Can You Guess the Band’s Original Name?

Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem was one of the biggest musical acts to emerge out of the 1990s. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because you probably know them by their preferred moniker: the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Anthony Kiedis-led band took on the Tony Flow moniker in the early 1980s before settling on a better label, which was inspired by the “hot” or “red hot” names of early jazz bands.

Picking a name for a band isn’t easy. See if you can spot the original names for these famous acts.

Certain band name trends have come and gone over the years. In the 1950s, several doo-wop groups took their names from birds (the Orioles), while some all-women groups of the ’60s took their cue from fabrics (the Chiffrons). Then came frontmen with top billing, like Buddy Holly and the Crickets. And sometimes bands could stop a trend in mid-stream: After a rash of bands like the Who and the Rolling Stones came the Pink Floyd—the band dropped the word the soon after.

Take Our Latest Quizzes: