Check Out How Your Favorite Musicians Stumbled Into Choosing Their Now-Iconic Names

The Barenaked Ladies Can Thank Bob Dylan For Their Name

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Even if you don’t know about the treasure of Canadian alt-rock, everyone looks twice when they read this band’s strange name. Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the two founders of the Barenaked Ladies, were attending a Bob Dylan concert in Toronto in 1988. The two got bored and began brainstorming some band names to pass the time.

Fast-forward a few months later, Robertson entered into a battle of the bands and had to come up with a name for his makeshift name on the fly, and “Barenaked Ladies” stood out in his memory from the Dylan concert. Page couldn’t believe Robertson actually used that name, but it has served them well. I mean, what other bands regularly feature an electric double bass and can pull it off?