Barenaked Ladies
Encyclopedia
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock
band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan
, Kevin Hearn
, Ed Robertson
, and Tyler Stewart
. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough
, Ontario
, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto. They are best known for their hit singles, "One Week", "The Old Apartment
", "Pinch Me
", "If I Had $1000000
", "Brian Wilson
"; as well as the theme for the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory
. They have won multiple Juno Award
s and been nominated for Grammy Award
s. They are also known for their light-hearted, comedic performance style. Their live shows are known for humorous banter between songs and improvised raps/songs, both of which are staples at virtually every concert. Original keyboardist Andy Creeggan
left the band in 1995, and founding member Steven Page
departed in 2009. They have sold at least 15 million records including albums and singles.
, but were not friends until they ran into each other at a Harvey's restaurant following a Peter Gabriel
concert. Each interested to find that the other liked Gabriel, they began talking and found they had many of the same tastes. The two became friends, and bonded further when they were both counselors at Scarborough Music Camp located in Manitoulin, Ontario, Canada. They would play songs together, and Steve was impressed by Ed's ability to harmonize. When Page had an extra ticket to a Bob Dylan
concert at Exhibition Stadium
, he asked Robertson to join him. Bored by the show, the two turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".
On another front, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands
at Nathan Phillips Square
for the Second Harvest
food bank
. The band broke up and he forgot about the gig. When he received a phone call a week before the show, asking him to confirm the gig, he improvised that the name of the band had changed to "Barenaked Ladies", recalling the name from the Dylan concert. He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name. They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all. The two played the show on October 1, 1988, but instead of competing, they played while the other bands set up, playing every song they could think of that they both knew. The show went well and they were invited to open a show for another well-known local band, The Razorbacks
, at the Horseshoe Tavern
the coming weekend. They set up three more rehearsals, and again missed them all; they proceeded to improvise their set once again. This would set a precedent for an element of Barenaked Ladies concerts which still almost always contain some improvised raps or songs, as well as general improvised banter.
Page and Robertson continued performing and also began writing songs together. The band's first tape, Buck Naked (1989), was recorded on a four-track recorder in basements and bedrooms. The pair became followers of comedy group Corky and the Juice Pigs
, to whom they give credit for exposing them to the idea of comedic stage presence. Page and Robertson presented the group with their tape, and were invited to open for the Juice Pigs on their cross-Canada tour. One night, in Toronto, Page and Robertson invited their friends, brothers Andy Creeggan
(percussion) and Jim Creeggan
(bass), whom they knew from music camp, to play with them at a Christmas
time club show. Barenaked Lunch (a.k.a. The Pink Tape) was released in 1990, and featured the two new band members. The tape had problems, however, as it was mastered incorrectly and played too fast.
After six months, Andy Creeggan went on a student exchange trip to Ecuador
, leaving the band without a percussionist. While playing at a buskers
' festival in Waterloo, Ontario in the summer of 1990, they met drummer Tyler Stewart
, who took over the position. While Creeggan was gone, the band gained some attention when they were winners at the 1990 YTV Achievement Awards. They gained further attention when they squeezed into a small "Speaker's Corner" video booth in Toronto, and performed "Be My Yoko Ono
". The clip quickly became popular with viewers, and noticeably increased the band's fanbase. Andy Creeggan returned in early 1991 to find that Stewart had taken over the percussion role. This caused some concern for him, and he then moved more toward keyboards; though he still played percussion (usually congas) on some songs. Soon after, the band embarked upon their first full tour of Canada.
and was the first recording to feature all five members. They spent between $2000 and $3000 on it, and sent a copy to all the labels in Canada; they were refused by all of them. The band turned to selling them off the stage, and wound up selling a lot of them. Word of mouth spread, and people began asking for the tape in local stores. The stores began asking the band for copies of the tape, and the demo tape became a commercial release. Sales began to snowball based simply on word of mouth and their live shows, and the tape became the first indie
release by any band to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada.
Sales of the cassette tape were jump-started when the band was taken off the bill for the 1991 New Year's Eve concert in Nathan Phillips Square outside Toronto City Hall
because a staffer for then-mayor June Rowlands
saw the band's name and felt it objectified women. The band shrugged it off and booked another show at McMaster University
. However, the media got wind of the story and decided to write about it as an example of political correctness
gone too far. The first article earned the paper a large quantity of mail against City Hall's decision. The story became more and more prominent until about a week after New Years, when the band was asked to take a photo in front of City Hall for the front page of the Toronto Star
. The stories targeted Rowlands even though she had not been directly involved in the decision to remove the band from the concert, as the decision had come from a direct representative of City Hall. The following week, sales of the Yellow Tape exploded. The City Hall story has followed the band ever since; Robertson credits the scale of the story to it being a slow news week. Another major break for the band in 1991 came in November of that year when BNL contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn
's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time
" to the Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness
. That song became the band's first Top 40 hit in Canada.
