Did you know that Pink Floyd is named after Pink Andersen and Floyd Council? Or that The Beatles started off as Quarrymen? Sorbojeet Chatterjee gives you the lowdown on legendary bands and their name games
What’s in a band name? Pardon the obvious pun on Shakespeare’s oft-repeated line. Now, while we're sure that your pet band or musician, with any other name, would still make it to the playlist holy grail, a little trivia has never hurt the bona fide music nerd. So here’s looking at the genesis of stage names adopted by some popular bands and musicians.
Mix it up
Guns N’ Roses: The obvious choice, when the bands LA Guns and Hollywood Rose joined forces.
Marilyn Manson: When your influences are as eclectic as actress Marilyn Monroe and killer Charles Manson.
Pink Floyd: After experimenting with multiple names, Syd Barrett settled for Pink Floyd, named after blues musicians Pink Andersen and Floyd Council.
A fitting tribute
The Beatles: The quartet began as the Quarrymen and later settled on The Beatles as a tribute to Buddy Holly and his band The Crickets.
Rolling Stones: The bad boys of rock ‘n’ roll were influenced by blues in their music. They borrowed the name from a song by Muddy Waters.
The Doors: Frontman Jim Morrison was inspired by Aldous Huxley’s book Doors of Perception.
Pearl Jam: There are multiple theories around the name but the most popular one is that it was a tribute to lead singer Eddie Vedder’s great grandmother Pearl. Of course, the name is also innuendo for semen.
The Ramones: Paul McCartney of the Beatles often booked hotel rooms under the alias Paul Ramon.
Radiohead: Thom Yorke picked the name from the song Radio Head by Talking Heads.
Critically exclaimed!
Garbage: Well meaning feedback that they sounded like ‘garbage’ doubled up as unlikely inspiration.
Daft Punk: The publication Melody Maker described their music as ‘daft punky trash’ and Daft Punk it was.
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page and his friends were keen to collaborate and form a band. Keith Moons, drummer with The Who, made a cheeky comment—“You guys will come crashing down like a Lead Zeppelin.”
Dire Straits: The talented rockers’ financial crisis inspired the catchy name.
Sting: The name Gordon Sumner might not ring a bell, but Sting is universally lauded. During one of his gigs, he turned up in a golden striped black sweater, causing everyone to remark that he resembled a bee. The moniker stuck and stung!
A chip off the old block
Linkin Park: The band named themselves as homage to Lincoln Park. But they couldn’t afford the premium on the domain lincolnpark.com and settled for Linkin Park!
Coldplay: Chris Martin’s friend had a band called Coldplay, the name borrowed from the book of poems—Child’s Reflections: Cold Play. Chris eventually requested for the name.
DeadMau5: Joel Thomas Zimmerman decided to fix his computer and found a dead mouse inside. Hence…
Jethro Tull: The band had to repeatedly change their name because they’d never get a second call. For a one-off gig they called themselves Jethro Tull after an 18th century agriculturist. They got another chance and the name stayed.
REM: Michael Stipe randomly stumbled upon REM (Rapid Eye Movement) in the dictionary.
AC/DC: Malcolm Young was desperately trying to find the right name for his band. His sister suggested AC/DC when she noticed the initials on her sewing machine as an abbreviation for Alternating Current/Direct Current.
Rush: The band was in a tearing hurry to find a name before a stage performance. Not kidding.
Megadeth: On being unceremoniously expelled from Metallica, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine named his heavy-metal band Megadeth, meaning one million deaths by nuclear explosion. Mustaine picked up the name from a pamphlet lying in a bus. In fact, Megadeath is also a name Pink Floyd had considered before finalising their’s!
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