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From Barbies to Maggots: The Nicknames of 25 Fan Bases
The world is full of obsessed music lovers - I just hope someday when throngs of admirers come to see me in concert (hopefully they like horrible singing), they have a nickname as cool as these.
1. Fanilows - fans of Barry Manilow. The Fanilows have been around for quite some time, but really reached a pop culture high when a Will & Grace episode titled "Fanilow" outed Will as a Barry fan.
2. Beliebers - fans of Justin Bieber. It appears that the "Belieber" tag came from the depths of Internet fandom, but some belieb the nickname was created by a malevolent force. Hey, you know who's a Belieber? Johnny Depp.
3. Little Monsters - fans of Lady Gaga. Would you believe Lady Gaga has only been using that term for her fans since the summer of 2009? The name is derived from her album The Fame Monster.
4. Claymates - fans of Clay Aiken. Some of the Claymates even divide themselves into subcategories such as "Claysians."
5. Maggots - fans of Slipknot. Apparently the members of the band were inspired to call their fans by the descriptive name because of the way they writhed and squirmed during their shows.
6. Black Stars - fans of Avril Lavigne.
Avril uses this term to refer to her fans and her perfume.
7. Blockheads - fans of New Kids on the Block. So what are fans of the newly-formed NKOTBSB called?
8. Parrotheads - fans of Jimmy Buffett. But I hardly need to tell you that. Children of Parrotheads or younger Buffett fans are referred to as Parakeets. I consider myself the former.
9. The Apple Scruffs - not just fans of the Beatles, but very specific fans that would be probably best classified as groupies. The Apple Scruffs waited outside of the Beatles' Apple Corp offices for the Beatles to come an go, and even managed to get into Paul McCartney's house to steal a pair of pants. They went in through the bathroom window… sound familiar?
10. The Victims - fans of the Killers.
11. Deadheads - fans of the Grateful Dead, of course. The first time the term appeared was in 1971 on the sleeve of their second live album:
DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you? Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed. Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, California 94901.
Famous Deadheads include Tony Blair (played in a Grateful Dead-esque band in college), Walter Cronkite (2 concerts, but he was good friends with dreamy Mickey Hart) and Ann Coulter (67 concerts).
12. The Blue Army - fans of Aerosmith. Back in the mid-70s, the phrase referred to the masses of Aerosmith fans who came to concerts decked out in denim - jeans and jackets in particular. It was also meant to refer to their blue collar fan base. The term is still used, but Aerosmith also now has an official fan club called Aero Force One.
13. The KISS Army - fans of KISS.
One of the biggest fan clubs in the world started as the result of humble efforts by two fans who wanted their local radio station to play KISS music. When phone calls didn't work, the duo started a letter-writing campaign, signing their pleas with the official-sounding titles of "president" and "field marshall" of the army.
14. RihannaNavy - fans of Rihanna.
15. Grobanites - fans of Josh Groban.
16. Juggalo/Juggalette - fans of Insane Clown Posse. If you didn't know that before this year, you probably heard the term after Charlie Sheen's appearance at the annual Gathering of the Juggalos. The term comes from the band's song "The Juggla."
17. Katy-Cats - fans of Katy Perry. Supposedly Perry came up with the name herself during the Hello Katy tour, which I can believe: she also named her real cat Kitty Purry.
18. Swifties - fans of Taylor Swift. Go figure.
19. Killjoys - fans of My Chemical Romance. From what I can tell (feel free to chime in, fans), Killjoys is a relatively new nickname based on the band's latest album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Prior to that, most fans called themselves the MCR-my (and many still do).
20. Sweet Ps - fans of Pia Toscano from American Idol.
21. Barbies - fans of Nicki Minaj. Nicki explained the name in a 2009 interview:
It's like a term of endearment for me. "I used to call people sweetie and honey now I say Barbies. A lot of girls call themselves Barbies. Nicki Minaj did not invent that. People always add something to their Barbie name and because I love the Harajuku culture I made my Barbie the Harajuku Barbie, I thought it was unique and no one has ever said that kind of Barbie before. The girls ran with it, they gave it a life of its own. I never set out to be on no Barbie Movement. My Barbies made the barbie movement."
22. Phans - fans of Phish. Fans of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway are also known as Phans.
23. Wayniacs - fans of Lil' Wayne… and also Wayne Newton. I'm guessing it's OK if they share a nickname since there's probably not much overlap in fan base.
24. Diamond Heads - fans of Neil Diamond.
25. Taylors or Taylor Gang - fans of Wiz Khalifa. The rapper is obsessed with his Chuck Taylor shoes, and fans took note.
No doubt I'm missing many - let me know if your favorite band has a particularly interesting or pun-ny nickname for fans.