The band's first full album, Gordon
, was released in 1992 and was a big success in Canada. It included some of the band's most well-known songs, including "Enid", the first single; "Be My Yoko Ono
", the single which helped fund the album; "If I Had $1000000
", which spawned a Kraft Dinner
throwing tradition at live shows that the band has discouraged; and "Brian Wilson
", named after Beach Boy Brian Wilson
(who later covered the song on a live album). It benefited from the fact that a number of songs on the album (including the latter three) had been live favorites for a while and had been recorded on past releases like The Yellow Tape. While the band was doing remarkably well in Canada, they found that it translated into little success in the United States.
BNL's second album, Maybe You Should Drive
, released in 1994, fared considerably less well with the Canadian public. They tried touring the United States, but the tour was a failure and ended up losing money despite an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
. Before the next release Andy Creeggan decided to leave the band. He had become disillusioned with the direction of the band, and was not comfortable with the fame the group had attained. According to Page, he had considered leaving as early as the rehearsals for the Drive album; The rest of the band convinced him to stay to record that album, and for the subsequent touring. In addition, Creeggan wanted to attend McGill University
to study music further. Tyler Stewart has also suggested that Creeggan had never fully accepted his replacement by Stewart as percussionist. Andy Creeggan's departure came during a time in which members of the band were starting to become sick of each other, with Page and Robertson rarely speaking to one another. Stewart cites the departure as worsening the situation. Page also began struggling with both alcohol abuse and depression. In an attempt to correct the band's downward slide, they signed with Terry McBride
and Nettwerk
as their management.
The band released Born on a Pirate Ship
as a quartet in 1996. The album received two large boosts from the inclusion of the song "Shoe Box
" on the Friends
soundtrack and from the Jason Priestley
-directed video for "The Old Apartment
", which got notable American airplay and while the album had stronger sales than Maybe You Should Drive, the album still did not match the success of "Gordon". The Ladies appeared as the guest band on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210
("Spring Breakdown" original air date: April 2, 1997), immediately preceding their 1997 tour; they performed "The Old Apartment," "Life, In A Nutshell," and "Brian Wilson" at the Peach Pit After Dark night club. Tyler Stewart invited his friend Kevin Hearn
to replace Andy Creeggan as keyboardist for the tour; Hearn ultimately joined the band full time. The band also had a small cameo in the Canadian Film "The Wrong Guy
" with Dave Foley in 1997. They performed the song "Gangster Girl" as police officers in an alley on their break.
From two dates on the Born on a Pirate Ship tour during 1996, BNL recorded and released a live album called Rock Spectacle
, which had a modest radio hit in the United States with "Brian Wilson." The album became the band's first gold record in the United States, and the success of "Brian Wilson", coupled with the success of "The Old Apartment", led to a new situation for the band. They knew their next album would be their chance to make it big in the United States.
became (and remains) their greatest success and their American breakout album, buoyed by "One Week", which spent one week at the number one spot on the storied Billboard Hot 100
. Immediately after Stunt was released, however, Kevin Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia
, eventually undergoing a bone marrow transplant and spending several months at a Toronto hospital recovering.
The band toured, with friends Chris Brown and Greg Kurstin both filling in on keyboards until Kevin recovered enough to rejoin them on the road. The singles "It's All Been Done
" (used as the opening theme song on the short lived animated TV series Baby Blues) and "Call and Answer
" (which later appeared in the film EdTV
) were also modest hits. The band was also asked to contribute a song ("Get in Line
") to the soundtrack of the Fox
cartoon, King of the Hill
. Barenaked Ladies also had a guest appearance in a 1999 episode of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.
Maroon, released in 2000, did fairly well led by the single "Pinch Me", though not as well as Stunt had. In 2001, they released a compilation album, entitled Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)
, in reference to a line from their song "Box Set". It contains 15 singles from previous BNL albums, two singles from other compilations, and two new tracks (including the single "Thanks, That Was Fun"). After finishing a tour on December 31, 2001 to promote the compilation album, the band decided to mostly take a year off, only playing occasional shows before returning to the studio in April 2003.
Everything to Everyone
was released October 21, 2003, coincided by the first show of the unique Peepshow tour. The first single off the album was "Another Postcard
(Chimps)", which received modest radio play. "Testing 1,2,3" was the second single off of the album and received a video, but no CD single, while Celebrity was released later in the UK with a CD single, but no video. "Maybe Katie" and an edited version of "For You" from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland were also released as singles to radio. The album was their weakest seller in years, with a short chart life. With the release, the band fulfilled their contract with Reprise Records
, with whom they did not re-sign. This made the band independent for the first time since 1992 (though they retained a distribution relationship with Warner Bros. Records
). On the subsequent Everywhere For Everyone tour, in early 2004, the band began offering their full live shows for purchase as a download or CD-R on www.barenakedladies.com, as well as subsequent studio releases.
The band's next album was Barenaked for the Holidays
, which was released on October 5, 2004. It was their first independent record since The Yellow Tape, as well the first album recorded at Steven Page's then-recently completed studio at his farmhouse called Fresh Baked Woods. The band created the record label Desperation Records for this album. The label has been used for all releases since. Currently, the label is just a title used to release the band's own material, and the band is not looking to sign outside artists.
