Every child wants to grow up to be a superhero. Steven Ellison – you may know him better as Flying Lotus – told “Hearty Magazine” in 2010. “I would always bother people about superheroes and I was like, ‘Ok if you could have any superpower in the creation of comic books what would you have […] what would you do?’ I wanted to fly. That’s it. That’s all.”
Thus, when Ellison found his rap career taking off, he chose a moniker that got him into the stratosphere and turned him into a superhero, just like he always wanted.
Panic! At The Disco
Ah, Panic! At The Disco. Everyone's favorite pop band. It began as a four-person outfit but was reduced to a solo project when everyone but Brendon Urie departed. The prevailing theory is that it comes from the lyrics of The Smiths' “Panic,” but Urie knows the true answer.
He lifted the name wholesale from “Panic,” a song by US indie band Name Taken: “Panic at the disco / Sat back and took it so slow / Are you nervous? / Are you shaking?” It's unknown why Urie liked the lyric, or why he chose something that makes the band sound like it's fifty years old, but it's at least memorable.
Lana Del Rey
As it turns out, this solo act songstress doesn't perform under her given name. Her real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant but decided she needed a stage name that reflected the kind of music she was hoping to create.
“I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba.” She went with Lana Del Rey because, as she said, it reminded her of the glamour of the seaside. It's a bright, sunny name, which is interesting since a lot of the Del Ray music has a somewhat somber bend.
The Human League
Synth music has always had a futuristic, science-fiction feeling. So, when the Sheffield synth pioneers were trying to find the right name for their outfit, they first went with The Future, aptly. However, this pair of gals added singer Phil Oakey and decided that their name needed an upgrade.
They went with The Human League, which was the name of a futuristic society from a 1970s science-fiction board game called Starforce: Alpha Centauri. There's nothing like a soundtrack for when you're gaming with friends, and this outfit now seems like the prime candidate for futuristic and sci-fi games.
Foster the People
This name is unique, even among band names. The original name for this outfit was Foster & The People – Mark Foster is the band's front-man and creative force. However, when they started playing at clubs and other gigs, the fans who were dancing to the music kept mishearing the name, thinking that they were called “Foster the People.”
Foster later spoke to USA Today and said that since they performed for charity organizations in the beginning, the changed name just clicked. While the new name might be a bit strange syntax-wise, it still led to plenty of great music.