List of original names of bands

Many notable bands originally went by different names before becoming successful.^[1] This list of original names of bands lists former official band names, some of them are significantly different from the eventual current names. This list does not include former band names that have only minor differences, such as stylisation changes, with the band's final name.

List

This is a sortable list, ordered alphabetically, starting with the name that the band is best known as, followed by the band's original name, and any other names that they previously used in a chronological order.


Current name	Former name	Other former names	References	Origin
40 Below Summer	6 Degrees Of Degradation	Mid-Green Pimp Machine, Urethra Franklin		United states of America
Acroma	No Release			United states of America
Age of Days	Age Of Daze			Canada
The Agonist	Tempest			Canada
Alice In Chains	Alice N' Chains	Diamond Lie		United states of America
Amaranthe	Avalanche			Sweden
American Head Charge	Flux	Gestapo Pussy Ranch, Warsaw Ghetto Pussy		United states of America
Amon Amarth	Scum			Sweden
The Angels	The Moonshine Jug And String Band	The Keystone Angels, Angel City, The Angels From Angel City		Australia
Architect	Found Dead Hanging	Ghost Of The Saltwater Machine		United states of America
Arghoslent	Pogrom			United states of America
Arsonists	Bushwick Bomb Squad			United states of America
Atrocity	Instigators			Germany
Audioslave	Civilian			United states of America
Audiovent	Papa's Dojo	Vent		United states of America
Avatar	Lost Soul			Sweden
Axium	Red Eye			United states of America
As I Lay Dying	Against The Mark	Life Once Lost		United states of America
The Beach Boys	The Pendletones		^[1]	United states of America
Bad Brains	Mind Power	Soul Brains		United states of America
Beartooth	Noise			United states of America
The Beatles	The Quarrymen	Johnny & The Moon Dogs, The Silver Beetles		England
Bee Gees	The Rattlesnakes	Wee Johnny Hayes And The Blue Cats	^[2]^[3]	England
Black Sabbath	The Polka Tulk Blues Band	Earth	^[1]	England
The Bled	The Radiation Defiance Theory			United states of America
Bleeker	Bleeker Ridge			Canada
Blink-182	Duck Tape	Figure 8, Blink		United states of America
The Blinded	Stigmata	Blinded Colony		Sweden
Bloodhound Gang	Bang Chamber 8			United states of America
Blood Stain Child	Visionquest			Japan
Blood Has Been Shed	Release	Driven		United states of America
Blondie	Angel And The Snake		^[4]^[5]	United states of America
Blur	Seymour		^[6]	England
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony	The Band-Aid Boys	B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e	^[1]	United states of America
Bowling for Soup	Rubberneck			United states of America
Breaking Point	Broken			United states of America
Brides of Destruction	Cockstar	Motordog		United states of America
Bullet for My Valentine	Jeff Killed John			Wales
Burn Season	Smakt Down			United states of America
Bush	Bush With Gavin Rossdale	Future Primitive		England
The Calling	Generation Gap	Next Door		United states of America
Carcass	Disattack			England
Cave In	The Sacrifice Poles			United states of America
Ceremonial Oath	Desecrator			Sweden
The Chicks	Dixie Chicks			United states of America
Children of Bodom	Inearthed			Finland
The Cure	Malice	Easy Cure		England
Coal Chamber	She's In Pain			United states of America
Code Orange	Code Orange Kids			United states of America
Cold	Grundig	Diablo		United states of America
Coldplay	Pectoralz	Starfish, Big Fat Noises	^[7]	England
The Color of Violence	Skeleton Slaughter vs. Fetus Destroyer			United states of America
Converge	Shattered Void			United states of America
Creed	Mattox Creed	Naked Toddler	^[1]	United states of America
Crossfade	The Nothing	Sugerdaddy Superstar		United states of America
Creedence Clearwater Revival	The Blue Velvets	Tommy Fogerty And The Blue Velvets, Vision, The Golliwogs	^[8]	United states of America
The Cult	Death Cult			England
Damageplan	New-Found Power			United states of America
Dark Age	Dyer's Eve			Germany
Dark New Day	Dark Blue			United states of America
Dark Tranquillity	Septic Broiler			Sweden
Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway	Scars on Broadway			United states of America
Death	Mantas			United states of America
Decyfer Down	Allysonhymn	Decyfer		United states of America
Def Leppard	Atomic Mass	Accracy, Chemical Reactor	^[1]	England
Depeche Mode	Composition Of Sound			England
Depswa	Carcinogen			United states of America
Design the Skyline	Extra Large Kids			United states of America
Destiny's Child	Girl's Tyme		^[9]	United states of America
Destruction	Knight Of Demon			Germany
Detonation	Infernal Dream			The Netherlands
DevilDriver	Deathride			United states of America
The Dillinger Escape Plan	Arcane			United states of America
Dishwalla	Life Talking	Dish		United states of America
Disturbed	Brawl			United states of America
Dissection	Siren's Yell			Sweden
Dog Fashion Disco	Hug The Retard			United states of America
doubleDrive	MK Ultra			United states of America
Downset	Social Justice			United states of America
Dust for Life	Bacchanal			United states of America
The Duskfall	Soulash			Sweden
Elbow	Mr. Soft	Soft	^[10]	England
Empire of the Sun	Steelemore		^[11]	Australia
Enter Shikari	Hybryd	Shikari Sound System, Jonny And The Snipers		England
Eso-Charis	Elliot			United states of America
Eve 6	Yakoo	Eleventeen		United states of America
Faith No More	Sharp Young Men	Faith No Man		United states of America
Fear Factory	Ulceration	Fear The Factor		United states of America
Feeder	Reel	Renegades		Wales
Finger Eleven	Stone Soul Picnic	Rainbow Butt Monkeys		Canada
Flyleaf	Passerby			United states of America
Foje	Sunki Muzika			Lithuania