In January 2005, the band taped a television pilot
for a variety show, tentatively titled Barenaked Ladies Variety Show, which was ultimately rejected by the Fox
network. Later that year, the band was asked to write music for the Stratford Festival of Canada
's musical production of Shakespeare's As You Like It
. Steven Page wrote most of the music (Shakespeare had provided lyrics in the play), and the band recorded it for the actors to sing over. The recording (with Page's vocals) was available on CD from the festival and on the band's website. On July 2, 2005 BNL took part in the Live 8 concert
in Barrie, Ontario
. Following several writing sessions throughout 2005, the band went into the studio at Fresh Baked Woods that fall to begin recording 29 songs. They broke from the studio in November and December of that year to play a 22-show holiday tour, each night of which they played one of their new songs. An iTunes Originals
– a collection of interviews and live songs (coupled with some old album tracks) was recorded while the band was in the studio and was released in February 2006.
Also in February, the band went back into the studio to finish up the recordings they started the previous fall. Initially unsure of how to release so many songs, the band announced in May 2006 that they would release a one-disc album in early September entitled Barenaked Ladies Are Me
. Several alternate versions are available, including downloadable versions and a USB flash drive
version. The B.L.A.M. tour in support of the album, and its follow-up Barenaked Ladies Are Men
(both of which hail from the same sessions), ran in Fall 2006 for the U.S., February 2007 for Canada, and later in 2007 for the UK. That same year, the band wrote and recorded the theme song for the television
series The Big Bang Theory
.
On May 6, 2008, the band released an album of original material aimed at children entitled Snacktime!
. The album features the artwork by Kevin Hearn in its liner notes
, which is also available in the form of a hardcover book with the CD included. The album was promoted with a series of television appearances and in-store appearances at bookstores in the north-eastern and west coasts of the United States, as well as Toronto.
In July 2008, the band chose to cancel scheduled appearances at several Disney Music Block Party concerts following Page's arrest on allegations of cocaine possession. In August, Robertson crashed his single-engine plane (without casualty), and in December, his mother passed away. Band members made several comments about how the events of the year marred their celebration of the band's 20th anniversary (October 1, 2008).
Robertson commented on the departure of one of the band's founding members:
BNL went into the studio as a quartet in May 2009 to record a new album with producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda
. "You Run Away," the lead single from the new album, was released to Canadian radio on January 8. All in Good Time
was released March 23, 2010 in Canada and March 30 in the U.S. On January 6, 2010, the band announced that it had signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with EMI Label Services. The same announcement implied that following the departure of Page the band has created a new label for itself called Raisin' Records.
All in Good Time was generally well received by the critics. The band toured the United States and Canada during the summer of 2010, with a leg in the United Kingdom on the fall. When asked about Page's departure, Tyler Stewart said "“We don't keep in touch, but we certainly we [sic] wish him the best and there's good will there” In October 2010, Page stated that he has no plans to rejoin the band in the near future, other than a possible one-off performance. He added that it felt strange the band continued to use the same name and perform the songs that he wrote and performed.
Page later commented in August 2011 that around the subsequent time of his arrest, "the band was no longer the joyous place that it once was, but it hadn’t been joyous for a long time before that. It wasn’t that we didn’t put on good shows, we still had a great time onstage every night,” he added. “But it became a place where work was just about the stress and not the end product."
On board the fourth installment of the band's Ships and Dip cruise, it was said in a Q&A segment that a new children's record and regular record were in the works.
The band announced that a new greatest hits album, titled Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before
will be released September 27, 2011. Another new album, titled Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, which will contain rarities and never-before-heard songs, will be released later in 2011.
for Maybe You Should Drive in 1994, which earned them a MuchMusic Video Award. They used their website to allow fans to choose between two songs ("Be My Yoko Ono" and "Alternative Girlfriend") for inclusion on their greatest hits CD, Disc One (though polling was nearly tied and both songs were included).
Beginning in April 2003, the band began a blog
on its website to keep fans updated personally, coinciding with the band's return to the studio for Everything to Everyone. During a subsequent studio session, for Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Ed Robertson began a podcast
in addition to the blog which ran from February to August 2006 (with a series of four videos added in early 2007 with highlights from the band's first cruise.
The band has adopted many of the current online social networking sites, including accounts on MySpace
, Facebook
, and most recently, Twitter
. The Twitter feed has been integrated into the band's site, and it also typically announces new blog posts with a link. These accounts have been used for contests and to debut new tracks. Different band members have also had individual accounts on these sites at times.
Barenaked Ladies has sold recordings of almost all of its live concerts since early 2004. Initially, concerts were sold on CD-R or as MP3 downloads. By the end of 2004, lossless FLAC
files were also offered. Professionally printed copies of some concerts were later offered through some isolated record stores, and some concerts have been added to the iTunes Music Stores and other digital retailers.
The band was praised for a unique use of USB flash drive
technology. The band offered its 2004 Barenaked For the Holidays album on a customized flash drive in MP3 format, with extras including bonus tracks, and photos and videos from the studio sessions for the album. The band used a 128 MB USB stick, limiting the bitrate of the music included. The band described the product as a test of the technology and the market for that technology. It subsequently released Are Me in the USB format as well (on a 256 MB stick). The band also incorporated the technology into its live music sales, offering fans a copy of concerts in MP3 format on a USB stick at the merchandise booth directly after the show.
