done for Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck, manager Gordon Mills saw the need for a clever name for his newfound talent. Playing off Ray O'Sullivan's last name and the playwriting team of Gilbert and Sullivan, the name Gilbert O'Sullivan seemed a natural choice. Ray hated it, but agreed that, when it came to marketing, Mills knew best.
OUTSIDERS
After auditioning a song called "Time Won't Let Me", a Cleveland area group called The Starfires was signed by Capitol Records, but the label insisted that the band take a new name. Guitarist Tom King had been forced to abandon Pama Records, the label for which the Starfires had cut a dozen tunes and was owned by his uncle, who then accused his nephew of being an "outsider" to the family.
PAPER LACE
The Nottingham, England group who reached the top of the Billboard Pop chart in 1974 with "The Night Chicago Died" took their name from lace products created from a special grade of high quality paper manufactured in their hometown.
COLONEL TOM PARKER
Andreas Cornelius van Kujik changed his name to Thomas Andrew Parker after he came to the United States from Holland in 1927. In the late 1940s, he began a successful career as a music promoter and persuaded an aide to Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis to have him made an honorary Louisiana Colonel.
PEARL JAM
According to lead singer, Eddie Vedder, "The name is in reference to the pearl itself... and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful."
PINK FLOYD
This British band used various names, including "The Meggadeaths", "the T-Set" and "the Screaming Abdabs", before settling on "The Pink Floyd Sound", inspired by American blues artists, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The name was later shortened to just Pink Floyd.
THE PIPS
It was at a family birthday party that Gladys Knight, her brother Merald, their sister Brenda, and two cousins - William and Elenor Guest - first sang together as a quintet. Another cousin present, James 'Pip' Woods, suggested they sing together professionally. Taking his advice, they hired him as their manager and called themselves The Pips in his honor. (later on, it was said to stand for "Perfection In Performance").
THE PLATTERS
The group began as an all male quartet in 1953, calling themselves "The Platters" after the nickname used in those days for vinyl records.
IGGY POP
In his biography, Gimme Danger, Iggy says the name came from one of his early bands, the Iguanas. When he formed The Stooges, their management billed him as Iggy Stooge, but Iggy wasn't too keen on it and changed it to Iggy Pop, reasoning that Pop has a kind of energy to it.
POCO
After building up an local following as "Pogo", (with a "g") they were forced to change their moniker, which they had openly pilfered from Walt Kelly's comic strip of the same name, when Kelly filed suit. They settled on "Poco" because it sounded like the original name that fans had come to know.
PROCOL HARUM
Originally called The Paramounts, their manager wanted a name change and came up with 'Procul Harun', which was the Pedigree name of a cat of a friend of his. In Latin, it means 'beyond these things'. The band mis-heard the name over the phone and spelled it 'Procol Harum'.
QUEEN
Freddie Mercury liked the name for the transvestite connotation and the glamorous image of Queens in royalty.
QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS
Bassist Larry Borjas came up with the name after watching a Japanese sci-fi movie on television. The film, "The Mysterians" is about invaders who try to take over Earth after their own planet has been destroyed.
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
Some of the band members were interested in astrology and noted that a few of them were born under the House of Mercury. As Mercury is the name for both the messenger of the gods and the liquid metal, the latter of which is also called quicksilver, Quicksilver Messenger Service was chosen.
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS
In late 1960, a keyboard player named Revere Dick took his band to a small recording studio, where they cut a half dozen tracks and began shopping them around. In early 1961, he landed at the Gardena Records pressing plant of John Guss, who not only agreed to cut a record from Revere's tape, but suggested a name change to Paul Revere and the Nightriders. Revere rejected the name, but later settled on Paul Revere and the Raiders.
RAMONES
In honor of Paul McCartney, who, early in his career, used to call himself Paul Ramone. The members of the band all used the last name Ramone, even though it's not their given name.
RARE EARTH
After years of playing in local clubs and releasing unspectacular records on MGM, Hercules, Golden World and Verve, a band called the Sunliners caught the ear of session-man Dennis Coffey, who recommended them to his bosses at Motown Records. The group signed with the label in 1969 and in a brilliant marketing move by Motown executives, it was decided to match the band's name with their new record label: "Rare Earth".
R.E.M
'Rapid Eye Movement' is a state of sleep.
REO SPEEDWAGON
Reo Speedwagon was a model name for a line of trucks built by REO Motors Corporation of Lansing Michigan. REO is derived from the initials of Ransom Ely Olds, who left Oldsmobile, the company he founded, to form REO in 1905.
RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
While still known as the Paramours, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were trying to come up with a new name for their act when they remembered the night they sang in front of a group of U.S. Marines. After their set, one of the Marines shouted out, "that's righteous brothers!" and the name stuck.
ROLLING STONES
From the Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone". The name was suggested by guitarist, Brian Jones.
RUSH
They were rushing to think up a name before their first gig, and John Rustey's older brother yelled, "Why don't you call your band Rush?".
BOBBY RYDELL
Bobby Rydell got his stage name from Philadelphia TV show host, Paul Whiteman, who wanted to have Bobby on his show, but had trouble pronouncing his real name, Robert Ridarelli.
MITCH RIDER
William Levise Jr. was using the stage name, Billy Lee, with a band called the Rivieras. As they started to play bigger and better venues, the group realized their name was in conflict with The Rivieras who recorded "California Sun". While the band became The Detroit Wheels, Levise flipped through the Manhattan phone directory and came across the name Mitch Ryder, and took the name that he has used ever since.
SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOHS
In the early sixties, Domingo Samudio was playing in a band called "Andy and the Night Riders". When leader Andy Anderson left the group a short time later, Domingo took control of the band, and decided to re-name it. "By that time, everyone was calling me 'Sam', short for Samudio," said Domingo, "and what I was doing, fronting the band and cutting up was called 'shamming'. We got the rest of the name from the movie 'The Ten Commandments'. Old Ramses, the King of Egypt, looked pretty cool, so we decided to become The Pharaohs."
BOZ SCAGGS
While attending St. Mark's academy in Dallas, William Royce Scaggs picked up the nickname "Bosley" by someone who kept addressing him that way. As time passed, William became known simply as Boz.
THE SEARCHERS
This popular English band was the second group from Liverpool after the Beatles to have a hit in America when "Needles And Pins" charted during the first week of March, 1964. They took their name from the classic 1956 John Wayne western, The Searchers.
SEX PISTOLS
Manager, Malcolm Mclaren came up with the name. It was inspired by his punk clothing shop called 'Sex'.
SHADOWS OF KNIGHT
A rock band called The Shadows, whose members attended Chicago's Prospect High School, had just made their first recordings when record company executives advised them that they would need to change their name, to avoid being confused with Cliff Richards' back-up band. The company suggested The Tyme, which the band hated and refused to use because they had already built up a large local following as The Shadows. Just before the record label was printed, singer Jimy Sohns suggested The Shadows of Knight, because it sounded British. He would later say that it never dawned on him that the Prospect High School teams were called The Knights.
DEL SHANNON
While working a day job as a carpet salesman, Charles Westover managed to join a country-rock band at the Hi-Lo Club in Battle Creek, Michigan. A club regular had dreams of becoming a famous wrestler as Mark Shannon. Liking the name Shannon, Westover borrowed the surname and derived Del from his favourite make of car, the Cadillac Coupe DeVille. "DeVille, Del, that's where I got it from," Shannon explained to Dick Clark, "Could you imagine myself walking on stage and being introduced: 'Ladies and gentlemen, Charles Westover!' It had no ammunition."
THE SHONDELLS
After meeting a singer named Troy Shondell, twelve year old Tommy James named his very first band The Shondells. When asked about it years later, he said "It just sounded like the right name. I found out later it meant some kind of airplane maneuver or something."
SHIRELLES
After signing with Tiara Records, a vocal quartet known as the 'Poquellos' realized they needed a name that was easier to pronounce. At first they chose 'the Honeytones', then in a vague reference to their lead singer, Shirley Owens, settled on 'the Shirelles'.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
According to his official web site, Sylvester Stewart came by the nickname Sly around the time he was in the fifth grade. During a school spelling bee, one of his classmates accidentally inverted the "y" and the "l" and Syl became Sly. The kids teased and the name stuck. The "Family Stone" came from the fact that Sly, his sister Rosie and brother Freddie all adopted the stage name "Stone" when they formed their new band.
SPANDAU BALLET
Originally called 'The Makers', the band changed their name after a visit to Berlin where one of their roadies saw some graffiti referring to Spandau Prison. Supposedly, there were many hangings there, in which the victims would twitch and jump at the end of a rope...hence, doing the "Spandau Ballet."
SPANKY AND OUR GANG
Lead singer Elaine McFarlane came by the nickname "Spanky" because band members noticed her resemblance to George "Spanky" McFarland of the Little Rascals / Our Gang comedy series. They originally took the name as a joke, but as their popularity grew, it stuck.
STANDELLS
This L.A. based band, who scored a mid-sixties hit with "Dirty Water", say their name was derived from standing around agents' offices, pleading for work.
STEELY DAN
Named after a dildo in the William Burroughs novel 'Naked Lunch'. According to Burroughs, the Steely Dan was a metal dildo that an evil German bulldyke prostitute crushed using her nether regions.
STEPPENWOLF
The band was originally called 'Sparrow', until lead singer John Kay came up the new name after being inspired by a novel by cult author Herman Hesse.
STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
According to bassist George Bunnell, this most unusual name came about when the band was sitting around trying to think of a new name. They wanted to include the word Strawberry, which was inspired by the Beatle's tune, "Strawberry Fields Forever". The band was rehearsing in the guest house that belonged to the parents of keyboard player Mark Weitz. When everything was real quiet, after they thought of a bunch of names and they were all thrown out, everybody was kind of silently thinking. "The only thing you could hear was that alarm clock making some kind of whacky noise 'cause it was semi-broken. And they all looked at it at the same time really, and that's where it came about."
STYX
After the mythical river, Styx, that people crossed over to go into Hell.
SUPERTRAMP
Named after a book called 'Autobiography Of A Supertramp', written by R.E. Davies in 1910.
10cc
For years, a story has circulated that the band chose the name because the average man ejaculates 9cc of sperm, making 10cc even better. But it was actually the group's manager, Jonathan King, who came up with the unusual name after he dreamed that a band he managed called 10cc had the number one album and single simultaneously in America. For the record, the average man ejaculates 3cc of sperm.
TAVARES
Originally named Chubby and the Turnpikes, the group started using the last name of the band members, Ralph, Arthur, Antone, Feliciano and Perry Tavares as The Tavares Brothers before shorting the name.
THREE DOG NIGHT
While trying to think of a name that would show that the band had three lead singers, they nearly settled on 'Tricycle', until singer Danny Hutton's girlfriend came up with a suggestion. She had read a magazine article about the Australian aborigines, who on cold nights, would sleep beside their dogs for warmth. The very coldest weather was called a "three dog night".
