What's in a name? That which we call the Beatles by any other name would sound as sweet, or would it? It's enough to make you wonder how and why the world's most famous musical acts decided to call themselves what they did.
So today we're going to take a look at how some famous bands got their names. Before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. After that, leave a comment and let us know what other musical topics you'd like to hear about.
Time to play the name game. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page says the band's name came from a disparaging comment made by The Who's Keith Moon. According to the legendary ax man, he pitched Moon on the idea of joining a band with himself, Who bassist John Entwistle and Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck.
Moon then allegedly replied that the idea would go down like a, quote, "lead balloon. " When Page's band eventually solidified with Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, they used the name, but with the balloon replaced by the way cooler sounding Zeppelin. That being said, not everyone agrees with this story.
Page sometimes frames Moon's comments as a net positive, saying, "He was talking, wouldn't it be fun to have a band called Led Zeppelin, and I asked him if we could use the name. " Others around at the time insist it was actually Entwistle who made the lead balloon comment. And still others credit the name to Yardbirds rhythm guitarist and bassist Chris Drja.
The truth will likely remain as mysterious as a bustle in your hedgerow, whatever that is. Remember that jerk gym teacher you hated back in your school days? Well, the future members of Lynyrd Skynyrd had one of those too, and his name was Coach Leonard Skinner.
He was a stickler for the rules and didn't like it when the band members grew their hair long and refused to cut it according to the school's code of conduct. He would often send them packing to the principal's office for their rebelliousness. According to founding guitarist Gary Rossington, "Coach Skinner had such a profound impact on our youth that ultimately led us to name the band, which you know as Lynyrd Skynyrd, after him.
" Rossington also says he was motivated to suggest the name after hearing it in the lyrics to Allen Sherman's 1963 novelty hit, Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, which includes the line, "You remember Leonard Skinner He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner. " And getting ptomaine poisoning has to be against the school code of conduct. Foo Fighters frontman and songwriter Dave Grohl was once the drummer of the legendary grunge band Nirvana.
But in that band, Kurt Cobain handled almost all of the songwriting and singing. So it was a surprise to fans when years after Cobain's death, Grohl released a slew of songs written and sung by himself. Even Grohl wasn't sure what people would think of Nirvana's drummer striking out on his own, so he released them under the name Foo Fighters.
Grohl, however, freely admits that it's a silly name, saying, "Had I actually considered this to be a career, I probably would have called it something else because it's the stupidest band name in the world. " As it turns out, Grohl is a massive UFO fanatic, saying, "Not only is it a fascinating subject, but there's a treasure trove of band names in those UFO books. " According to the Smithsonian, Foo Fighters was the US military's term for unidentified flying objects before UFO became the official term.
And now, garage bands across the globe know where to look to find a name of their own. Oh, speaking of nirvana related things, despite the fact that people could barely understand the words to their biggest hit Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana quickly rose to fame as the most influential band from the 1990s Seattle grunge scene. When it came to picking a name, the band brainstormed numerous alternatives, like Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, and Pen Cap Chew.
Sebastian Bach might have had something to say about the Skid Row suggestion. Cobain ultimately settled on something with a very different vibe from the usual grunge and sludge aesthetic. The frontman said, "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty, instead of a mean, raunchy punk name.
Nirvana, for the record, refers to a release from the near endless cycle of birth and rebirth, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. Given how beloved the band still is, we like to think the Buddha would be flattered and that he'd insist In Utero is better than Nevermind. For more than three decades, punk rock band Green Day has been entertaining fans across the globe.
But the band started out calling themselves Sweet Children. It's not a bad name. In fact, it's downright adorable.
But there was another band in their scene called Sweet Baby, so Sweet Children changed their name to Green Day. There were simply too many nice kids around at the time. Well, it seems the band has not officially confirmed the name's meaning, fans generally agree it's San Francisco slang for a day of doing nothing but smoking weed.
And given the lyrics to their first few albums, it's easy to believe. The band now famously known as Linkin Park originally wanted to call themselves Hybrid Theory. But after legal issues arose, they decided to use Hybrid Theory as the title of their first album instead.
For their new band name, they chose a nearby park in Santa Monica that sounded cool. It turns out most band names are about sounding cool. The funky spelling of Linkin with a K instead of a C wasn't an intentional stylistic choice.
The group had to alter the spelling in order to secure the internet domain for their band's website. But the name wasn't always a blessing. The band's bassist, Dave Phoenix Farrell, once said, "In every major city you go, there will be a Lincoln Park that's either a park or a community.
