The B-52s Artistfacts

The B-52s song list

The B-52s Artistfacts

1977-
Kate PiersonVocals, keyboards
Cindy WilsonVocals
Fred SchneiderVocals
Keith StricklandGuitar, drums
Ricky WilsonGuitar1977-1985
Kate Pierson told Q magazine that it was Keith Strickland who came up with the band's name. She explained: "Keith thought of the name. He had a dream, like a vision of a little lounge band and they all played organs and had bouffant hairdos, and someone said, 'Look, it's the B-52s.' B-52 was slang for a nosecone-shaped hairdo, named after the bomber. We thought, This is a great name: It's a number and a letter, it's really different and snappy. But now there's this plan to prolong the life of the B-52 bomber, and we're lending our name to a campaign to stop it."
In 1985, Ricky Wilson (Cindy's brother) became one of the first prominent entertainers to die of AIDS. The band was devastated and didn't work together until 1987, at which point they got back together to write songs and jam. The long grieving process helped them move forward with upbeat material, resulting in Cosmic Thing, their most successful album. They never replaced Wilson; their drummer Keith Strickland switched to guitar, and touring musicians were used for live shows.
Until 2008, their band name was rendered "B-52's". The apostrophe shouldn't be there, as it's not a possessive, but when a friend designed the logo, it was included in the design and incorporated into their name. This grammar foul was corrected with the release of their Funplex album.
They didn't use a bass guitar (played by Sara Lee of Gang of Four) until their 1989 album Cosmic Thing. But wait, you say. What about "Rock Lobster"? That famous bass riff came from a Korg synthesizer.
Cindy Wilson is the only member who is not a vegetarian.
The band is from Athens, Georgia, where R.E.M., The Black Crowes and Drive-By Truckers also formed.
There is no real leader of the group, and since every member was there from the start, they are all on equal footing. Ricky Wilson was their main songwriter and handled most of the logistics.
Pierson began a long-term relationship with the artist Tim Rollins in 1981. In 2003, she began dating Monica Coleman; in 2015, the couple were married.
All male members are openly gay. Strickland came out publicly in 1992 in Q magazine.
One night in late 1976, in Athens, five nerdy friends who loved dancing - Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson, Keith Strickland, and Fred Schneider - gathered at a Chinese restaurant. Too broke to afford a meal, they shared a tropical cocktail called a Flaming Volcano, sipping it through five straws. "The Flaming Volcano exploded into a creative conjunction," Pierson joked in an interview with Mojo magazine.

Buzzed from the drink, they headed to a friend's house, where they found some musical instruments in the basement. "We started jamming and wrote a song called 'Killer Bees,'" Pierson recalled. "That became the template for how we wrote."

It was such a blast that they decided to keep going, though Pierson insists they had no grand plans for fame. "I think Ricky had the mimosa forethought and ambition," she said. "He used to say he had a five-year plan, which was never fulfilled."
The B-52's played their first gig at a Valentine's Day party for their friends on February 14, 1977. "It was a hobby," Fred Schneider recalled to New York Times. "We'd jammed once or twice. We didn't even have the money to buy guitar strings."

The quintet played their first proper concert at Max's Kansas City in New York later that year. The nightclub paid them $17 for their performance.
Ricky Wilson taught himself to play folk guitar when he was young from the PBS instructional series Learning Folk Guitar.

Comments: 2

Strommy from Sydney, AustraliaThe B-52s are one of the most important music groups of all time.
They are in my Top 5 favourite Music Groups.
I saw them June 1980 in Sydney and 2004 in Sydney.
"Give Me Back My Man" stands out in my mind at the 1980 concert.
I was very impressed with their musicianship, especially Fred's skill on the vertical Glockenspiel.
Give Me Back My Man" was a staple in the B-52's' concerts in the 1980s and was usually one of the first few songs played. Early on, it was played mostly as it was on the record, with Schneider adding glockenspiel.
Their performance of "Rock Lobster" on COUNTDOWN was hilariously brilliant.
Turbooffy from Alma Co.Fun group, great vocals & 2 knockout , sexy females....

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Crazy TrainOzzy Osbourne

"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne is about the Cold War concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) should any nuclear missile be fired.

ForeverChris Brown

"Forever" by Chris Brown was written for a Wrigley's Doublemint Gum commercial. The full song contains the gum's tagline: "Double your pleasure, double your fun."

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To YesterdayBoyz II Men

The Boyz II Men hit "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" is an a capella cover of a song from 1975 by G.C. Cameron that was used in the movie Cooley High to express the feeling of parting ways with high school friends.

Mellow YellowDonovan

The "electrical bananas" in the Donovan song "Mellow Yellow" were vibrators.

Beck's BoleroJeff Beck

Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Keith Moon and John Paul Jones recorded "Beck's Bolero" and almost formed a band. They couldn't find a lead singer, so Page and Jones formed Led Zeppelin.