Band Name Generator

The Stories Behind Famous Band Names

Pink Floyd came from Georgia blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council - band leader Syd Barrett combined their first and last names on a whim.

The Beatles took their name from Buddy Holly's band "The Crickets," but changed the spelling to include the word "beat." John Lennon liked the idea of naming a band after an insect, adding a play on musical beats.

ABBA wasn't trying to be clever - they just took the first letter of each member's name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid.

Led Zeppelin's name came from Keith Moon of The Who, who joked their band would go down "like a lead balloon." They changed the spelling to "led" to avoid confusion about pronunciation.

Nirvana was chosen by Kurt Cobain for its meaning: a state of perfect happiness or enlightenment. Though he later said he wanted something "more angst-filled."

Arctic Monkeys pulled their name randomly from a list of bands they'd brainstormed, claiming they wanted something that "sounded cool" and hadn't been taken.

Green Day's name originated from Bay Area slang for a day spent smoking marijuana - though the band later distanced themselves from this meaning.

Coldplay took their name from a book of collected poems called "Child's Reflections, Cold Play" - they originally performed under the name Pectoralz.

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