In 2009 the band took part in an interactive documentary series called City Sonic
. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Tyler Stewart reflecting on his memories of the now closed Ultrasound Showbar. The films were accompanied by an iPhone
application, which uses GPS
technology to unlock more videos when the user is close to the specific location.
, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
and The Vanity Project
s, as well as friends of the band, Guster
, Jason Plumb
, The New Odds, and others. The ship also featured stand-up comedy
from band friends Seán Cullen
, and Harland Williams
.
The success of the cruise led to a second cruise, ironically named "Ships and Dip III", held January 27 – February 1, 2008. Many of the same artists were joined by newcomers such as Great Big Sea
, who were a headlining performer. The third annual cruise, "Ships and Dip V", sailed February 1–6, 2009, again featuring some returning and some new artists, adding Sarah McLachlan
as an opening act for each of the band's three main theater shows. Other new acts included Sloan
, Luke Doucet
, The Mountain Goats
and The Weakerthans
.
The artists on the Ships and Dip cruises have sailed on board with the rest of the passengers for the duration of the cruises; this contrasts some music cruises on which the artist or artists travel separately to one of the cruise destinations and perform there, or join the cruise for only a portion of the trip. Band members have enjoyed other artists' shows and the ship's amenities freely with the other guests. Barenaked Ladies have performed several full shows on each cruise, and the band members also commonly have sat in with other artists at their shows.
The fourth Ships and Dip cruise (dubbed "Ships and Dip 4", breaking with the odd-numbered naming convention of the first three cruises) sailed February 6–11, 2011 on the Norwegian Dawn from Miami, Florida
. Ships and Dip 4 was the first Ships and Dip cruise since the departure of Steven Page.
Barenaked Ladies' first Grammy
nomination came in 1999 for "One Week" in the Pop Performance by a Duo or Group category, but lost to Brian Setzer
's "Jump, Jive an' Wail". The song, and its album Stunt, brought the band three more Juno Awards that year, for Best Single, Best Pop Album, and Best Group. Robertson lost to Bryan Adams
in the newly revived Best Songwriter Category. The video for "One Week" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award
for Best Art Direction, but lost to "Doo Wop (That Thing)
" by Lauryn Hill
.
The band was nominated for their second Grammy in 2001 for "Pinch Me", again in the Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group category, but lost to "Cousin Dupree
" by Steely Dan
.
They also won three more Juno Awards for Maroon under Best Pop Album, Best Album and Best Group, bringing their total to seven. "Pinch Me" was nominated for Best Single, but lost to "I'm Like a Bird
" by Nelly Furtado
. Additionally, Page and Robertson were nominated in the Best Songwriter category in its penultimate year for "Pinch Me", "Too Little Too Late" and "Falling for the First Time".
Five more Juno nominations have followed, totaling 18 nominations for the band. In 2004 they were up for Pop Album of the Year for Everything to Everyone, as well as Group of the Year. In 2005, they were up for Music DVD of the Year for the documentary The Barenaked Truth, though they did not put out the DVD themselves. In 2006, they were again nominated for group of the year. They were nominated for and subsequently won a 2008 Juno for their children's album Snacktime!
.
Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Award
s is sponsored by Billboard magazine and held annually in December. Barenaked Ladies has received two awards from two nominations.
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1998 ||rowspan="2"| "One Week" || Best Clip (Alternative/Modern Rock) ||
|-
| Maximum Vision Award ||
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Award
s are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
of the United States. Barenaked Ladies has received two nominations.
|-
| || "One Week" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
| || "Pinch Me
" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards is a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
. Barenaked Ladies has received six awards from nine nominations.
|-
| || Barenaked Ladies || Group of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| || Barenaked Ladies || Best Group ||
|-
| Stunt
|| Best Pop Album ||
|-
| "One Week" || Best Single ||
|-
|rowspan="5"| || Barenaked Ladies || Best Group ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| Maroon || Best Pop Album ||
|-
| Best Album ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| "Pinch Me" || Best Single ||
|-
| Best Songwriter ||
|-
| || Snacktime!
|| Best Children's Album ||
MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards
is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV
. Barenaked Ladies has received one nomination.
|-
| || "One Week" || Best Art Direction ||
MuchMusic Video Awards
The MuchMusic Video Awards
(MMVAs) is an annual awards ceremony presented by Canadian television station MuchMusic
that honours the best music videos. In the past, the awards including some vote-in People's Choice categories that were not specifically tied to videos. Barenaked Ladies has received three awards and several other nominations.