TOMMY TUTONE
The band who gave us "867-5309 / Jenny" took its name from the nickname of lead singer, Tommy Heath.
THE TROGGS
According to the band's lead singer, Reg Presley, they wanted an "earthy name" like The Stones. Troggs is an abbreviation of the word troglodyte, a mythical cave dweller.
THE TURTLES
In 1965, a Los Angeles group called the Crossfires changed their name to the Tyrtles as an unveiled homage to the Byrds, but soon amended the spelling.
U2
Although the U2 is a type of spy plane that was used by the United States, Bono explained that U2 grew out of thoughts of interactivity with the audience.... as in 'you too.'
URIAH HEEP
After using several names during their developing years, manager Gerry Bron suggested "Uriah Heep", based on the 'horrible little character from Charles Dickens' novel, "David Copperfield".
VELVET UNDERGROUND
The name of an S&M magazine that a band member found on a sidewalk in New York.
VILLAGE PEOPLE
As all of the group members had been recruited from Greenwich Village, their manager, Jacques Morali, decided to call them "The Village People".
WHAM!
After meeting in a band called "Executive", George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley said they named their duo Wham! because wanted to make a loud impact in the music business.
WHO
While taking suggestions for a new name, someone noticed that the band members were already so hard of hearing that they kept saying, "The who?"
WINGS
Paul McCartney thought of the name while waiting in a hospital wing for Linda to give birth to one of their children.
YES
While the group members searched for an appropriate name, guitarist Peter Banks suggested they called the group Yes, a very short and positive word. The others agreed that the name was not meant to be permanent, but just a temporary solution.
YOUNGBLOODS
Jesse Colin Young got his start as a solo act on the folk circuits of Boston and New York, and had already cut a couple of unsuccessful albums before deciding to form a band with guitarist Jerry Corbitt. As they evolved into a quartet, they took the name 'Youngbloods' from Young's second solo album.
YOUNG RASCALS
The group's name was inspired by the 1920's "Our Gang" films - known later on television as The Little Rascals.
ZZ TOP
According to guitarist Billy Gibbons, their odd name came from one or more of the following - two brands of cigarette rolling paper, Zig-Zag and Top, - a tribute to blues legend Z.Z. Hill - or Gibbons seeing the two words running together on a dilapidated billboard.
came up with their stage names
ABBA
An acronym for the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.
AC/DC
A band member saw AC/DC on a sewing machine. It stood for 'Alternating Current / Direct Current'. The band didn't realize it was also slang for bi-sexual, which caused a few misunderstandings in their early days.
AEROSMITH
Taken from the 1925 book, 'Arrowsmith' by Sinclair Lewis.
AMBOY DUKES
Guitarist, Ted Nugent took the name from a Detroit group who had just broken up and started using it for his new Chicago band. 'The Amboy Dukes' was actually the name of a novel about gang members and their lifestyle. In later interviews, Nugent said that although many people have given him a copy of the book, he has never actually read it.
ASSOCIATION
After breaking away from a thirteen member band called "The Men", someone suggested a name for their new group, "The Aristocrats". Singer-songwriter Terry Kirkman's wife went to the dictionary to look up the word for them and found a better name on the very same page..."The Association".
BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE
A combination of band members' last names and the trucker's magazine 'Overdrive'. The band was originally called Brave Belt, then Bachman-Turner, then the final name.
BAD COMPANY
Taken from a 1972 movie starring Jeff Bridges.
BADFINGER
The working title of the Beatles song "A Little Help From My Friends".
BAY CITY ROLLERS
While searching for a name, they blindly stuck a pin on a map. It landed on Bay City, Michigan.
BEATLES
Original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe came up with the Beetles in 1960, which was a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. John Lennon is generally credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with the Beatles spelling.
BEAU BRUMMELS
The San Francisco area group took the name Beau Brummels in deference to their love of British beat music. Beau Brummel was a dashing young Englishman who lived from 1778-1840 and was known for his wit and fancy clothes.
BEE GEES
Although the press often refers to them as the 'Brothers Gibb', the band said that they took their name from two friends that helped them out in their early days... Bill Goode and a disc jockey named Bill Gates.
BLACK SABBATH
Named after a 1963 horror movie starring Boris Karloff.
CILLA BLACK
British singer Cilla Black, best remembered for her number one U.K hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart", had her stage name changed by accident. A reporter for the local paper remembered the wrong color as her surname while writing a favorable review. Her real name is Cilla White.
BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
Founder, Al Kooper came up with the name when he was on the phone with a promoter, while gazing at a Johnny Cash album cover. The album was called, "Blood Sweat & Tears". The inspiration for the band name did not come from Winston Churchill's quote, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat", as was widely reported when the band first started to gain attention in 1967.
BLUE CHEER
Blue Cheer was a 60's nickname for high-quality LSD.
BLUE OYSTER CULT
A combination of a recipe that the band's manager read in a book and the band's fascination with the occult.
GARY U.S. BONDS
For his first hit, "New Orleans", attention was brought to the record by having promotional copies sent to radio stations in sleeves inscribed "Buy U.S. Bonds" - hence at age 19, Gary Anderson became Gary U.S. Bonds.
BONO
U2's lead singer, Paul Hewson was inspired by a hearing aid store in Dublin, Ireland called 'Bono Vox'.
BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S
Keyboard player Booker T. Jones led the band. M.G. stands for Memphis Group.
THE BIG BOPPER
Disc Jockey, Jiles Perry Richardson took the name 'The Big Bopper' in reference to his 240 pound frame. In the 1950s, a bopper was someone who was really into rock and roll.
