There’s nothing like a good band name. It can tell you a lot about the music that follows and even serve as an introduction to the musicians themselves—so much so that when they change their names, it feels like they’re starting over again. In this article, we’ll look at how some of the most famous bands chose their monikers, along with some notable exceptions (like Def Leppard).
The Beatles
The Beatles got their name from the initials of the members’ first names: John, Paul and George. They were originally called Johnny and the Moondogs, but after a couple of years they changed it to The Silver Beetles before eventually becoming The Beatles in 1960.
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group that formed in 1972. The band consisted of Agnetha Faeltskog (born 5 April 1950), Benny Andersson (born 16 December 1946), Bjorn Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945) and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born 15 May 1946). All four members were spouses or life partners at the time they became ABBA; Ulvaeus married Lyngstad in 1975 and Faeltskog married Andersson in 1976. The name “ABBA” is an acronym standing for the band members’ first names: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid; it was likely inspired by 1970s Swedish pop group Hep Stars’ usage of HEPPS for their own initials: Sven Erik Hedlund (vocals), Lars Erik Larsson (guitar), Per Erik B*******dsson (bass guitar) and Janne Fransson (drums).
Aerosmith
When you think of Aerosmith, you probably think of the band’s name. But how did they get it? The band was originally called The Strangeurs, but drummer Joey Kramer saw a Stephen King novel called “Aerosmith” and thought it was perfect for their sound. They changed their name to what he suggested and have been rocking out ever since! Aerosmith got its name from an old slang term for a woman: “air-o-smith.” This means that she is so beautiful that she can make any man fall in love with her by simply breathing on him–which makes sense given how sexy these musicians look when they perform live on stage!
The Beach Boys
The original members of The Beach Boys were brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, along with cousin David Marks. They were all from Hawthorne, California, and their first single was called “Surfin'”–it was released in 1961. The band changed its name to The Beach Boys two years later when they signed a contract with Capitol Records and began recording albums as well as singles.
Bon Jovi
In the early 1980s, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were members of a band called The Atlantic City Band. Their manager thought it would be a good idea for them to change their name because he felt that people wouldn’t want to see a band named after an area on the Jersey Shore known for its casinos and crime. It was at this point that Jon’s girlfriend convinced him and Richie that they looked like a group called Bon Jovi, who she said were very popular at the time. So, they decided to take her suggestion into consideration and changed their name from The Atlantic City Band into what we now know as Bon Jovi!
Def Leppard
In 1977, guitarist Vivian Campbell and drummer Rick Allen joined the band. At this point, Def Leppard was still called Atomic Mass. But when it was discovered that another band had already used that name, the members changed their own to Def Leppard. The inspiration for their new name came from Slade’s song “Get Down & Get With It,” which includes the line “I wanna be your atomic bomb!”
Green Day
Green Day was originally called Sweet Children, but it wasn’t long before they changed their name to Green Day. The reason for this? Well, as you may have guessed by now, there were other bands out there with similar names. Specifically, Iggy Pop had released an album in 1977 called “Sweet Children.” So while they wanted to avoid any confusion between themselves and Iggy (or any other band), they also wanted something that would give their music a unique identity separate from any other group’s work–and thus Green Day was born! The name itself comes from two sources: one being “The Breakfast Club” starring Emilio Estevez which came out in 1985; another being the fact that after nuclear war has destroyed everything on Earth except for polar bears living in Antarctica (this would be referred to as “the green day”), these creatures would grow so large due to lack of competition over food sources that we’d all be eaten alive by them within days if not hours after waking up from our underground bunkers where we had been hiding ourselves away during Armageddon itself…
That’s all we have for you today! We hope you enjoyed this article and learned a little bit more about the history of some of your favorite bands. If there are any bands that you think should be added to our list, please let us know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!