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1992 || rowspan="2"| "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" || VideoFACT Award
||
|-
| People's Choice: Best Group ||
|-
| 1993 || "Brian Wilson" || People's Choice: Best Group ||
|-
| 1995 || Maybe You Should Drive || Best Canadian Band Interactive Press Kit ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2001 || "Pinch Me" || MuchMoreMusic Award
||
|-
| rowspan="2"| "Too Little Too Late" || People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Group ||
|-
| People's Choice: Favourite Video By A Canadian ||
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards
honours recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
. Barenaked Ladies has received one award.
|-
| 2000 || Barenaked Ladies || World's Best-Selling Canadian Group ||
, written by friend of the band and fellow Scarborough native Paul Myers with input from the band. It is published in Canada by Madrigal Press. An updated version of the biography was released in 2003 in the United States with a different cover, several corrections, and additional information about Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits and Everything to Everyone, which were released after the initial printing.
in response to plans by the Canadian government to revisit and update copyright laws. Steven Page has acted as a conduit between the CMCC and the press, urging the government to focus on the Canadian cultural scene. Page has said the formation of the CMCC was in response to what he believes is the wrong direction taken by the RIAA and the major labels, by suing fans for filesharing.
). The band began bringing an "eco-village" organized by the Reverb
organization on their 2004 Au Naturale tour. The band has since partnered with Reverb to form the "Barenaked Planet" project, which is the band's label for their project to progressively "green" their touring. Efforts the band have made include ensuring backstage materials are recycled, using biodiesel
in their tour vehicles (B20 as of December 2006), and offsetting carbon emissions
with wind power. This includes both band-sponsored offsets for their own emissions, as well as having volunteers sell "Barenaked Planet" stickers to concertgoers with the money going to offset their drives to the venues.
to create the flavor "If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours." Named after the song "If I Had $1000000
", the confection consists of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cups, chocolate-coated toffee chunks, white chocolate chunks and chocolate-coated almonds. In the United States, this ice cream flavor is sold under the name "Everything But The...".
BNL is the first Canadian band to receive their own ice cream flavor, following in the footsteps of other band-themed Ben & Jerry's flavors such as Cherry Garcia (Jerry Garcia
), One Sweet Whirled and Magic Brownies (Dave Matthews Band
) and Phish Food (Phish
). All royalties from the sale of "If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours" are donated to the ABC Canada Literacy Foundation, a Toronto-based organization that promotes reading to children at home.
, with brother and former BNL member Andy Creeggan and friend Ian McLauchlan. Andy Creeggan also has several solo albums with the most recent one released in 2010. Hearn is the frontman of Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
, who play a mix of alternative rock and jazz with many other eclectic influences.
Ed Robertson has a television show titled Ed's Up! that premiered on November 1, 2006, on the Canadian Outdoor Life Network., and he has occasionally guest-hosted on the science news show Daily Planet
on Discovery Channel Canada
. He has sporadically taken acting roles as well.
Ed Robertson also took on a small mini-project with the machinima makers of Red vs Blue, Roosterteeth. The three episode series, Captain Dynamic was created using the MMORPG City Of Heroes. Robertson portrayed himself as a hero who was "Awesome".
Sir Paul McCartney
was asked by a session musician which bands he enjoys in the current music scene. The response was the Barenaked Ladies: "Their harmonies are right on. They could out-sing us any day of the week. I don’t think John
and myself ever had the sort of range they do." McCartney added that he would not mind recording with the band in the future.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan
Jim Creeggan
James Raymond Creeggan, better known as Jim Creeggan , is the bassist for Canadian band Barenaked Ladies...
, Kevin Hearn
Kevin Hearn
Kevin Neil Hearn is a Canadian musician who is currently the keyboardist of Barenaked Ladies and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He is also a former member of Rheostatics.-Early life:...
, Ed Robertson
Ed Robertson
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson , better known as Ed Robertson, is the Canadian lead singer, as well as a guitarist and songwriter in the band, Barenaked Ladies...
, and Tyler Stewart
Tyler Stewart
Tyler Joseph Stewart is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. He was the last of the original five Barenaked Ladies to join the band.-Role in Barenaked Ladies:...
. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto. They are best known for their hit singles, "One Week", "The Old Apartment
The Old Apartment
"The Old Apartment" is a song by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first American hit, and appears on the albums Born on a Pirate Ship, Rock Spectacle and the compilation album, Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits...
", "Pinch Me
Pinch Me
"Pinch Me" is the title of a song by the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was released in August 2000 as the first single from their 2000 album, Maroon, which was a follow-up to their hit album, Stunt. As such, "Pinch Me" is often regarded as an attempted follow-up to the hit single "One Week"...
", "If I Had $1000000
If I Had $1000000
"If I Had $1000000" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies from their album Gordon. Composed by founding members Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the sing-along track has become one of the band's best-known songs, and is a live show staple, despite never having been a true single...
", "Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson (song)
"Brian Wilson" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies. It was released a single from the band's debut studio album, Gordon.The song was written by singer/guitarist Steven Page in his parents’ basement on his twentieth birthday, in 1990...
"; as well as the theme for the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
. They have won multiple Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s and been nominated for Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s. They are also known for their light-hearted, comedic performance style. Their live shows are known for humorous banter between songs and improvised raps/songs, both of which are staples at virtually every concert. Original keyboardist Andy Creeggan
Andy Creeggan
Andy Creeggan is the former Piano player, percussionist and occasional guitarist for the Canadian pop band, Barenaked Ladies, from 1990–95...
left the band in 1995, and founding member Steven Page
Steven Page
Steven Jay Page , is a Canadian musician. Along with Ed Robertson, he was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies ; he left the band in 2009 to pursue a solo career....
departed in 2009. They have sold at least 15 million records including albums and singles.