DAVID BOWIE
David took his last name from the Bowie knife ("that big old bear killin' knife"). His given name is 'David Jones', but he didn't want to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
THE BUCKINGHAMS
As The Pulsations, the band auditioned for a Chicago TV variety show called All Time Hits, but were turned down because they "weren't British enough". They later re-auditioned using the name The Buckinghams and appeared on the show for nearly 17 weeks.
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
The band took their name from a brand of heavy asphalt roller they saw while stuck in Los Angeles traffic.
THE BYRDS
A band called the Beefeaters was having Thanksgiving dinner when they tried coming up with a new name. Singer, Gene Clark offered "The Birdsies." Nobody liked that name and producer Jim Dickson said, "How about the Birds"? "Birds" was slang in England for girls and the band didn't want to be called "the Girls". Guitarist, Roger McGuinn came up with the B-Y-R-D-S spelling, and it stuck.
RAY CHARLES
His real name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he did not want to be confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
CANNIBAL AND THE HEADHUNTERS
Around 1964, a Los Angeles group called Bobby and the Classics brought in a new lead singer named Frankie Garcia who had earned the nickname "Cannibal" after he had bitten someone during a street fight in his younger days. After changing their name to Cannibal and the Headhunters, the group would go on to score a US Top 30 hit with "Land Of 1000 Dances".
CHEAP TRICK
They claim they asked a Ouija board what they should call their band.
CHUBBY CHECKER
During a recording session, the wife of producer Dick Clark asked Ernest Evans what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me Chubby". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words got an instant laugh and from then on, Ernest Evans would use the name "Chubby Checker".
CHICAGO
Their first album was released as 'Chicago Transit Authority', but after the city of Chicago threatened to sue them, the name was shortened.
CLASH
Taken from a newspaper headline describing 'A Clash With Police'
COMMODORES
In 1967, at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, six students decided to merge two local bands, "the Mystics" and "the Jays". Legend has it, that one of the group members tossed a dictionary into the air, and when it landed, pointed to a random word on the page it opened to. The word was "Commodores".
ALICE COOPER
The band say the name was spelled out by their Ouija Board. After they split up, lead singer Vincent Furnier started using it as a solo act.
ELVIS COSTELLO
He combined Elvis Presley and Lou Costello.
CREEDANCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
Originally called The Golliwogs, unconfirmed reports say the band took their new name from Norvel Creedence, a friend of band leader John Fogerty. John's favorite beer was called Clearwater, which, after it disappeared from the market for a time, was re-introduced by another brewery. The result: Creedence Clearwater Revival.
THE CRICKETS
After learning that he was unable to re-record "That'll Be The Day" because of earlier contract obligations with Decca Records, producer Norman Petty wanted Bubby Holly to come up with a name for his three piece group. They hoped that Decca wouldn't recognize the singer's voice as one that they once had under contract. Inspired by one of Buddy's favorite groups, The Spiders, Holly, Jerry Allison and Niki Sullivan got out an encyclopedia and started looking at insects. Grasshopper was dismissed immediately, but they did give some consideration to beetles. Finally, it was Allison who suggested crickets, noting that "they make music by rubbing their legs together."
CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH
While still trying to decide on a name for the new group, the trio considered calling themselves The Frozen Noses as a vague reference to their growing cocaine habit. They also came close to including their drummer, Dallas Taylor, but decided that drummers were expendable.
THE CYRCLE
In 1963, a band called the Rhondells was brought to the attention of Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. Rumor has it that it was John Lennon who suggested the new name and attention getting spelling of "The Cyrkle".
DEEP PURPLE
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother liked the Bing Crosby song "Deep Purple".
DEF LEPPARD
Inspired by a drawing Joe Elliot made of a leopard with no ears, a 'Deaf Leopard'.
JOHN DENVER
John Henry Deutschendorf adopted the stage surname "Denver" in tribute to the Rocky Mountain area he so cherished.
DION AND THE BELMONTS
Dion DiMucci and his friends named their group The Belmonts after a street in their Bronx, New York neighborhood, where they would hang out & sing street corner harmonies.
DIRE STRAITS
Their name describes the financial situation they were in when forming the band.
FATS DOMINO
Antoine "Fats" Domino came by his nickname because he stood 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 225 lb.
DOOBIE BROTHERS
Tom Johnston says that the band, originally known as Pud, were sitting around a breakfast table when a friend who was not part of the band said "why don’t you call yourselves the doobie brothers". The guy was just kidding and that they all took it that way, but later on someone said "hey, that’s not such a bad idea" and the name stuck.
DOORS
From a William Blake quote 'If the doors of perception were to be cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite'. The Doors were originally called the Psychedelic Rangers.
DOVELLS
In December, 1960, a vocal group called The Brooktones signed with Cameo / Parkway Records, who suggested they change their name to the Deauvilles (after the Deuville Hotel in Miami Beach). The boys didn't object to the new name, but thought it was too hard to spell and changed it to the Dovells.
BOB DYLAN
Robert Zimmerman was a big fan of poet Dylan Thomas.
EAGLES
Inspired by the Byrds, who were a big influence on the Eagles. They started out as the Teen Kings and later, the Emergencies.
EARTH, WIND and FIRE
Originally called the Salty Peppers, the group recorded for Capitol for a couple of years without drawing much notice. In 1971 they signed with Warner Brothers and renamed themselves Earth, Wind and Fire after the elements in the astrological chart.
