• '''
The B-52's''' – From the name of a
beehive hairstyle, itself named for the Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress. •
Babymetal – According to Kobametal (the band's producer), the name came to him by revelation (as a "divine message"). It is a play on the words "heavy metal". •
Bachman–Turner Overdrive – A combination of band members' last names and the magazine
Overdrive. The band's name had previously been "Bachman-Turner". All band members agreed that Bachman-Turner Overdrive sounded cooler. •
Backstreet Boys – After a
flea market in
Orlando, Florida. •
Bad Boys Blue – Bad Boys Blue was formed in 1984 in Cologne, Germany, by producer Tony Hendrik and lyricist Karin van Haaren, who aimed to create a rebellious, stylish pop group to rival Modern Talking. The name "Bad Boys" was chosen to appeal to young, rebellious audiences, while "Blue" was added to complete the image. •
Bad Bunny – From a time when he was forced to wear a bunny costume and was annoyed about it. He later thought the name "Bad Bunny" would "market well". •
Bad Company – While it is often assumed that the band took its name from
the 1972 film, it actually comes from a Victorian book of morals for children that captioned one illustration "beware of bad company". •
Bad Religion – Bad Religion's
Greg Graffin on their name: You have to remember that we were fifteen-year-old punks–we wanted to piss people off. Anything that might make parents, teachers, and people with authority bristle was up for discussion. We also wanted a name that would suggest a great logo for stickers and T-shirts. Many of the names were compelling but too repulsive. Smegma, Vaginal Discharge, and Head Cheese might make for great logos but were quickly rejected as not representative of our songs. We played around with a lot of names involving the word "bad"–Bad Family Planning, Bad Politics. When we hot [sic] on Bad Religion, it seemed perfect. That year, 1980, was a time of rising prominence for televangelists like
Jimmy Swaggart,
Pat Robertson, and
Jim Bakker. The year before,
Jerry Falwell had founded the Moral Majority, which was having a powerful influence on the presidential election between
Jimmy Carter and
Ronald Reagan. Religion was a hot topic, and those TV preachers seemed like a good target to us, though we didn't think they could possibly last for more than a few years. We knew that most people were so defensive about their religious ideas that they would be highly offended by our name–a major plus! And then Brett came up with a logo that represented our philosophical stance. We felt complete. •
Badding – After the children's literary character
Paddington Bear. •
Badfinger – Originally called "The Iveys" after a street in
Swansea,
Wales. Once the band was signed to
Apple Records by
The Beatles the band took the opportunity to change their name. The name "Badfinger" was derived from "Bad Finger Boogie", the working title of The Beatles' "
With a Little Help from My Friends". •
The Band – They were originally known as The Hawks, after their original lead singer
Ronnie Hawkins. While working with
Bob Dylan in the 1960s, they decided to change their name, but were unable to agree on a new name. They finally decided to simply call themselves "The Band" after being derisively referred to as "the band" by critics of Dylan's new electric direction on the 1966 tour. •
Bananarama – Partially named after the
Roxy Music song
Pyjamarama. •
The Bangles – On the eve of releasing their first EP, The Bangs discovered another band had trademarked that name and would not let them use it for free, so they added the "-les" ending. •
Barenaked Ladies – Two members–Steven Page and Ed Robertson–were bored at a Bob Dylan concert and turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies". On another front, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands at Nathan Phillips Square for the Second Harvest food bank. The band broke up and he forgot about the gig. When he received a phone call a week before the show, asking him to confirm the gig, he improvised that the name of the band had changed to "Barenaked Ladies", recalling the name from the Dylan concert. He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name. The two played the show on October 1, 1988, They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all. The two played the show on October 1, 1988, but instead of competing, they played while the other bands set up, playing every song they could think of that they both knew. The show went well and the pair continued performing and started writing songs together. •
Bastille – Lead singer Dan Smith was born on July 14,
Bastille Day. •
Bat & Ryyd – Originally named Batman & Ryydman, but shortened to "Bat & Ryyd" after a complaint from composer
Kari Rydman. •
Stiv Bators. The Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church singer-guitarist was born Steve Bator; "Stiv" is how his father Stephen Sr., a native
Slovak speaker, pronounced the name. Later in his career he added the "s" to his last name. •
Bauhaus – Originally named "Bauhaus 1919" after the German
Bauhaus art movement, and shortened to "Bauhaus" in 1979. •
Bay City Rollers – Scottish band the Rollers, cognizant that their American-inspired sound would need a name to match, threw a dart at a map of the U.S. to find a placename to add to it. After "Arkansas" was rejected, the second dart struck
Bay City, Michigan, which met with unanimous approval. •
The Beach Boys — The band had decided they would write songs celebrating the
Southern California lifestyle, but had not settled on a single name to perform under. At the time they recorded their first single, they were The Surfers, but upon its release they found themselves credited as The Beach Boys, since there already was another group known as the Surfers. •