Indie origins
Barenaked Ladies began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page. The two went to school together since Robertson was in grade four (Page was a grade ahead) at Churchill Heights Public SchoolChurchill Heights Public School
Churchill Heights Public School is an elementary school on Brimorton Drive in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Canada.- Overview :As of spring 2007, 507 students are in attendance at Churchill Heights. Of these, 213 are female and 289 are male. 319 have a primary language other than English,...
, but were not friends until they ran into each other at a Harvey's restaurant following a Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
concert. Each interested to find that the other liked Gabriel, they began talking and found they had many of the same tastes. The two became friends, and bonded further when they were both counselors at Scarborough Music Camp located in Manitoulin, Ontario, Canada. They would play songs together, and Steve was impressed by Ed's ability to harmonize. When Page had an extra ticket to a Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
concert at Exhibition Stadium
Exhibition Stadium
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
, he asked Robertson to join him. Bored by the show, the two turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".
Battle of the Bands
Battle of Bands is a contest in which two or more bands compete for the title of "best band". The winner is determined by a panel of judges, the general response of the audience, or a combination. The winning band usually receives a prize in addition to bragging rights. Traditionally, battles of...
at Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza that forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square opened in 1965, and, as with the City Hall, the square was...
for the Second Harvest
Second Harvest
Second Harvest Toronto is a food rescue and redistribution charitable organization that strives to decrease hunger in the city of Toronto. The organization is based on the principle that fresh and prepared food should not be going to waste while in the same city people are hungry...
food bank
Food bank
A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
. The band broke up and he forgot about the gig. When he received a phone call a week before the show, asking him to confirm the gig, he improvised that the name of the band had changed to "Barenaked Ladies", recalling the name from the Dylan concert. He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name. They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all. The two played the show on October 1, 1988, but instead of competing, they played while the other bands set up, playing every song they could think of that they both knew. The show went well and they were invited to open a show for another well-known local band, The Razorbacks
The Razorbacks
The Razorbacks were a Canadian rockabilly band that attained moderate national popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They made regular appearances on The Tommy Hunter Show on CBC during their popularity.-Albums:-Singles:-External links:...
, at the Horseshoe Tavern
Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern is a concert venue located at 370 Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, and has been in operation since 1947. Owned by "JC", Ken Sprackman, Craig Laskey and Naomi Montpetit, the venue is a significant part of Canadian musical lore...
the coming weekend. They set up three more rehearsals, and again missed them all; they proceeded to improvise their set once again. This would set a precedent for an element of Barenaked Ladies concerts which still almost always contain some improvised raps or songs, as well as general improvised banter.
Corky and the Juice Pigs
-Filmography:* 1996 - A Little Off the Top* 1996 - MadTV * 26 October 1998 - SketchCom -References:**...
, to whom they give credit for exposing them to the idea of comedic stage presence. Page and Robertson presented the group with their tape, and were invited to open for the Juice Pigs on their cross-Canada tour. One night, in Toronto, Page and Robertson invited their friends, brothers Andy Creeggan
Andy Creeggan
Andy Creeggan is the former Piano player, percussionist and occasional guitarist for the Canadian pop band, Barenaked Ladies, from 1990–95...
(percussion) and Jim Creeggan
Jim Creeggan
James Raymond Creeggan, better known as Jim Creeggan , is the bassist for Canadian band Barenaked Ladies...
(bass), whom they knew from music camp, to play with them at a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time club show. Barenaked Lunch (a.k.a. The Pink Tape) was released in 1990, and featured the two new band members. The tape had problems, however, as it was mastered incorrectly and played too fast.
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, leaving the band without a percussionist. While playing at a buskers
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
' festival in Waterloo, Ontario in the summer of 1990, they met drummer Tyler Stewart
Tyler Stewart
Tyler Joseph Stewart is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. He was the last of the original five Barenaked Ladies to join the band.-Role in Barenaked Ladies:...
, who took over the position. While Creeggan was gone, the band gained some attention when they were winners at the 1990 YTV Achievement Awards. They gained further attention when they squeezed into a small "Speaker's Corner" video booth in Toronto, and performed "Be My Yoko Ono
Be My Yoko Ono
"Be My Yoko Ono" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies.The song was written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson and first appeared on their 1989 demo tape, Buck Naked...
". The clip quickly became popular with viewers, and noticeably increased the band's fanbase. Andy Creeggan returned in early 1991 to find that Stewart had taken over the percussion role. This caused some concern for him, and he then moved more toward keyboards; though he still played percussion (usually congas) on some songs. Soon after, the band embarked upon their first full tour of Canada.
