Formation (1981–1985) John Flansburgh and John Linnell first met as teenagers growing up in
Lincoln, Massachusetts. They began writing songs together while attending
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School but did not form a band at that time. The two attended separate colleges after high school and Linnell joined
The Mundanes, a
new wave group from
Rhode Island. The two reunited in 1981 after moving to
Brooklyn (to the same apartment building on the same day) to continue their career. At their first concert, They Might Be Giants were introduced as and performed under the name
El Grupo De Rock and Roll (
Spanish for "the Rock and Roll Band"), because the show was a
Sandinista rally in Central Park and a majority of the audience members spoke Spanish. They had previously chosen a name that, according to John Flansburgh, was "so bad that John [Linnell] and I have made a vow that we will never tell anyone, even our children." Soon discarding this name, the band assumed
the name of the 1971 film
They Might Be Giants (starring
George C. Scott and
Joanne Woodward), which is in turn taken from a
Don Quixote passage about how Quixote mistook
windmills for evil giants. According to Dave Wilson, in his book
Rock Formations, the name They Might Be Giants had been used and subsequently discarded by a friend of the band who had a
ventriloquism act. The name was then adopted by the band, who had been searching for a more suitable name. A common misconception is that the name of the band is a reference to themselves and an allusion to future success. In an interview, John Flansburgh said that the words "they might be giants" are just a very outward-looking forward thing which they liked. He explained that the name refers to the outside world of possibilities that they saw as a fledgling band. In a radio interview, John Linnell described the phrase as "something very paranoid sounding". The duo began performing their own music in and around
New York City at the
East Village Pyramid Club – Flansburgh on
guitar, Linnell on
accordion and
saxophone and accompanied by a
drum machine or prerecorded backing track on
audio cassette. Their atypical instrumentation, along with their songs which featured unusual subject matter and clever wordplay, soon attracted a strong local following. From 1984 to 1987, They Might Be Giants were the house band at the
Pyramid Club In 1983, Linnell broke his wrist in a
biking accident and Flansburgh's apartment was
burgled, stopping them from performing for a time. During this hiatus, they began recording their songs onto an
answering machine and then advertising the phone number in local newspapers such as
The Village Voice, using the
moniker "Dial-A-Song". They Might Be Giants released a demo cassette in 1985, which earned them a review in
People magazine. Authored by Michael Small, the review caught the attention of
Bar/None Records, who signed them to a recording deal. From the 1980s until 1998, Dial-A-Song consisted of an answering machine with a tape of the band playing various songs. The machine played one track at a time, ranging from demos and uncompleted work to mock advertisements the band had created. It was often difficult to access due to the popularity of the service and the dubious quality of the machines used. About this, one of Dial-A-Song's many slogans over the years was the tongue-in-cheek "Always Busy, Often Broken". The number was a local Brooklyn number and was charged accordingly. The band advertised it with the line: "Free when you call from work".
Earlier years (1986–1989) Following the deal with Bar/None Records, the duo released their
self-titled debut album in 1986, which became a college radio hit. The album sold 10,000 copies in its first year. The music video for "
Don't Let's Start", filmed in
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park and directed by
Adam Bernstein, became a
MTV hit in 1987. In 1988, they released their second album,
Lincoln. It featured the song "
Ana Ng" which reached No. 11 on the
U.S. Modern Rock chart. In 1990,
Throttle magazine interviewed They Might Be Giants and clarified the meaning of the song "Ana Ng": John Flansburgh said, "Ng is a Vietnamese name. The song is about someone who's thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the world. John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng is in
Vietnam and the person is on the other side of the world, then it must be written by someone in
Peru".
Move to Elektra (1990–1992) In 1990, They Might Be Giants released their third album
Flood, through
Elektra Records.
Flood earned them a
platinum album, largely from the success of "
Birdhouse in Your Soul" which reached number three on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, as well as the cover of "
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" song originally recorded by
the Four Lads. Further interest in the band was generated when cartoon music videos for "
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "
Particle Man" were created by
Warner Bros. Animation for
Tiny Toon Adventures. In 1991, Bar/None Records released the B-sides compilation
Miscellaneous T. In early 1992, They Might Be Giants released their fourth album
Apollo 18. The heavy space theme coincided with TMBG being named Musical Ambassadors for
International Space Year. Singles from the album included "
The Statue Got Me High", "
I Palindrome I", and "
The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)".