ELTON JOHN
Reginald Dwight took his stage name from two other British musicians, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
ENGLAND DAN and JOHN FORD COLEY
John Colley and Dan Seals originally billed themselves as "Colley and Wayland", (Seals' middle name). That didn't quite work, and it was Dan's brother, Jim Seals, who suggested they incorporate Dan's childhood nickname, "England Dan". It was a reference to the fact that, as a youngster, Dan had fixated on the Beatles and briefly affected an English accent.
FIVE AMERICANS
With the onslaught of the "British Invasion" by bands with strange sounding names, the group decided that they were not bugs or beasts of any kind, they were simply, Five Americans.
FLEETWOOD MAC
A combination of the last names of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.
FOGHAT
When interviewer Gary James asked drummer Roger Earl: "Is there a significance to the band's name?" Earl had this to say: "No real significance. Lonesome Dave (Peverett) threw out the name when he was like twelve or thirteen. He was playing like kind of a scrabble game with his brother and Dave came up with a name and insisted it was a name. Dave eventually was right. We were on our way into the studio to do the artwork for the first album and we didn't have a title for the band. So, we had to decide. ©
FOREIGNER
British guitarist Mick Jones started the band in New York. Since he was a foreigner, he chose that for the name.
THE FOUNDATIONS
Before they brought us "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup", the band selected the name The Foundations based on their surroundings, a rehearsal space in the basement of a coffee shop in Bayswater, England.
FOUR SEASONS
A band called the Varietones auditioned to appear at a local bowling alley, but were turned down flat. Instead of just walking away, they adopted the name of the place and became The Four Seasons.
GENESIS
The first book in the Bible. The name was part of their first album title 'From Genesis to Revelation', which was suggested by their original manager, Jonathan King.
GRATEFUL DEAD
Refers to a series of Old English folk tales with the same basic theme. A traveler enters a village and finds the villagers desecrating, or refusing to bury the body of a dead man because he died owing creditors money. The traveler pays the dead man's debts and sees to a decent burial. Later in his travels, the man is saved by a mysterious event, which is credited to the dead man's grateful spirit. Hence, the Grateful Dead. The band was originally the Warlocks, and picked Grateful Dead out of a dictionary after realizing there was another band called the Warlocks.
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
The band named themselves "Grand Funk Railroad" after a Michigan landmark, The Grand Trunk Railroad.
GUESS WHO
When George Struth of Quality Records heard the band's version of "Shakin' All Over", he feared that the effort would be lost in the flood of British records and came up with a plan to garner some interest by radio program directors. A number of promotional copies were pressed with just a plain white label, the song tile and the words 'Guess Who?', implying that the disc may have been the product of someone more famous.
HERMAN'S HERMITS
In 1963, Peter Noone joined a Manchester beat group called The Heartbeats, after their vocalist failed to show for a gig. On stage, Peter used the name Peter Kovak. The change to Herman came after the band remarked on his resemblance to the character Sherman in the TV cartoon 'The Bullwinkle Show', although he misheard the name as Herman. Soon after, the band changed their name to Herman and The Hermits, although it soon became abbreviated to Herman's Hermits.
THE HOLLIES
According to those close to the band, they chose the name from some Christmas holly decorating Graham Nash's house - not in homage to Buddy Holly, as a long time rumor has it.
THE HUES CORPORATION
According to group member Bernard St. Clair Lee, the band wanted a name that would make people think of money and when you think of Howard Hughes, you think of money. When their manager Wally Holmes went to a lawyer, he said 'you can't spell it that way. You have to come up with a different spelling.' So Holmes came up with "Hues", which means the color hue.
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Gordon Mills was a clever manager and promoter who knew that a performer had to call attention to himself in any way possible. His idea for singer Gerry Dorsey, was to change his name to something that people would remember. He convinced Gerry that an audience would never forget the name "Englebert Humperdinck", the name of the Austrian composer who wrote "Hansel and Gretel".
JANIS IAN
Rather than using her real name, Janis Eddy Fink, she uses her brother's middle name, Ian.
TOM JONES
After Gordon Mills became Thomas Jones Woodward's manager, he took advantage of the free publicity generated by a hit movie that was in theatres at the time, and changed his stage name to "Tom Jones".
IRON MAIDEN
Named after a medieval torture device. It was a box big enough to admit a man, with folding-doors which were studded with sharp iron spikes. When the doors were closed, these spikes were forced into the body of the victim, who was left there to die in horrible torture.
THE JAGGERZ
The band that gave us "The Rapper" in 1970 did not take their name from The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, as some have reported. The band thought up their name while on location for a photo shoot in the woods. They noticed that little briars were sticking to their clothing and in the Pittsburgh area, these little burrs are known as "jaggerz". After someone suggested the name, they wrote it out a couple of times and agreed to use it as their new moniker.
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Inspired by the blues player Blind Lemon Jefferson and the name of a friend's dog.
JETHRO TULL
Named after a British farmer from the 1800's who invented the precursor to the modern plow.
JUDAS PRIEST
Taken from the Bob Dylan tune "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest".
KING CRIMSON
Their original lyricist, Peter Sinfield, thought of it as a synonym for Beelzebub, which is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'. Beelzebub was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels.
KISS
According to Paul Stanley, Kiss was a momentary inspiration that sounded dangerous and sexy at the same time. Band members deny the rumor that the name stands for 'Knights In Satan's Service'.
LED ZEPPELIN
The Yardbirds were just wrapping up their final US tour before splitting up. Guitarist Jimmy Page was determined to keep the act going, renaming a new line-up The New Yardbirds. Keith Moon of The Who is rumored to have said "...it'll probably go over like a led zeppelin", thus inspiring the final name change. The 'Led' spelling was to make sure people pronounced the name right.