Early Canadian success
The full band's first commercial release was 1991's The Yellow Tape. It was a demo tape originally created for the band's performance at South by SouthwestSouth by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
and was the first recording to feature all five members. They spent between $2000 and $3000 on it, and sent a copy to all the labels in Canada; they were refused by all of them. The band turned to selling them off the stage, and wound up selling a lot of them. Word of mouth spread, and people began asking for the tape in local stores. The stores began asking the band for copies of the tape, and the demo tape became a commercial release. Sales began to snowball based simply on word of mouth and their live shows, and the tape became the first indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
release by any band to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada.
Toronto City Hall
The City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the city's municipal government and one of its most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965...
because a staffer for then-mayor June Rowlands
June Rowlands
June Rowlands was the 60th mayor of Toronto, Ontario, and the first woman to hold that office. She had previously been a long time city councillor, unsuccessful federal candidate, and chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission....
saw the band's name and felt it objectified women. The band shrugged it off and booked another show at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
. However, the media got wind of the story and decided to write about it as an example of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
gone too far. The first article earned the paper a large quantity of mail against City Hall's decision. The story became more and more prominent until about a week after New Years, when the band was asked to take a photo in front of City Hall for the front page of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
. The stories targeted Rowlands even though she had not been directly involved in the decision to remove the band from the concert, as the decision had come from a direct representative of City Hall. The following week, sales of the Yellow Tape exploded. The City Hall story has followed the band ever since; Robertson credits the scale of the story to it being a slow news week. Another major break for the band in 1991 came in November of that year when BNL contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time
Lovers in a Dangerous Time
"Lovers in a Dangerous Time" is a song by Bruce Cockburn, originally released on his 1984 album Stealing Fire. The song was a Top 40 hit for Cockburn, peaking at No. 25 on the Canadian charts the week of August 18, 1984....
" to the Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness
Kick at the Darkness
Kick at the Darkness is a tribute album to Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, released in 1991. The title comes from a line in the song "Lovers in a Dangerous Time", gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight....
. That song became the band's first Top 40 hit in Canada.
The first albums
Gordon (album)
Gordon is the debut album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. It was released through Sire Records on July 28, 1992. After The Yellow Tape was certified platinum in Canada, the group won a contest hosted by a local radio station. With the winnings, Barenaked Ladies were able to hire producer Michael...
, was released in 1992 and was a big success in Canada. It included some of the band's most well-known songs, including "Enid", the first single; "Be My Yoko Ono
Be My Yoko Ono
"Be My Yoko Ono" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies.The song was written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson and first appeared on their 1989 demo tape, Buck Naked...
", the single which helped fund the album; "If I Had $1000000
If I Had $1000000
"If I Had $1000000" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies from their album Gordon. Composed by founding members Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the sing-along track has become one of the band's best-known songs, and is a live show staple, despite never having been a true single...
", which spawned a Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner, known as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the United States and Macaroni Cheese in the United Kingdom, is a macaroni and cheese convenience food that requires minimal preparation by the consumer. The original product, a packaged dry macaroni and cheese mix, was introduced in 1937 by the...
throwing tradition at live shows that the band has discouraged; and "Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson (song)
"Brian Wilson" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies. It was released a single from the band's debut studio album, Gordon.The song was written by singer/guitarist Steven Page in his parents’ basement on his twentieth birthday, in 1990...
", named after Beach Boy Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
(who later covered the song on a live album). It benefited from the fact that a number of songs on the album (including the latter three) had been live favorites for a while and had been recorded on past releases like The Yellow Tape. While the band was doing remarkably well in Canada, they found that it translated into little success in the United States.
BNL's second album, Maybe You Should Drive
Maybe You Should Drive
- Singles :* "Jane"** Released: 1994** Formats: CD, cassette* "Alternative Girlfriend"** Released: 1995** Formats: CD- Charts :Album...
, released in 1994, fared considerably less well with the Canadian public. They tried touring the United States, but the tour was a failure and ended up losing money despite an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
. Before the next release Andy Creeggan decided to leave the band. He had become disillusioned with the direction of the band, and was not comfortable with the fame the group had attained. According to Page, he had considered leaving as early as the rehearsals for the Drive album; The rest of the band convinced him to stay to record that album, and for the subsequent touring. In addition, Creeggan wanted to attend McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
to study music further. Tyler Stewart has also suggested that Creeggan had never fully accepted his replacement by Stewart as percussionist. Andy Creeggan's departure came during a time in which members of the band were starting to become sick of each other, with Page and Robertson rarely speaking to one another. Stewart cites the departure as worsening the situation. Page also began struggling with both alcohol abuse and depression. In an attempt to correct the band's downward slide, they signed with Terry McBride
Terry McBride
Terry McBride is the current CEO and one of three founders of the Nettwerk Music Group, which includes Nettwerk Productions , Nettwerk Management , Nettwerk One , and Artwerks...
and Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
as their management.
The band released Born on a Pirate Ship
Born on a Pirate Ship
Born on a Pirate Ship is the third full-length album by Barenaked Ladies. Its well-known tracks are "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart." "The Old Apartment" would become BNL's first US hit in 1997 and began the process of winning many new American fans.This was...
as a quartet in 1996. The album received two large boosts from the inclusion of the song "Shoe Box
Shoe Box
"Shoe Box" is a song by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, released as a single from their 1995 album, Born on a Pirate Ship. It is notable for being featured on the first soundtrack to the television series Friends, as well as the last track on the band's Born on a Pirate Ship album...