The Beastie Boys – Founding member
John Berry suggested the name; later the band came with the
backronym ""Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence" for an interview with
Charlie Rose. •
The Beatles –
The Crickets were cited as an inspiration for the name. Additionally, the misspelling of "beetles" was a play on words, describing the "beat" of the band. •
The Beautiful South – Lead singer
Paul Heaton explained at the time that the name was partly a sarcastic reflection of his own dislike of southern England, and partly an attempt to force macho men to utter the word 'beautiful'. •
Bee Gees – From "B.G.", the initials of all three of band member Barry Gibb, radio DJ Bill Gates and
speedway promoter and driver Bill Goode. The similarity to "Brothers Gibb" is just a coincidence. •
Belle & Sebastian – From
Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer
Cécile Aubry. •
Between the Buried and Me – The band name was derived from a phrase in
Counting Crows' song "Ghost Train" •
Biffy Clyro – There are many rumours of the origin of
Biffy Clyro's name. These are that, one time, lead singer
Simon Neil bought a
Cliff Richard pen, which was therefore a "Cliffy
biro". They then changed this to Biffy Clyro. Another theory is that 'Biffy Clyro' were a
Welsh tribe. The third rumour is that Biffy Clyro was a former player of the band's football team,
Ayr United. They have never confirmed any of these. •
Big Drill Car – The band members have claimed in interviews that their name was inspired by the movie
Journey to the Center of the Earth. •
Billy Talent – After a character in the film
Hard Core Logo (although the name in the film and the book by
Michael Turner it was adapted from is spelled "Billy Tallent"). •
Biohazard – The band Biohazard got their name from Type O Negative frontman Pete Steele, who suggested it, along with the band's iconic symbol. The name was chosen to reflect the band's lyrical focus on topics that are "harmful to life," such as social, personal, and urban situations that can ruin potential and well-being. •
Biplan – Biplan is a prominent Lithuanian pop-rock/indie-folk band formed in 1995 in Vilnius, derives its name from the term for a "biplane" (a plane with two pairs of wings). The name reflects a sense of flight, lightness, and perhaps a retro or adventurous aesthetic consistent with their style, which is characterized by melodic, energetic music. •
The Birthday Massacre – The name of the band's early song. According to their vocalist Chibi: "It kind of works well for the music that we're making. Sort of contrasty, you know? Birthday, and massacre. Light, and dark. Cute, and evil." The band was originally known as Imagica, but adopted the current name to avoid confusion with another group. The song "The Birthday Massacre" was then renamed to "Happy Birthday". •
Black Country, New Road – Black Country, New Road found their name on a random Wikipedia generator. •
The Black Crowes – The group originally called themselves
Mr. Crowe's Garden, after a favorite children's book. They performed under that name until they signed with Def American Records in 1989. They renamed themselves in response to the suggestion of a producer. •
Black Flag – Suggested by guitarist Greg Ginn's brother, Raymond Pettibone, because "if a white flag means surrender, a black flag means anarchy." •
The Black Keys – When the duo grew up in
Akron, Ohio, a schizophrenic man residing in a halfway house used to call their homes to ask for crayons,
Diet Coke and cigarettes. His messages would always end with him saying "...don't be a black key. Don't be a b-flat." •
Black Label Society – The was named by guitarist Zakk Wylde as a reference to his favorite whisky, Johnnie Walker Black Label, which he considered "the best". Originally, the band was planned to be called "Hell's Kitchen," but that name could not be trademarked, leading to the adoption of the liquor-inspired name. •
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – The film
The Wild One featured two motorcycle gangs, the Beetles and Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. In a reference to the story that
The Beatles took their name from one motorcycle gang, guitarist Peter Hayes and bassist Robert Levon Been originally named their band "The Other Gang", but switched to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club when The Other Gang did not catch on. •
Black Sabbath – Originally known as Earth, the group wanted to change their name as another group had the same name. •
Blackfoot – Guitarist
Rickey Medlocke, whose father was a member of the Blackfoot
American Indian tribe, suggested the band's name when they decided to change it to avoid confusion with another, similarly-named band. It recognizes not only his father's descent but the Native American heritage shared by all but one of the other band members. •
Bleeker – The band Bleeker (formerly Bleeker Ridge) derived their original name from the street names where the two sets of founding brothers lived in Orillia, Ontario: Bleeker Street (Taylor and Cole Perkins) and Ridge Avenue (Dan and Dustin Steinke). They later shortened the name to Bleeker following line-up changes. •
Blind Faith –
Eric Clapton chose the name, reflecting the belief of everyone involved that the band would be successful no matter what they recorded and released. •
Blind Melon – Bass player Brad Smith's father used this term to refer to some hippies who lived in a commune near his house. •
Blink-182 – The "Blink" was thought up by Tom DeLonge when the band consisted of DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and their friend Scott Raynor.(They previously called themselves Duck Tape.) An Irish band was already using the name
Blink, so they added a random number to the end. •
Blondie – A nickname given to frontwoman
