# Bands named after real people that weren’t members of the band **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2026, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635 "2026-01-13T10:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/61 "2026-01-14T11:29:30Z")
British Heavy Metal band Judas Priest. Taken from the Bob Dylan song. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/62 "2026-01-14T12:36:56Z")
If barbershop quartets count: the Buffalo Bills. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/63 "2026-01-14T13:24:02Z")
[The Bruce Lee Band](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bruce_Lee_Band). There was a NYC-based band called [Eve’s Plum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve's_Plum) (a nod to Eve Plumb). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/64 "2026-01-14T14:31:07Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > > [@garygnu](#): > > > > Country band Sawyer Brown is named after a road in Nashville. Presumably the road is named for a real person or people. > > I seem to remember the road was named after two people. There was the Sawyer farm and the Brown farm on the road. But, I could be wrong. Sleater-Kinney Rd. was named after two families. The band was named after the road. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/65 "2026-01-14T14:35:34Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > For years, I played in a local band named, “Frank Burns”. My brother-in-law played in a band called, “Haven Moses”. Though there are undoubtedly real Frank Burnses out there, I imagine that your band was more likely named after the _MASH_ character. [Haven Moses](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MoseHa00.htm), OTOH, is a real person (with an excellent name). ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/66 "2026-01-14T14:44:34Z")
Au contraire. I had no hand in naming it, but I was told it was a reference to a bad barbecue experience … but I never believed them. (also apropos, there’s a dog I sometimes take care of a daycare named Frank, last name, Burns - and the pet parents said it nothing to do with MASH either) ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/67 "2026-01-14T15:02:18Z")
A couple of not hugely well known British Punk bands. Phineas Gage who took their name from that railway worker in America in the 1800s who survived a metal bar piercing his skull. Wat Tyler who took their name from the leader of the 1381 Peasants Revolt in England. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/68 "2026-01-14T23:19:34Z")
The Lee Harvey Oswald Band ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PULmAe3IS8I/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/PULmAe3IS8I?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RDPULmAe3IS8I ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/69 "2026-01-14T23:30:07Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > I seem to remember the road was named after two people. There was the Sawyer farm and the Brown farm on the road. But, I could be wrong. This is true. The road that separated the “Sawyer Farm” from the “Brown Farm” is the historically recognized Sawyer Brown Road in Bellevue, Tennessee. The name for the road came about, obviously, because the road ran between property owned by families named Sawyer and Brown. There are historical records that confirm this origin ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/70 "2026-01-14T23:31:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > The Lee Harvey Oswald Band They sound about like I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/71 "2026-01-17T22:09:22Z")
Walt Mink was a fairly obscure band active mainly in the 1990s that named themselves after a favorite professor of psychology at Macalester College. I’m not seeing any info regarding what he thought about that fact. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/72 "2026-01-18T00:16:21Z")
[Jodie Foster’s Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFA_(band)). ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/73 "2026-01-19T12:36:59Z")
From Wikipedia about The Marshall Tucker Band… The “Marshall Tucker” in the band’s name refers not to a band member, but to a blind piano tuner from Spartanburg.The band was discussing possible band names one evening in an old warehouse they had rented for rehearsal space. Someone noticed that the warehouse’s door keychain had the name “Marshall Tucker” inscribed on it, and suggested they call themselves “The Marshall Tucker Band,” not realizing it referred to an actual person. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/74 "2026-01-19T13:15:15Z")
Has ZZ Top been mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/75 "2026-04-19T17:29:05Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/76 "2026-04-19T21:34:53Z")
There was a groundbreaking late-80s Israeli alternative band called “Pollyanna Frank”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/77 "2026-04-19T21:57:44Z")
So who is the real Pollyanna Frank for which that band is named? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/78 "2026-04-19T21:59:42Z")
Sorry - it’s a portmanteau of Pollyanna, the ever-optimistic children’s books character, and Anne Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/79 "2026-04-19T22:06:47Z")
[The Other Oswald Band](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=dn7l%2feN3&id=5FA054C57C0ADF1651F74D78A05D8F3355246626&thid=OIP.dn7l_eN37q1hqhjQI4MlwwHaJ4&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fs3media.247sports.com%2fUploads%2fAssets%2f156%2f596%2f9596156.jpeg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.767ee5fde377eead61aa18d0238325c3%3frik%3dJmYkVTOPXaB4TQ%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=4032&expw=3024&q=oswald+band+poster&FORM=IRPRST&ck=874CAAD338B343B4B8495030E0EEB21F&selectedIndex=0&itb=0&idpp=overlayview&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0) ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635/80 "2026-04-20T13:13:35Z")
There’s a Twin Cities band that’s been playing since the late '70s called DB Cooper Looks like they haven’t been performing since 2020. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-named-after-real-people-that-weren-t-members-of-the-band/1026635.md?page=5)