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Original Band Names of 51 Famous Groups

By Billboard Staff
5/7/2014
  • Copied to clipboard
1 / 52
Item 1 of 52

Original Band Names of 51 Famous Groups!

Would Girl's Tyme have been as huge if they'd never become DESTINY'S CHILD? Could Rat Salad, Mookie Blaylock or Polka Tulk Blues Band have ever turned into the huge rock bands they became if they never changed their names to VAN HALEN, PEARL JAM, and BLACK SABBATH respectively? The world will never know, but what we do know is that many groups initially went by other, often wackier names. Here's a look at 50 famous acts whose original names that didn't make it to stardom with them.

RELATED:POP STARS' REAL NAMES

 

By Billboard Staff
5/7/2014
  • Copied to clipboard
Artist Mentioned
Getty Images
2 / 52
Item 2 of 52

Destiny's Child in 2002

Original Name: Girl's Tyme
Sasha Samsonova
3 / 52
Item 3 of 52

FIFTH HARMONY

Original Name: Lylas
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Malibu
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Item 4 of 52

MAROON 5

Original Name: Kara's Flowers=
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Item 5 of 52

1474689-green-day-marina-chavez-617-409

Original Name: Sweet Children
Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
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Item 6 of 52

VAN HALEN

Original Name: Rat Salad
Danny Clinch
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PEARL JAM

Original Name: Mookie Blaylock
Anton Corbijn
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Item 8 of 52

NIRVANA

Original Name: Pen Cap Chew
Jon Furniss/WireImage
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Item 9 of 52

OUTKAST

Original Name: Two Shades Deep
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
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Item 10 of 52

THE BEASTIE BOYS

Original Name: The Young Aborigines
Jatnna Nunez
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Item 11 of 52

YOUNG THE GIANT

Original Name: The Jakes
Ben Watts
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Item 12 of 52

THE ROOTS

Original Name: The Square Roots
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Item 13 of 52

RADIOHEAD

Original Name: On A Friday
Nora Lezano
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Item 14 of 52

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Original Name: Gamma Ray
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Item 15 of 52

LED ZEPPELIN

Original Name: The New Yardbirds
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Item 16 of 52

PUBLIC ENEMY

Original Name: Spectrum City
Getty Images Entertainment
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Item 17 of 52

106138-cypress_hill_617_409

Original Name: DVX
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Item 18 of 52

LINKIN PARK

Original Name: Xero
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Item 19 of 52

BLACK SABBATH

Original Name: Polka Tulk Blues Band
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Item 20 of 52

KISS

Original Name: Wicked Lester
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Item 21 of 52

1176119-coldplay-portrait-617-409

Original Name: Starfish
Denise Truscello/WireImage
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Item 22 of 52

BOYZ II MEN

Original Name: Unique Attraction
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Item 23 of 52

THE GRATEFUL DEAD

Original Name: The Warlocks
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Item 24 of 52

PHISH

Original Name: Blackwood Convention
Paul Natkin/WireImage
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Item 25 of 52

THE FUGEES

Original Name: Tranzlator Crew
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Item 26 of 52

100387-creed_617_409

Original Name: Naked Toddler
Ebet Roberts/Redferns
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Item 27 of 52

THE CURE

Original Name: The Obelisk
Getty Images
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Item 28 of 52

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

Original Name: Inner City Posse
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Item 29 of 52

THE WHO

Original Name: The High Numbers
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
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Item 30 of 52

U2

Original Name: The Hype
Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella
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Item 31 of 52

red-hot-chili-peppers-coachella-650a

Original Name: Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem
Colin Lane/Courtesy RCA Records
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Item 32 of 52

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

Original Name: Perfect Confusion
David Leyes
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Item 33 of 52

BARENAKED LADIES

Original Name: Free Beer
Kate Glicksberg
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Item 34 of 52

GOO GOO DOLLS

Original Name: The Sex Maggots
WireImage
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Item 35 of 52

TLC

Original Name: 2nd Nature
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Item 36 of 52

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

Original Name: Avey Tare and Panda Bear
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Item 37 of 52

SNOW PATROL

Original Name: Polar Bear
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Item 38 of 52

TALKING HEADS

Original Names: The Artistics
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Item 39 of 52

BLINK-182

Original Name: Duck Tape
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
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Item 40 of 52

QUEEN

Original Name: Smile
Vivian Campbell, far left, with Def Leppard. (Ash Newell Photography)
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Item 41 of 52

DEF LEPPARD

Original Name: Atomic Mass
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Item 42 of 52

THREE 6 MAFIA

Original Name: Backyard Posse
Chapman Baehler
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Item 43 of 52

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

Original Name: Mighty Joe Young
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Item 44 of 52

THE BEE GEES

Original Name: Rattlesnakes
Michel Linssen/Redferns
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Item 45 of 52

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Original Name: Nynuk
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Item 46 of 52

PINK FLOYD

Original Name: The Tea Set
Seher Sikander
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roots-picnic-naughty-by-nature-650

Original Name: New Style
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Item 48 of 52

THE SUPREMES

Original Name: The Primettes
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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EARTH, WIND & FIRE

Original Name: The Salty Peppers
Depeche Mode: Anton Corbijn
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DEPECHE MODE

Original Name: Composition of Sound
 Michael Putland/Getty Images
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THE CLASH

Original Name: The Weak Heartdrops
John Pratt/Keystone/Getty Images
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Item 52 of 52

THE BEATLES

Original Name:The Silver Beatles

Want more on famous musicians' names? Check out our gallery of POP STARS' REAL NAMES
 

By Billboard Staff
5/7/2014
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