Debbie Harry by truck drivers who
catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove by. •
Bloodhound Gang – The Bloodhound Gang took their name from a segment on the 1980s PBS children’s educational show
3-2-1 Contact. The segment featured a group of young detectives who solved mysteries using science and math. The band in 1988, originally named Bang Chamber 8, changed their name in 1992. •
Blue October – The front man of Blue October,
Justin Furstenfeld, spent a brief stint in a mental hospital in October 1997. Furstenfeld stated that afterwards he wrote songs to keep depression away which led to the forming of the band. •
Blue Öyster Cult – The band had begun performing as Soft White Underbelly in the late 1960s. But after a 1969
Fillmore East concert was poorly reviewed, manager
Sandy Pearlman decided the group should change its name if it wanted to get a record contract, and eventually settled on Blue Öyster Cult, taken from a group of aliens in Pearlman's poetry. The band, who initially disliked that moniker, was signed after
Clive Davis, who had rejected one of their demos under their original name, liked another recorded under their new name. They would occasionally perform small club gigs as Soft White Underbelly for their first 20 years. •
Blur – Chosen by the members of what was up to then Seymour from a list of alternatives proposed by the label that had signed them, who liked their sound but not their name. •
Boards of Canada – Named in tribute to the
National Film Board of Canada. The Scottish brothers spent part of their youth growing up in
Canada, and credit the Film Board's documentaries as a source of inspiration for their sound. •
bob hund – From a cartoon dog named Bob that the band once saw on TV. •
Rachel Bolan –
Skid Row's bassist and co-founder was born James Richard Southworth. He took his stage name by combining his brother's first name, Richard, with his grandfather's, Manuel. The last name is a tribute to the late T-Rex guitarist
Marc Bolan. He legally became Rachel Bolan Southworth in 1990. •
Bon Iver – Suggested by an episode of
Northern Exposure in which, after the first snow of winter, people greet each other with
bon hiver (, French for "good winter"). This was initially transcribed by Vernon as "boniverre". When he learned of its proper French spelling, he elected not to use it, deciding "
hiver" reminded him too much of
liver; he had been bedridden with a liver ailment when he watched the show. •
Bon Jovi – An alternative spelling of
Jon Bon Jovi's last name
Bongiovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as
Van Halen, as suggested by Pamela Maher. •
Boney M –
Frank Farian came up with the name from the Australian TV series
Boney (TV series), and added the M because he liked the way it sounded. •
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – A combination of
Bonzo the dog and the
Dada art movement. •
The Boomtown Rats – As revealed in his autobiography,
Bound for Glory, this was the name of
Woody Guthrie's boyhood gang, named after his hometown, Oklahoma City, known as 'Boomtown' during the oil boom. •
Boston - After the city of
Boston,
Massachusetts, where the band was formed. The name was suggested by a producer and engineer working on the band's
first album. •
La Bouche – The Eurodance group La Bouche (French for "The Mouth") got their name from producers who noticed lead singer Melanie Thornton’s large mouth and powerful vocal delivery while in the studio. Producer Frank Farian finalized the name, which translates to "the mouth" in French, to represent the essence of expression. •
Boyz II Men – Originally known as Unique Attraction, they were renamed after a song by
New Edition. •
Brainerd – Original guitarist Knife named the band after his hometown,
Brainerd, Minnesota. •
Bread – The members were walking down the street brainstorming a name, and considered several based on objects around them, when a bread truck passed by. "It began with a B, like the Beatles and the Bee Gees",
David Gates explained later. "Bread also had a kind of universal appeal. It could be taken a number of ways. Of course, for the entire first year people called us the Breads." •
Breaking Benjamin – During a live performance, frontman Benjamin Burnley accidentally knocked a microphone over, causing it to crack once it hit the ground. The microphone's owner appeared on stage to say "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my f*cking microphone." •
Bring Me the Horizon – From a line said by
Captain Jack Sparrow in
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, "Now ... bring me that horizon". •
Brinsley Schwarz – From the band's guitarist. •
Britny Fox – From a 19th-century Welsh ancestor of frontman
Dean Davidson. •
Budgie –
Burke Shelley said the band chose the name (a British term for a
parakeet) for the
irony: "[We] loved the idea of playing noisy,
heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that". •
Buffalo Springfield – From a
steamroller manufacturer. •
Burzum – Means "darkness" in Tolkien's
Black Speech. •
Butthole Surfers – The band, who previously changed their name at every gig, was performing an earlier version of 1984's "Butthole Surfer" when the announcer forgot the band's name and used the title of the song instead. They were forced to keep this name after the performance hit fame. •
Buzzcocks – The band took their name from a
Time Out review of the 1976 T.V. show
Rock Follies with the headline "It's the Buzz, Cock!" (Cock was slang for "mate".) The band members liked the subversiveness of it. •
The Byrds – At
Thanksgiving dinner in 1964, the members of the band then known as the Jet Set unanimously decided to rename themselves The Byrds, both continuing the theme of flight and borrowing the deliberate misspelling that also characterized The Beatles' name. ==C==