If you fancy yourself a musician of any sort, you likely looked to one of your good friends in high school and said, “Let’s start a band!” If the thought materialized, and you played together, then you or they likely asked the following question: “What if we try to do this for a living?” It is an inevitable series of statements and questions for friends who are musicians.
Videos by American Songwriter
Unfortunately, most of the time, those joyful and naive thoughts never come to fruition in the way your 16-year-old self might have thought they would. Well, as horrible as that is, broken dreams and such, here are three iconic bands whose high school dreams did come true, as their bands formed from their high school friendship. (No, we are not including The Beatles on this list.)
U2
Other than their music, one of the most impressive facts about U2 is that all of the founding members are still in the band. As you very well know, that is a rarity in show business. Regardless, U2’s formation in Dublin, Ireland, is a result of the high school friendship between Bono (Paul Hewson), The Edge (David Evans), Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.
As the story goes, Mullen posted a note in his high school seeking out some other folks to play music with him. The other three followed up on that note, and subsequently, they held their first practice in Mullen’s kitchen. After that, well, you know what happened after that.
Radiohead
Like U2, Radiohead has all five of its original members, which leads us to the question: Do bands that form in high school have a better chance of staying together? Who is to truly say, but there is something to certainly be discovered there. Regardless, Radiohead formed in 1985 at Abingdon School in England after Thom Yorke recruited the other four members.
Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Phil Selway all originally went by the name On a Friday. However, in 1991, six years after their formation, they decided to ditch their original name and step into something a little more timely.
Green Day
Green Day doesn’t have all of its original members, as Tré Cool replaced original drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990. Nevertheless, when Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt met in middle school, they would go on to start the band that would later become Green Day while they were in high school in California.
In 1989, the band officially became Green Day. Roughly five years later, in 1994, Green Day released their breakthrough studio album, Dookie, which not only made them a household name but also further propelled 1990s punk rock into the mainstream.
Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.