Foo Fighters	The Holy Shits	Dee Gees, The Churn Ups		United states of America
Fuel	Reel Too Real	Small The Joy, Re-fueled		United states of America
Full Devil Jacket	Voodoo Hippies			United states of America
Full Scale	Full Scale Deflection	Full Scale Revolution		Australia
Future Leaders of the World	Machina			United states of America
The Funeral Pyre	Envilent			United states of America
Gates of Ishtar	Disrupt			Sweden
Glass Casket	Gadrel			United states of America
Godsmack	The Scam			United states of America
Gojira	Godzilla			France
Goo Goo Dolls	The Sex Maggots		^[2]^[10]	United states of America
Green Apple Quick Step	Inspector Luv			United states of America
Green Day	Sweet Children		^[1]	United states of America
Heaven Shall Burn	Before The Fall	Consense		Germany
Heck	Baby Godzilla			England
Hollywood Undead	The Kids			United states of America
Ill Niño	El Niño			United states of America
InMe	Drowned			England
Insane Clown Posse	JJ Boyz	Bloody Brothers, Inner City Posse		United states of America
INXS	The Farriss Brothers		^[11]	Australia
Joy Division	Stiff Kittens	Warsaw	^[12]	England
Kataklysm	Northern Hyperblast			Canada
Kalmah	Ancestor			Finland
Kilgore	Regicide	Smudge, Stain, Kilgore Smudge		United states of America
Knocked Loose	Manipulator			United states of America
Kutless	Call Box			United states of America
Lacuna Coil	Sleep Of Right	Ethereal		Italy
Lamb of God	Burn The Priest		^[1]	United states of America
Lemon Demon	Trapezoid	Deporitaz	^[13]	United states of America
Lemon Joy	Этаж 3	Lemon's Joy		Lithuania
Led Zeppelin	The New Yardbirds		^[9]	England
The Libertines	The Strand		^[10]	England
Lifer	Bloodmouth	Driver, Strangers With Candy		United states of America
Light the Torch	Devil You Know			United states of America
Linkin Park	Xero	Hybrid Theory	^[14]^[15]	United states of America
Live	Public Affection			United states of America
Luna Mortis	The Ottoman Empire			United states of America
Mango	Man-Go			Lithuania
Marilyn Manson	Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids			United states of America
Maroon 5	Kara's Flowers	Maroon	^[1]	United states of America
Mind Funk	Mind Fuck			United states of America
Modern Day Zero	Mesh	Mesh STL		United states of America
Motionless in White	One Way Ticket	When Breathing Stops		United states of America
Mother Love Bone	Lords Of The Wasteland			United states of America
Moonspell	Morbid God			Portugal
Mt. Helium	The Apex Theory			United states of America
Muse	Rocket Baby Dolls		^[8]	England
Nickelback	Village Idiots		^[8]	Canada
Nirvana	Skid Row	Pen Cap Chew, Bliss, Ted Ed Fred	^[8]^[16]	United states of America
Nonpoint	Nonpoint Factor			United states of America
Norther	Requiem	Decayed		Finland
Norma Jean	Luti-Kriss			United states of America
Oasis	The Rain		^[10]	England
Odd Crew	Каскадьори			Bulgaria
Passenger	Cliff			Sweden
Pearl Jam	Mookie Blaylock		^[1]	United states of America
Pink Floyd	Sigma 6	Meggadeaths, The Screaming Abdabs, Leonard’s Lodgers, The Spectrum Five, Tea Set	^[17]^[8]	England
Protest the Hero	Happy Go Lucky			Canada
Psyopus	Stranglefuck			United states of America
Queen	Smile			England
Queens of the Stone Age	Gamma Ray			United states of America
Radiohead	On A Friday		^[1]	England
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Tony Flow And The Miraculously Majestic Masters Of Mayhem		^[1]	United states of America
R.E.M.	Hornets Attack Victor Mature	Bingo Hand Job, It Crawled From The South, Twisted Kites, Negro Eyes, Cans Of Piss	^[18]	England
Rondo	Brolių Tautkų Grupė	Provincija		Lithuania
The Roots	Radio Activity	Black To The Future, The Square Roots	^[19]	United states of America
Savage Garden	Crush		^[11]	Australia
Scars Of Life	Confined			United states of America
Selena Gomez & the Scene	The Scene			United states of America
Seether	Saron Gas			South Africa
Shihad	Exit	Pacifier		New Zealand
Sevendust	Rumble Fish	Crawlspace		United states of America
The Showdown	2540			United states of America
Silverchair	Innocent Criminals	The George Costanza Trio, Short Elvis		Australia
Simon & Garfunkel	Tom And Jerry		^[1]	United states of America
System of a Down	Soil			United states of America
Skid Row	Skip Rope			United states of America
Slade	The N' Betweens	Ambrose Slade	^[6]	England
Slipknot	Pygsystem	Meld	^[10]	United states of America
Smile Empty Soul	Hecklers Veto			United states of America
Snow Patrol	Shrug	Polar Bear	^[2]^[10]	Scotland
Soilwork	Inferior Breed			Sweden
Sonic Syndicate	Fallen Angels			Sweden
Sonny & Cher	Caesar And Cleo		^[4]	United states of America
Sparks	Halfnelson			United states of America
Spice Girls	Touch		^[20]	England
Static-X	Drill	Static		United states of America
Status Quo	Scorpions	The Paladins, The Spectres, Traffic Jam		England
Stereophonics	Tragic Love Company		^[21]	Wales
Stone Sour	Super Ego	Closure		United states of America
Stone Temple Pilots	Swing	Mighty Joe Young, Shirleys Temple's Pussy		United states of America
Sugar Ray	Shrinky Dinx		^[1]	United states of America
Sum 41	Kaspir	Pain For Pleasure		Canada
Switchfoot	Chip Up			United states of America
Tantric	C-14			United states of America
They Might Be Giants	El Grupo De Rock And Roll		^[22]	United states of America
Three Days Grace	Groundswell			Canada
Tiamat	Treblinka			Sweden
Trust Company	41 Down			United states of America
Unified Theory	Luma			United states of America
U2	Feedback	The Hype	^[8]^[2]	Ireland
Van Halen	Genesis	Mammoth	^[8]	United states of America
Vardøger	Hidden Paradise			Norway
Vein.fm	Vein			United states of America
Within Temptation	The Portal			The Netherlands
Winterville	The Others	The Keytones		England
The Who	The Detours	The High Numbers	^[2] ^[23]	England
Young the Giant	The Jakes		^[24]^[25]^[24]	United states of America
Zonaria	Seal Precious			Sweden

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "25 Worst Original Names of Famous Bands". Rolling Stone. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Acuna, Kirsten (5 September 2012). "15 Original Band Names Before They Were Famous". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
^ Hughes, Andrew (2009). The Bee Gees - Tales of the Brothers Gibb. ISBN 9780857120045. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Conrdat, Stacy (14 September 2009). "The Quick 10: The Former Names of 10 Bands". Mental Floss. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ Barker, Emily (3 February 2014). "Blondie: 25 Godlike Moments From One Of The World's Most Influential Bands". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b Rentoul, John (24 January 2016). "The Top Ten: Original band names". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
^ Wild, Debs; Croft, Malcolm (2018). Life in Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay. ECW Press. pp. 13–16. ISBN 9781787391093.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "The 12 worst original band names". Planet Rock. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b Billboard staff (7 May 2014). "Original Band Names of 51 Famous Groups". Billboard. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cicierega, Neil (2008). "Revealed – what bands were called before they made it big". Lemon Demon. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Adams, Cameron (18 September 2015). "The worst original Aussie band names". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 22 April 2017.
^ Gray, Chris (9 February 2011). "25 Famous Bands' Less Famous Previous". Houston Press. Retrieved 21 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Text "Names" ignored (help)
^ Barker, Emily (9 July 2014). "Lemon Demon (Info)". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ Cite error: The named reference HTLP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Ragogna, Mike (July 25, 2012). "A Conversation With Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, Plus Chatting With VideofyMe's Oskar Glauser and The Villains and Ben Arthur Exclusives". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
^ Azerrad, Michael (1994). Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. pp. 61–2. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.
^ Barker, Emily (9 July 2014). "50 Geeky Facts About Pink Floyd". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ "R.E.M.'s first ever show: Opening band at a birthday party in a church".
^ Thompson, Ahmir 'Questlove'; Greenman, Ben (2013). "Chapter 9". Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove. Hachette Book Group. p. 88.
^ Vincent, Alice (8 July 2016). "Here's the story, from A to Z: how the Spice Girls made Wannabe". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ Marks (2009), p. 38
^ "They Might Be Giants full biography".
^ Denham, Jess (3 February 2016). "Starfish to Girl's Tyme: 12 famous bands with dodgy original names". The Independent. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b Owen-Turner, Arrissia (2009-12-09). "Newport Beach's the Jakes Change Their Name to..." OC Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
^ Owen-Turner, Arrissia (2010-01-07). "The Band Formerly Known as the Jakes Take the Stage as Young the Giant". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

[RSlist-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "25 Worst Original Names of Famous Bands". Rolling Stone. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[bilist-2] Acuna, Kirsten (5 September 2012). "15 Original Band Names Before They Were Famous". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 April 2017.

[3] Hughes, Andrew (2009). The Bee Gees - Tales of the Brothers Gibb. ISBN 9780857120045. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

[MFlist-4] Conrdat, Stacy (14 September 2009). "The Quick 10: The Former Names of 10 Bands". Mental Floss. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[5] Barker, Emily (3 February 2014). "Blondie: 25 Godlike Moments From One Of The World's Most Influential Bands". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[indlist-6] Rentoul, John (24 January 2016). "The Top Ten: Original band names". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2017.

[WILD-7] Wild, Debs; Croft, Malcolm (2018). Life in Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay. ECW Press. pp. 13–16. ISBN 9781787391093.

[prlist-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "The 12 worst original band names". Planet Rock. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[billboardlist-9] Billboard staff (7 May 2014). "Original Band Names of 51 Famous Groups". Billboard. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[nmelist-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cicierega, Neil (2008). "Revealed – what bands were called before they made it big". Lemon Demon. Retrieved 2 December 2019.

[aulist-11] Adams, Cameron (18 September 2015). "The worst original Aussie band names". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 22 April 2017.

[hplist-12] Gray, Chris (9 February 2011). "25 Famous Bands' Less Famous Previous". Houston Press. Retrieved 21 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Text "Names" ignored (help)

[13] Barker, Emily (9 July 2014). "Lemon Demon (Info)". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[HTLP-14] Cite error: The named reference HTLP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[15] Ragogna, Mike (July 25, 2012). "A Conversation With Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, Plus Chatting With VideofyMe's Oskar Glauser and The Villains and Ben Arthur Exclusives". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2013.

[16] Azerrad, Michael (1994). Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. pp. 61–2. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.

[17] Barker, Emily (9 July 2014). "50 Geeky Facts About Pink Floyd". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[18] "R.E.M.'s first ever show: Opening band at a birthday party in a church".

[19] Thompson, Ahmir 'Questlove'; Greenman, Ben (2013). "Chapter 9". Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove. Hachette Book Group. p. 88.

[20] Vincent, Alice (8 July 2016). "Here's the story, from A to Z: how the Spice Girls made Wannabe". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

[21] Marks (2009), p. 38

[22] "They Might Be Giants full biography".

[indlist2-23] Denham, Jess (3 February 2016). "Starfish to Girl's Tyme: 12 famous bands with dodgy original names". The Independent. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

[ocweekly3-24] Owen-Turner, Arrissia (2009-12-09). "Newport Beach's the Jakes Change Their Name to..." OC Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

[ocweekly4-25] Owen-Turner, Arrissia (2010-01-07). "The Band Formerly Known as the Jakes Take the Stage as Young the Giant". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

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List of original names of bands

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Other topics

References