LITTLE EVA
Eva Boyd, who gave us "The Loco-Motion" in 1962, explained how she got her stage name:
"I had an aunt called Eva, so she was Big Eva and I was Little Eva".
LITTLE RICHARD
When Richard Penniman was asked how he came by his stage name, he said that in his childhood neighbourhood, there were only two nicknames used, 'lil and bro. That's when he became Little Richard.
LOBO
Roland Kent LaVoie recorded a song called "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" in 1971. Sensing the song's hit potential, but also wary of succumbing to one-hit-wonder novelty status, Lavoie adopted the name "Lobo", which means Wolf in Spanish.
LOVIN' SPOONFUL
From the lyrics of John Hurt's "Coffee Blues". It's also slang for sperm.
LULU
Marie McDonald McLaughlin was about to enroll in hairdressing school when she met and joined a six-piece band called The Gleneagles. As their spunky lead singer, she quickly became the focal point of the group. Their manager took to referring to her as "a lulu of a kid", and eventually that stuck as a more distinctive stage name.
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
Named after Robert E. Lee High school gym coach, Leonard Skinner, who punished founding members Gary Rossington and Bob Burns several times for breaking the school's strict dress code, which did not allow boys to have long hair touching the collar or sideburns below the ears. Earlier band names were 'Noble Five' and 'One Percent'.
MC5
An acronym for the Detroit band, 'Motor City Five'.
MEATLOAF
The man with one of the most colorful stage names in show business was born Marvin Lee Aday. Over the years, he has given several different stories on how he got his nickname. The most common one is that he stepped on the foot of his high school football coach, who, instead of cursing, shouted 'Meat Loaf!'.
METALLICA
Drummer, Lars Ulrich was helping a friend think of a name for a metal fan magazine. The publication chose 'Metal Mania' and Lars kept Metallica, which was one of the suggestions.
WAYNE FONTANA & THE MINDBENDERS
Glyn Geoffrey Ellis rechristened himself Wayne Fontana after Elvis Presley's drummer, DJ Fontana. The band took its name from Dirk Boarded's 1962 British horror movie, The Mindbenders.
MOODY BLUES
The band originally called themselves the M&B 5, because they wanted to perform in a Birmingham brewery called 'Mitchell's Bottlery.' The building had a big 'MB'. When that didn't work, they changed names, using one member's favorite song, Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo'.
MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Originally just called the Mothers (short for Mother****ers). Their record label persuaded them to add 'of Invention'.
MOTLEY CRUE
The band took their name after a friend remarked, "What a motley looking crew."
NAZARETH
The group who gave us "Love Hurts" in 1976 took their name from the first line of The Band's classic song "The Weight" ("I pulled into Nazareth / Was feelin' 'bout half past dead.")
THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS
The New Christy Minstrels took their name from Christy's Minstrels, a performing group founded by Edwin Pearce Christy (1815 - 1862). In the 1840s, Christy, a Philadelphia-born showman, organized an ensemble of white performers in blackface that sang Negro spirituals and contemporary popular songs with great success all over the United States and England.
THE O'JAYS
Named after the Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, who helped the band out in their early days. They were originally called the Mascots.
GILBERT O'SULLIVAN
Just as he had done for Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck, manager Gordon Mills saw the need for a clever name for his newfound talent. Playing off Ray O'Sullivan's last name and the playwriting team of Gilbert and Sullivan, the name Gilbert O'Sullivan seemed a natural choice. Ray hated it, but agreed that, when it came to marketing, Mills knew best.
OUTSIDERS
After auditioning a song called "Time Won't Let Me", a Cleveland area group called The Starfires was signed by Capitol Records, but the label insisted that the band take a new name. Guitarist Tom King had been forced to abandon Pama Records, the label for which the Starfires had cut a dozen tunes and was owned by his uncle, who then accused his nephew of being an "outsider" to the family.
PAPER LACE
The Nottingham, England group who reached the top of the Billboard Pop chart in 1974 with "The Night Chicago Died" took their name from lace products created from a special grade of high quality paper manufactured in their hometown.
COLONEL TOM PARKER
Andreas Cornelius van Kujik changed his name to Thomas Andrew Parker after he came to the United States from Holland in 1927. In the late 1940s, he began a successful career as a music promoter and persuaded an aide to Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis to have him made an honorary Louisiana Colonel.
PEARL JAM
According to lead singer, Eddie Vedder, "The name is in reference to the pearl itself... and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful."
PINK FLOYD
This British band used various names, including "The Meggadeaths", "the T-Set" and "the Screaming Abdabs", before settling on "The Pink Floyd Sound", inspired by American blues artists, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The name was later shortened to just Pink Floyd.
THE PIPS
It was at a family birthday party that Gladys Knight, her brother Merald, their sister Brenda, and two cousins - William and Elenor Guest - first sang together as a quintet. Another cousin present, James 'Pip' Woods, suggested they sing together professionally. Taking his advice, they hired him as their manager and called themselves The Pips in his honor. (later on, it was said to stand for "Perfection In Performance").
THE PLATTERS
The group began as an all male quartet in 1953, calling themselves "The Platters" after the nickname used in those days for vinyl records.
IGGY POP
In his biography, Gimme Danger, Iggy says the name came from one of his early bands, the Iguanas. When he formed The Stooges, their management billed him as Iggy Stooge, but Iggy wasn't too keen on it and changed it to Iggy Pop, reasoning that Pop has a kind of energy to it.