Apollo 18 was one of the first albums to take advantage of the CD player's shuffle feature. The song "Fingertips" comprised 21 separate tracks that add up to 4:35 with the longest one being 61 seconds.
Recruiting a band (1993–1998) Following
Apollo 18, for live shows, Flansburgh and Linnell decided to move away from recorded backing tracks and recruited a supporting band:
Kurt Hoffman of
The Ordinaires on reeds and keyboards, longtime
Pere Ubu bassist
Tony Maimone, and drummer Jonathan Feinberg. In 1993,
Brian Doherty (drums) joined the band. The band's fifth album,
John Henry, was released in 1994. Influenced by their more conventional lineup, this album marked a departure from their previous releases with more of a guitar-heavy sound not dissimilar to the
grunge music of the time. It was released to mixed reviews amongst fans and critics alike. Dan Levine (trumpet) also joined the band and in 1995, bassist Graham Maby joined the band. Following
John Henry, TMBG's sixth album,
Factory Showroom, was released in 1996. It also is the last album they released through Elektra and their first album produced by
Pat Dillett who has co-produced every album with them since then. In 1995, 1996, and 1997, Maimone, Doherty, and Maby left the band respectively. In that year,
Eric Schermerhorn (guitar) joined and left the band and Dan Hickey (drums) and Hal Cragin (bass) joined TMBG. In 1998, they released a mostly live album
Severe Tire Damage from which came the single "
Doctor Worm", a studio recording. In 1998,
Danny Weinkauf (bass) and
Dan Miller (guitar) were recruited for their recording and touring band. Both had been members of the bands
Lincoln and Candy Butchers which were previous opening acts for TMBG. Weinkauf and Miller continue to work with the band to the present day.
Beyond Elektra and move to Restless Records (1999–2003) In 1999, they released their seventh album
Long Tall Weekend, their first studio album since their departure from the major label
Elektra. It made They Might Be Giants the first major-label recording artist to release an entire album exclusively in
MP3 format. Also in 1999, the band contributed the song "Dr. Evil" to the motion picture
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Over their career, the band has performed on numerous movie and television soundtracks, including
The Oblongs, the
ABC News miniseries
Brave New World and
Ed and His Dead Mother. They also performed the theme music "
Dog on Fire", composed by
Bob Mould, for
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Contributing the single "
Boss of Me" as the theme song to the hit television series
Malcolm in the Middle, as well as to the show's
compilation CD, brought a new audience to the band. Not only did the band contribute the theme, but songs from all of the band's previous albums were used on the show. "Boss of Me" became TMBG's second top-40 hit in the UK which they performed on long-running UK television program
Top of the Pops and, in
2002, won TMBG a
Grammy Award. In 2001, the band also worked on a project for
McSweeney's, a publishing company and literary journal. The album is named ''They Might Be Giants vs. McSweeney's
. The disk appears in issue No. 6 of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern''. They followed it up in 2003 with their first book, an illustrated children's book with an included EP,
Bed, Bed, Bed. In 2003, Mark Pender (trumpet) joined the band. They Might Be Giants got a documentary film directed by
A. J. Schnack titled
Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) that was released on DVD in 2003.
Podcasting, independent releases, and children's music (2004–2006) in Hollywood, CA on March 25, 2005|leftIn 2004, the band released its first new "adult" rock work since the release of
No!, the EP
Indestructible Object. This was followed by They Might Be Giants' ninth album,
The Spine, and an associated EP,
The Spine Surfs Alone. It was at this time that
Dan Hickey was replaced by Marty Beller, who had previously collaborated with They Might Be Giants. For the album's first single, "
Experimental Film", the band teamed up with
Homestar Runner creators
Matt and Mike Chapman to create an animated music video. The band's collaboration with the Brothers Chaps also included several Puppet Jam segments with puppet Homestar and the music for a Strong Bad email titled "Different Town". In 2008, they recorded a track for the 200th
Strong Bad e-mail, where Linnell provided the voice of The Poopsmith. Following the
Spine on the Hiway Tour of 2004, the band announced that they would take an extended hiatus from touring to focus on other projects, such as a musical produced by Flansburgh and written by his wife,
Robin Goldwasser, titled
People Are Wrong!. In 2005, They Might Be Giants released the children's album
Here Come the ABCs, the band's follow-up to the successful children's album
No!. The Disney Sound label released the CD and DVD separately in February 2005. In November 2005,
Venue Songs was released as a two-disc CD/DVD set narrated by
John Hodgman. It is a
concept album based on all of the "venue songs" from their 2004 tour., 2006 The band contributed 14 original songs for the 2006
Dunkin' Donuts ad campaign, "America Runs on Dunkin'". Also in 2006,
Stan Harrison, who plays saxophone, joined They Might Be Giants.
