Barenaked Ladies Biography

Barenaked Ladies initially charmed fans in their native Canada with their humorous name, but eventually their unique combination of folk, pop and rock made its way into the U.S. with 1998's smash single "One Week."Vocalists Ed Robertson and Steve Page started the band in the late 1980s and used humor as a crutch when their acoustic duet fell flat during live performances; this style of comedy-meets-music has stayed with Barenaked Ladies throughout the years as they expanded their lineup to include brothers Jim and Andy Creeggan (bass and keyboards respectively) and Tyler Stewart (drums). Barenaked Ladies became a Canadian sensation when their independently-released Yellow Tape became the first of its kind to go platinum in 1991 but the group was banned from playing a New Years' Eve show near City Hall when Toronto's mayor June Rowlands deemed the group's name sexist. The Toronto Star ran the story on the front page and as a result sales for Yellow Tape soared and Barenaked Ladies inked a record contract with Sire/Reprise, who released their full-length debut, Gordon, in 1992.Barenaked Ladies' Gordon came equipped with hits "Be My Yoko Ono," "If I Had $1,000,000," and "Brain Wilson" and secured the band the top spot in the Canadian pop scene. Grunge producer produced Barenaked Ladies acoustic follow-up album, 1994's mellow Maybe You Should Drive at the height of the grunge phase and college radio stations placed singles "Alternative Girlfriend" and "Jane" on heavy rotation. Creeggan left Barenaked Ladies and former Look People guitarist/vocalist Kevin Hearn joined the group, which released 1996's poppy album Born on a Pirate Ship and their first live effort, Rock Spectacle, which was their first to go gold stateside. The band's fourth studio album, Stunt, swept the charts with single "One Week" which is their biggest success to date. Hearn stepped away from the spotlight when diagnosed with leukemia but luckily joined the band in 2000 for Maroon as well as a greatest hits release and a subsequent string of albums into the new millennium, lastly with 2008's children's album Snacktime!