POCO
After building up an local following as "Pogo", (with a "g") they were forced to change their moniker, which they had openly pilfered from Walt Kelly's comic strip of the same name, when Kelly filed suit. They settled on "Poco" because it sounded like the original name that fans had come to know.
PROCOL HARUM
Originally called The Paramounts, their manager wanted a name change and came up with 'Procul Harun', which was the Pedigree name of a cat of a friend of his. In Latin, it means 'beyond these things'. The band mis-heard the name over the phone and spelled it 'Procol Harum'.
QUEEN
Freddie Mercury liked the name for the transvestite connotation and the glamorous image of Queens in royalty.
QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS
Bassist Larry Borjas came up with the name after watching a Japanese sci-fi movie on television. The film, "The Mysterians" is about invaders who try to take over Earth after their own planet has been destroyed.
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
Some of the band members were interested in astrology and noted that a few of them were born under the House of Mercury. As Mercury is the name for both the messenger of the gods and the liquid metal, the latter of which is also called quicksilver, Quicksilver Messenger Service was chosen.
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS
In late 1960, a keyboard player named Revere Dick took his band to a small recording studio, where they cut a half dozen tracks and began shopping them around. In early 1961, he landed at the Gardena Records pressing plant of John Guss, who not only agreed to cut a record from Revere's tape, but suggested a name change to Paul Revere and the Nightriders. Revere rejected the name, but later settled on Paul Revere and the Raiders.
RAMONES
In honor of Paul McCartney, who, early in his career, used to call himself Paul Ramone. The members of the band all used the last name Ramone, even though it's not their given name.
RARE EARTH
After years of playing in local clubs and releasing unspectacular records on MGM, Hercules, Golden World and Verve, a band called the Sunliners caught the ear of session-man Dennis Coffey, who recommended them to his bosses at Motown Records. The group signed with the label in 1969 and in a brilliant marketing move by Motown executives, it was decided to match the band's name with their new record label: "Rare Earth".
R.E.M
'Rapid Eye Movement' is a state of sleep.
REO SPEEDWAGON
Reo Speedwagon was a model name for a line of trucks built by REO Motors Corporation of Lansing Michigan. REO is derived from the initials of Ransom Ely Olds, who left Oldsmobile, the company he founded, to form REO in 1905.
RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
While still known as the Paramours, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were trying to come up with a new name for their act when they remembered the night they sang in front of a group of U.S. Marines. After their set, one of the Marines shouted out, "that's righteous brothers!" and the name stuck.
ROLLING STONES
From the Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone". The name was suggested by guitarist, Brian Jones.
RUSH
They were rushing to think up a name before their first gig, and John Rustey's older brother yelled, "Why don't you call your band Rush?".
BOBBY RYDELL
Bobby Rydell got his stage name from Philadelphia TV show host, Paul Whiteman, who wanted to have Bobby on his show, but had trouble pronouncing his real name, Robert Ridarelli.
MITCH RIDER
William Levise Jr. was using the stage name, Billy Lee, with a band called the Rivieras. As they started to play bigger and better venues, the group realized their name was in conflict with The Rivieras who recorded "California Sun". While the band became The Detroit Wheels, Levise flipped through the Manhattan phone directory and came across the name Mitch Ryder, and took the name that he has used ever since.
SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOHS
In the early sixties, Domingo Samudio was playing in a band called "Andy and the Night Riders". When leader Andy Anderson left the group a short time later, Domingo took control of the band, and decided to re-name it. "By that time, everyone was calling me 'Sam', short for Samudio," said Domingo, "and what I was doing, fronting the band and cutting up was called 'shamming'. We got the rest of the name from the movie 'The Ten Commandments'. Old Ramses, the King of Egypt, looked pretty cool, so we decided to become The Pharaohs."
BOZ SCAGGS
While attending St. Mark's academy in Dallas, William Royce Scaggs picked up the nickname "Bosley" by someone who kept addressing him that way. As time passed, William became known simply as Boz.
THE SEARCHERS
This popular English band was the second group from Liverpool after the Beatles to have a hit in America when "Needles And Pins" charted during the first week of March, 1964. They took their name from the classic 1956 John Wayne western, The Searchers.
SEX PISTOLS
Manager, Malcolm Mclaren came up with the name. It was inspired by his punk clothing shop called 'Sex'.
SHADOWS OF KNIGHT
A rock band called The Shadows, whose members attended Chicago's Prospect High School, had just made their first recordings when record company executives advised them that they would need to change their name, to avoid being confused with Cliff Richards' back-up band. The company suggested The Tyme, which the band hated and refused to use because they had already built up a large local following as The Shadows. Just before the record label was printed, singer Jimy Sohns suggested The Shadows of Knight, because it sounded British. He would later say that it never dawned on him that the Prospect High School teams were called The Knights.
DEL SHANNON
While working a day job as a carpet salesman, Charles Westover managed to join a country-rock band at the Hi-Lo Club in Battle Creek, Michigan. A club regular had dreams of becoming a famous wrestler as Mark Shannon. Liking the name Shannon, Westover borrowed the surname and derived Del from his favourite make of car, the Cadillac Coupe DeVille. "DeVille, Del, that's where I got it from," Shannon explained to Dick Clark, "Could you imagine myself walking on stage and being introduced: 'Ladies and gentlemen, Charles Westover!' It had no ammunition."
THE SHONDELLS
After meeting a singer named Troy Shondell, twelve year old Tommy James named his very first band The Shondells. When asked about it years later, he said "It just sounded like the right name. I found out later it meant some kind of airplane maneuver or something."