Children's and independent releases (2007–2011) They Might Be Giants composed and performed the theme song for the
Disney Channel programs
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and
Higglytown Heroes. In 2008, they rerecorded the song "Take Out The Trash" from
The Else in
Simlish for inclusion in
The Sims 2: Freetime. The band was recruited to provide original songs for the
Henry Selick-directed
film adaptation of
Neil Gaiman's children's book
Coraline but most were dropped during the creation process. Only one song, titled "Other Father Song", was kept for the film with Linnell singing as the titular "Other Father". The band's 14th album,
Here Comes Science, is a science-themed children's album, in September 2009. The album was nominated for a
Grammy Award on December 1, 2010. This album introduced listeners to
natural,
formal,
social, and
applied sciences. In November 2009, They Might Be Giants stated that "The Avatars of They", a set of sock puppets the Johns manipulated for shows, would have an album in 2012, suggesting another children's album. However, their 15th album titled
Join Us was released in 2011. In October 2011,
Artix Entertainment announced that the band would be performing in-game for a special musical event to commemorate the 3rd birthday of their popular
MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds. They were featured in AdventureQuest World's special third birthday event as John and John.
Continuing independent releases (2012–2019) In March 2013, the band released their sixteenth adult studio album,
Nanobots, on their Idlewild Recordings label in the US and on British indie label
Lojinx in
Europe. After
Nanobots they released a studio album
Glean in April 2015. Dial-A-Song was revived in 2015, with a new phone number, website, and a radio network.The band released their newest children's album,
Why?, in November 2015. It released as their fifth children's album and the first children's album to be released under their own label, Idlewild Recordings. In 2016, They Might Be Giants were involved in the
SpongeBob SquarePants musical; they contributed the song "I'm Not a Loser". The band's 20th album,
I Like Fun was released in January 2018. Their 21st and 22nd studio albums,
My Murdered Remains and
The Escape Team, were both released on December 10, 2018.
My Murdered Remains contains songs from Dial-A-Song. In October 2019, the band recorded a new version of their song "Hot Dog" for the third season of the Disney Channel preschool series
Mickey and the Roadster Racers, re-titled as
Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures for that season that premiered on
Disney Junior.
Independent releases and Grammy nomination (2020–present) In August 2020, the band recorded a song for a
CNN documentary about the
electoral college called "Who Are the Electors?". They Might Be Giants was touring for the 30th anniversary of
Flood starting in 2020. While initially only including songs from
Flood, it expanded to include tracks from other albums. The tour included the eight-piece band members and shows sold-out throughout the tour. In November 2021, They Might Be Giants released an album titled
Book. Some lyrical themes in the album seem to have been inspired by the
COVID-19 pandemic. They Might Be Giants continued their
Book tour called "The Big Tour" into late 2025, which included songs from much of their discography. These shows also sold-out internationally. The band announced a 30th anniversary Flood tour for 2020; however, it was postponed, and dates were rescheduled several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after resuming live tours again in June 2022, John Flansburgh was involved in
a car accident while on his way home from the June 8 concert. He suffered several broken ribs but had a positive prognosis from doctors. Several tour dates were again postponed while he recovered; however, the tour was later resumed after he got better. In November 2022,
Book was nominated for a
65th Annual Grammy Awards in the category of "
Best Boxed or Special Limited-Edition Package". They Might Be Giants performed "Brontosaurus" on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! in support of
Book in April 2023. In mid-January 2026, They Might Be Giants released a four-song EP titled
Eyeball. The EP includes a remix from
Elegant Too of the title track. A few weeks later, on February 9, the band released the single "Wu-Tang". That day, they announced that their upcoming 24th album is called
The World Is to Dig. On March 3, they released another single from the album "Sleep's Older Sister". They Might Be Giants released the single "Outside Brain" on March 16, 2026. On March 31, 2026, They Might Be Giants released a cover of "
Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" as a single.
The World Is to Dig was released on April 14, 2026. == Solo projects ==