Practically synonymous with rock, this band has had multiple number one albums. “The Wall” is an immense undertaking personal story. “The Dark Side of the Moon” contributed several hits to the lexicon of music and inspired a famous urban legend connecting it to “The Wizard of Oz”. “Wish You Were Here” is eminently listenable. But where did the odd name come from?
Syd Barrett – the founding guitarist who left in 1968 – said he simply combined the names of his two favorite musicians, Pink Anderson (American blues singer and guitarist) and Floyd Council (American blues guitarist, mandolin player, and singer).
Coldplay
A simple, memorable name does wonders for a band, and such is the case for Coldplay. Group founders Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland both attended University College London. While in school, Martin and Buckland first collaborated on a band they named Pectoralz. Thankfully, they realized that name wasn't great, and they switched to...Starfish. Which is better, no doubt, but still doesn't have that certain something.
After that, their friend Tim Crompton came up with the name Coldplay for his own band but decided he didn't like it, gifting it to Martin and Buckland. Decades later, almost everyone has heard of Coldplay, all thanks to Crompton not liking it enough for his own band.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead mixed psychedelic rock, folk, jazz, country, and even gospel, making a sound that remains unique even to this day. For information about the name, fans – known as “Deadheads” – can turn to biographer Blair Jackson, who wrote "Grateful Dead: The Music Never Stopped". It says that lead guitarist Jerry Garcia discovered the name by accident.
He was at bassist Phil Lesh's house once and opened the dictionary. Flipping through it, he found by happenstance the juxtaposed words “grateful dead.” Jerry described it like this: “Everything else went blank, diffuse, just sort of oozed away, and there was GRATEFUL DEAD in big, black letters edged all around in gold.” Sounds magical.
Weezer
Their singles “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills” are lauded by the listening public. However, not much this somehow-famous band has produced really sticks around. Still, they're more than a two-hit wonder. Comprising of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner, they've been active since 1992.
The origin of the simple name comes from Cuomo's father, who gave him the nickname “Weezer” as a child. When his parents got divorced, Cuomo's father would write letters to him, opening each one with “To Weezer.” Rivers grew so attached to the name that he attached it to his band, which soon shot to almost-stardom.
Green Day
Think hard enough, and you'll come up with the reasoning behind this name. This punk-rock trio gave their genre a dose of new life even in the new millennium when their brand of music was starting to falter.
The band's front-man, Billie Joe Armstrong, revealed the simple truth of the name when he appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" more than ten years ago. Maher asked Armstrong about the urban myth that the name comes from... let's call them green cigarettes. Armstrong immediately replied that it does.