For a while, everybody thought we were local, like a support act. " Oof, doesn't even matter how hard they tried. Def Leppard's band name came about when frontman Joe Elliott got bored during an art class assignment.
In fairness, that's also how most bands are created. According to the singer, he was supposed to create still life portraits of fruit bowls. But he thought that sucked, so instead, he began designing rock concert posters instead.
In his own words, "I spent the whole term just making up posters for bands that I'd like to see or wish I'd seen. Eventually, I just started making names up because I got bored. And one of them just happened to be Def Leppard.
" Joe thought the name, which he originally spelled the conventional way, like a hearing impaired jungle cat, sounded cool and proposed it to his actual band. But not all of the other members were on board. Luckily, drummer Tony Kenning had a few ideas of his own.
Elliott remembers Kenning saying, "If we just lose the A and turn the O into a P, it'll look as good as it sounds. Pour some sugar on that. People sometimes joke that Grammy-award-winning artist and rapper Marshall Mathers chose his stage name Eminem because he was a big fan of those little chocolate candies.
While he probably does enjoy them-- who doesn't like M&Ms-- the source of his stage name is much simpler. Eminem is merely the phonetic spelling of his two initials, M and M. The rapper, who once went by the more direct name MC Double M, decided to go with the phonetic spelling to avoid getting sued by the candy company, which we assume is run by those anthropomorphic M&Ms you see in the commercials.
They do exist. Once upon a time, there was a band called Darlin', which consisted of Thomas Bangalter Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and Laurent Brancowitz. The band received a scathing review from music critic Dave Jennings, who dubbed Darlin's sound, quote, "daft punky trash" in the now shuttered Melody Maker magazine.
Taking the comment to heart, Bangalter and Homem-Christo would adopt the robotic personas we all know and love and call their new act Daft Punk. The rest is digital history, talk about getting lucky. As a child, Scott Hutchinson, future lead singer of Frightened Rabbit, was almost chronically shy.
He wouldn't even play with the other children, saying, "My parents would take me to their friends' houses and I'd be expected to play with their kids. But I had no interest. These kids weren't my friends.
I'd end up just sitting silently by myself. " Due to his unwavering shyness, his mother decided to give him a nickname that drew attention to his fear of having attention drawn to him. That nickname was, as you've probably guessed by now, Frightened Rabbit.
When he decided to play in a band, he and his friends decided to go with the nickname as a band name, which is either a touching tribute or the boldest act of bullying of all time. According to Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, he dropped out of school at 17, threw a mattress in the back of a van, left home one weekend, and never returned. When it came to his career, though, he didn't like his name and decided to try The Weeknd as a stage name because he thought it sounded cool.
As for the unusual spelling, Tesfaye deleted the E because there was already a Canadian band called The Weekend. They presumably told him, sorry about that, eh, through their lawyers, that is. However, after more than a decade of using the moniker, Tesfaye is ready to kill The Weeknd, which is musician speak for letting go of his alter ego.
Reports show he's looking into producing music under his birth name. That being said, he also reassured fans, quote, "I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd.
And I will eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn. " Are we sure he isn't talking about that Canadian band?
The Beatles weren't always the Beatles. In fact, before settling on their now legendary moniker, the band was known as the Black Jacks, the Quarry Men, Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beetles, with Beatles spelled the old fashioned way, the Silver Beatles, with Beatles spelled with the now famous A, and finally just the Beatles. It's cleaner, like the Netflix.
Now, how the group settled on their ultimate name is still hotly disputed. John Lennon once wrote that the name came to him in a dream. According to the late guitarist, "It came in a vision-- a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, from this day forward, you are the Beatles with an A.
" It sounds like a joke, but Yoko Ono would back this story years later. And Paul McCartney even called one of his solo albums Flaming Pie. George Harrison, on the other hand, has openly claimed that the band's name was inspired by the 1953 film, The Wild One, which features a motorcycle gang called The Beetles.
Beatles publicist Derek Taylor agrees with this version. However, many believe the name came about during a drunken night of brainstorming and that it was suggested by one-time bassist Stuart Sutcliffe as a tribute to Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. This version of the story was supported by John Lennon's first wife, Cynthia.
Unfortunately, given all the conflicting memories, we'll probably never know. But we can imagine. So what do you think?
Should any of these bands have stuck with their original names? Let us in the comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
