Band Beginnings

Formed in 1974 at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, the band first consisted of three members: David Byrne (vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz (drums, percussion), and Tina… view entry > | edit entry >

Fine Young Cannibals were a British band best known for their 1989 hits "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". They were formed in Birmingham, England, by vocalist Roland Gift and former The Beat… view entry > | edit entry >

The band General Public formed after the 1983 break-up of The Beat (known as The English Beat in North America). Ex-Beat vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger joined up with keyboardist Mickey… view entry > | edit entry >

Before Steven Tyler (then Stephen Tallarico) formed Aerosmith, he sang in several other bands. The biggest of these, and the only one to put their music on vinyl, were a band called Chain Reaction.… view entry > | edit entry >

The Police were founded by American-born drummer Stewart Copeland in early 1977. After the demise of his progressive rock band Curved Air, Copeland was anxious to form a new three-piece group and join… view entry > | edit entry >

Guns N' Roses was founded in Los Angeles in March 1985 by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns, as an informal merger of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, both of which Axl Rose had been a member, and the… view entry > | edit entry >

In 1951 Keith Richards and Mick Jagger met while attending Wentworth County Junior School. In 1960, they met again while Richards was attending Sidcup Art College. Richards remembered in a 1971… view entry > | edit entry >

In 1972, the Van Halen brothers formed a three-piece band. In their early days, Van Halen was known as Mammoth, with Eddie Van Halen as lead vocalist and guitarist, Alex Van Halen on drums, and Mark… view entry > | edit entry >

Before The Cars, the members of the band began coming together in several early forms. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr were the first to meet at a party in Columbus, Ohio, and they began performing as a… view entry > | edit entry >

Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were members of pioneering grunge band Green River during the mid-1980s. Green River toured and recorded to moderate success but disbanded in 1987 due to a stylistic… view entry > | edit entry >

Mudcrutch was a band that eventually evolved into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band that made a 2-track demo at keyboardist's Benmont Tench's parents' home in Gainesville, consisted of members… view entry > | edit entry >

The Mullanes was the first incarnation of Australasian rock group Crowded House following the demise of Split Enz in 1984. The name Mullane is bandleader Neil Finn's middle name, given to him after… view entry > | edit entry >

The band completed the Scandinavian tour as The New Yardbirds. One account of the band's naming, which has become almost legendary, has it that Keith Moon and John Entwistle suggested that a possible… view entry > | edit entry >

The Quarrymen (sometimes written as The Quarry Men) (circa late 1956 - Oct 1959) are an English skiffle group formed in Liverpool in the latter part of 1956 by John Lennon with several school friends.… view entry > | edit entry >

The origins of The Doors lay in a chance meeting between acquaintances and UCLA film school students Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach, California in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he… view entry > | edit entry >

Pink Floyd evolved from an earlier rock band, formed in 1965, which was at various times called Sigma 6, the Meggadeaths, and the Abdabs. When the band split up, some members — guitarists Rado "Bob"… view entry > | edit entry >