SHIRELLES
After signing with Tiara Records, a vocal quartet known as the 'Poquellos' realized they needed a name that was easier to pronounce. At first they chose 'the Honeytones', then in a vague reference to their lead singer, Shirley Owens, settled on 'the Shirelles'.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
According to his official web site, Sylvester Stewart came by the nickname Sly around the time he was in the fifth grade. During a school spelling bee, one of his classmates accidentally inverted the "y" and the "l" and Syl became Sly. The kids teased and the name stuck. The "Family Stone" came from the fact that Sly, his sister Rosie and brother Freddie all adopted the stage name "Stone" when they formed their new band.
SPANDAU BALLET
Originally called 'The Makers', the band changed their name after a visit to Berlin where one of their roadies saw some graffiti referring to Spandau Prison. Supposedly, there were many hangings there, in which the victims would twitch and jump at the end of a rope...hence, doing the "Spandau Ballet."
SPANKY AND OUR GANG
Lead singer Elaine McFarlane came by the nickname "Spanky" because band members noticed her resemblance to George "Spanky" McFarland of the Little Rascals / Our Gang comedy series. They originally took the name as a joke, but as their popularity grew, it stuck.
STANDELLS
This L.A. based band, who scored a mid-sixties hit with "Dirty Water", say their name was derived from standing around agents' offices, pleading for work.
STEELY DAN
Named after a dildo in the William Burroughs novel 'Naked Lunch'. According to Burroughs, the Steely Dan was a metal dildo that an evil German bulldyke prostitute crushed using her nether regions.
STEPPENWOLF
The band was originally called 'Sparrow', until lead singer John Kay came up the new name after being inspired by a novel by cult author Herman Hesse.
STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
According to bassist George Bunnell, this most unusual name came about when the band was sitting around trying to think of a new name. They wanted to include the word Strawberry, which was inspired by the Beatle's tune, "Strawberry Fields Forever". The band was rehearsing in the guest house that belonged to the parents of keyboard player Mark Weitz. When everything was real quiet, after they thought of a bunch of names and they were all thrown out, everybody was kind of silently thinking. "The only thing you could hear was that alarm clock making some kind of whacky noise 'cause it was semi-broken. And they all looked at it at the same time really, and that's where it came about."
STYX
After the mythical river, Styx, that people crossed over to go into Hell.
SUPERTRAMP
Named after a book called 'Autobiography Of A Supertramp', written by R.E. Davies in 1910.
10cc
For years, a story has circulated that the band chose the name because the average man ejaculates 9cc of sperm, making 10cc even better. But it was actually the group's manager, Jonathan King, who came up with the unusual name after he dreamed that a band he managed called 10cc had the number one album and single simultaneously in America. For the record, the average man ejaculates 3cc of sperm.
TAVARES
Originally named Chubby and the Turnpikes, the group started using the last name of the band members, Ralph, Arthur, Antone, Feliciano and Perry Tavares as The Tavares Brothers before shorting the name.
THREE DOG NIGHT
While trying to think of a name that would show that the band had three lead singers, they nearly settled on 'Tricycle', until singer Danny Hutton's girlfriend came up with a suggestion. She had read a magazine article about the Australian aborigines, who on cold nights, would sleep beside their dogs for warmth. The very coldest weather was called a "three dog night".
TOMMY TUTONE
The band who gave us "867-5309 / Jenny" took its name from the nickname of lead singer, Tommy Heath.
THE TROGGS
According to the band's lead singer, Reg Presley, they wanted an "earthy name" like The Stones. Troggs is an abbreviation of the word troglodyte, a mythical cave dweller.
THE TURTLES
In 1965, a Los Angeles group called the Crossfires changed their name to the Tyrtles as an unveiled homage to the Byrds, but soon amended the spelling.
U2
Although the U2 is a type of spy plane that was used by the United States, Bono explained that U2 grew out of thoughts of interactivity with the audience.... as in 'you too.'
URIAH HEEP
After using several names during their developing years, manager Gerry Bron suggested "Uriah Heep", based on the 'horrible little character from Charles Dickens' novel, "David Copperfield".
VELVET UNDERGROUND
The name of an S&M magazine that a band member found on a sidewalk in New York.
VILLAGE PEOPLE
As all of the group members had been recruited from Greenwich Village, their manager, Jacques Morali, decided to call them "The Village People".
WHAM!
After meeting in a band called "Executive", George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley said they named their duo Wham! because wanted to make a loud impact in the music business.
WHO
While taking suggestions for a new name, someone noticed that the band members were already so hard of hearing that they kept saying, "The who?"
WINGS
Paul McCartney thought of the name while waiting in a hospital wing for Linda to give birth to one of their children.
YES
While the group members searched for an appropriate name, guitarist Peter Banks suggested they called the group Yes, a very short and positive word. The others agreed that the name was not meant to be permanent, but just a temporary solution.
YOUNGBLOODS
Jesse Colin Young got his start as a solo act on the folk circuits of Boston and New York, and had already cut a couple of unsuccessful albums before deciding to form a band with guitarist Jerry Corbitt. As they evolved into a quartet, they took the name 'Youngbloods' from Young's second solo album.
YOUNG RASCALS
The group's name was inspired by the 1920's "Our Gang" films - known later on television as The Little Rascals.
ZZ TOP
According to guitarist Billy Gibbons, their odd name came from one or more of the following - two brands of cigarette rolling paper, Zig-Zag and Top, - a tribute to blues legend Z.Z. Hill - or Gibbons seeing the two words running together on a dilapidated billboard.