Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies in 2012
Barenaked Ladies in 2012
Background information
OriginScarborough, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Years active1988–present
Labels
Members
Past members
Websitebarenakedladies.com

Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done" and "Call and Answer".[3] Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Initially a duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page,[4] the band quickly grew to a quintet, adding brothers Jim and Andy Creeggan and Tyler Stewart by 1990. Andy Creeggan left the band in 1995 and was replaced by Kevin Hearn. Page left in 2009, reducing the group to a quartet.

The band's style has evolved throughout their career, and their music, which began as exclusively acoustic, quickly grew to encompass a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop and rap.[citation needed] The band's live performances feature comedic banter and freestyle rapping between songs.[5] They have won multiple Juno Awards and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.[6] The group has sold over 15 million albums and singles and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in March 2018.

  1. ^ Weisbard, Eric (December 2000). "Geek Love". SPIN. pp. 158–162.
  2. ^ Cantrell, Paul Alexander (2014). "'A Very Subtle Joke': T. S. Eliot, J. D. Salinger and the Puer Aeternus in God Shuffled His Feet". In DiBlasi, Alex; Willis, Victoria (eds.). Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 79–98. ISBN 9781442229761.
  3. ^ Powell, Bettsy (16 January 1999). "There's no place like home". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. and 58. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. ^ Bill Welychka (executive producer) (2003). MuchMoreMusic Bio (TV-series). Toronto, Ontario: MuchMoreMusic.
  5. ^ Moll, George (executive producer) (2000). Behind the Music (TV-series). New York, NY: VH1.
  6. ^ "Barenaked Ladies". Grammy.com. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2019.