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Ever wondered how your beloved bands got their names? While some needed years to finally find the perfect name, others searched for it and found it in a dictionary in a matter of hours.

Here’s a list of how 14 great bands that we love got their names:

1. Nirvana

   

   The bands first incarnation was named Fecal Matter, after that several other silly names, even Skid Row. Kurt Cobain settled on NIRVANA in 1987. He defined punk-rock as ‘freedom’ through this word. Really nice, but things got messy when a 60’s band with the same name from the U.K. sued them in 1992.

2. Guns N’ Roses

   

   The original band members (the ones who’ve recorded Appetite for Destruction) came from 2 different bands that activated in the LA scene in the early 80’s. These were ‘L.A. Guns’ and ‘Hollywood Rose’. The rest is obvious and history. Interestingly, Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi fame wanted to name their ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986) album Guns N’ Roses, after seeing an ad about the boys while they were known only in the LA scene. Ironically enough, the two bands hated each other and pretty much still do.

3. Stone Temple Pilots

   

   The band liked the STP acronyms since the beginning. They wanted to be called Shirley Temple’s Pussy, but after the label thought that that wasn’t a good idea, they finally settled on Stone Temple Pilots. Makes no sense to me, but that’s why I love it!

4. Audioslave

   

   Nothing interesting here, just that it was Chris Cornell’s idea of calling the band Audioslave. The rest of the guys liked it. The critics though made fun of it at the beginning. I don’t understand why, though. I think it sounds rather cool, and leaves a nice mental picture.

5. Red Hot Chili Peppers
   

   

   It’s still not clear whose idea was it. ‘Legend’ has it that Anthony or Flea, I can’t remember, was sitting on the top of the Hollywood Hills in one early morning in the early 80’s while a bus go by, that had an inscription on it that read ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers.’ The another story that stands more closer to the reality is that the band got their name from two different bands, ‘The Red Hot Peppers’ and ‘The Chilly Willy’.

6. Bon Jovi

   

   John Bongiovi decided that he wanted to be a musician in the early 80’s. He recorded the hit single ‘Runaway’ in 1982, signed with a label and he created a band. The label thought that it would sound cooler and more commercial (of course) if they would slightly edit his name to Bon Jovi. This is how this great band from Jersey was born.

7. Metallica

   

   Nothing interesting here I tell you. A friend of theirs gave them the idea, when James and Lars were only at the beginning. One of the most well known musical names in history. Everybody in every corner of this world has heard of Metallica. Amazing.

8. Pearl Jam

   

   Eddie Vedder kind of auditioned to be a part of the band by sending them tapes with vocals. They liked him, called him and decided that he was perfect. As for the name, Eddie wanted it to be or include the word ‘Pearl’, while the rest of the guys thought that Jam sounded cool.

9. Velvet Revolver

   

   Resembling the PJ story, Slash wanted the band to be called Revolver. Scott Weiland thought that it sounded exactly like GN’R, so he wanted Velvet. That’s how Velvet Revolver was born.

10. R.E.M.

    

    Maybe my most favorite of them all is how Michael Stipe and co. settled on R.E.M. They’ve searched through the dictionary for cool words and they came across this. Some say it means ‘rapid eye movement’ thought it has never been confirmed.

11. Soundgarden
    

    

    ‘The Sound Garden’ is a public art work on NOAA property adjacent to Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle grunge band Soundgarden took their name from this art work.

12. The Doors

    

    Jim Morrison, the poet, got his band name from a Huxley poem called The Doors of Perception.

13. U2

    

    Bono was born on the same day as a military jet named U2 crashed near Dublin. I could be terribly wrong. I remember reading something like this years ago. Anyway, one of their early name was ‘Feedback’.

14. Breaking Benjamin

    

    The last but also the funniest story is how Breaking Benjamin got their names. The lead-singer, Ben was a huge Nirvana fan and while playing a Nirvana cover in some little club in the mid 90’s, he accidentally dropped the microphone in the middle of the song to which the promoter replied: ‘Thank you Benjamin for breaking my fucking microphone’.

    That’s all! I hope you liked my first article! It was a pleasure writing it! Thank you!