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

Aerosmith’s Name Was Rejected By Bandmates

Photo Credit: Larry Busacca / Staff

Joey Kramer actually came up with the name Aerosmith before he ever played with Stephen Tyler or Joe Perry. He was listening to Harry Nilsson’s “Aerial Ballet” with his girlfriend when the couple decided to ring off cool, fictional band names that had the word “aero” in them.

He stumbled upon Aerosmith but the band he was in at the time rejected his idea. As soon as Kramer joined up with the toxic twins, he convinced them to use the band name, but he first had to assure them that it didn’t have anything to do with Arrowsmith, the Sinclair Lewis novel they read in high school.