" on the Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
soundtrack and from the Jason Priestley
Jason Priestley
Jason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
-directed video for "The Old Apartment
The Old Apartment
"The Old Apartment" is a song by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first American hit, and appears on the albums Born on a Pirate Ship, Rock Spectacle and the compilation album, Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits...
", which got notable American airplay and while the album had stronger sales than Maybe You Should Drive, the album still did not match the success of "Gordon". The Ladies appeared as the guest band on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
("Spring Breakdown" original air date: April 2, 1997), immediately preceding their 1997 tour; they performed "The Old Apartment," "Life, In A Nutshell," and "Brian Wilson" at the Peach Pit After Dark night club. Tyler Stewart invited his friend Kevin Hearn
Kevin Hearn
Kevin Neil Hearn is a Canadian musician who is currently the keyboardist of Barenaked Ladies and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He is also a former member of Rheostatics.-Early life:...
to replace Andy Creeggan as keyboardist for the tour; Hearn ultimately joined the band full time. The band also had a small cameo in the Canadian Film "The Wrong Guy
The Wrong Guy
The Wrong Guy is a 1997 Canadian comedy film directed by David Steinberg. It was co-written by Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall and Newsradio fame, along with David Anthony Higgins and Jay Kogen...
" with Dave Foley in 1997. They performed the song "Gangster Girl" as police officers in an alley on their break.
From two dates on the Born on a Pirate Ship tour during 1996, BNL recorded and released a live album called Rock Spectacle
Rock Spectacle
Rock Spectacle is a live album by Barenaked Ladies and their first live release. This was the album that finally broke the American market for BNL, with the live version of "Brian Wilson" and a release of "The Old Apartment" from Born on a Pirate Ship featuring this live version becoming hits, and...
, which had a modest radio hit in the United States with "Brian Wilson." The album became the band's first gold record in the United States, and the success of "Brian Wilson", coupled with the success of "The Old Apartment", led to a new situation for the band. They knew their next album would be their chance to make it big in the United States.
Breakthrough success in the United States
They turned out to be right, as the 1998 release StuntStunt (album)
Stunt is the fourth full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies. By far their most successful album, it entered the US charts at #3 and sold over 4 million units by the end of its chart run. Its first single, "One Week" would become the band's breakthrough single in the U.S. market by hitting #1...
became (and remains) their greatest success and their American breakout album, buoyed by "One Week", which spent one week at the number one spot on the storied Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Immediately after Stunt was released, however, Kevin Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, eventually undergoing a bone marrow transplant and spending several months at a Toronto hospital recovering.
It's All Been Done
"It's All Been Done" is a song by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. It was released as the second single from their 1998 album, Stunt....
" (used as the opening theme song on the short lived animated TV series Baby Blues) and "Call and Answer
Call and Answer
"Call and Answer" is a song by the Canadian group Barenaked Ladies. It was the third single from their highly successful 1998 album, Stunt...
" (which later appeared in the film EdTV
EdTV
EDtv is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebec film Louis 19, le roi des ondes , it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, Clint Howard, and Dennis Hopper.The...
) were also modest hits. The band was also asked to contribute a song ("Get in Line
Get in Line
"Get in Line" is a song by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. It was released in 1999 in the soundtrack of the TV series King of the Hill. It failed to get a noteworthy chart position, unlike the band's next single, "Pinch Me"...
") to the soundtrack of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
cartoon, King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
. Barenaked Ladies also had a guest appearance in a 1999 episode of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.
Maroon, released in 2000, did fairly well led by the single "Pinch Me", though not as well as Stunt had. In 2001, they released a compilation album, entitled Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits is a greatest hits compilation spanning Barenaked Ladies' first decade as a band; It contains a version of almost every single they had released to that point, along with two newly recorded tracks: "It's Only Me " and "Thanks That Was Fun", the latter of which was...
, in reference to a line from their song "Box Set". It contains 15 singles from previous BNL albums, two singles from other compilations, and two new tracks (including the single "Thanks, That Was Fun"). After finishing a tour on December 31, 2001 to promote the compilation album, the band decided to mostly take a year off, only playing occasional shows before returning to the studio in April 2003.
Everything to Everyone
Everything to Everyone
Everything to Everyone is the sixth full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was released in 2003 and was produced by Ron Aniello. Singles from the album include "Another Postcard", "Testing 1, 2, 3", "For You", "Celebrity" and "Maybe Katie"...
was released October 21, 2003, coincided by the first show of the unique Peepshow tour. The first single off the album was "Another Postcard
Another Postcard
"Another Postcard" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first single from the album Everything to Everyone, which was released after the band took a nearly two-year hiatus from performing. The song is notable for its reggae-rap verses, somewhat evocative of Canadian...
(Chimps)", which received modest radio play. "Testing 1,2,3" was the second single off of the album and received a video, but no CD single, while Celebrity was released later in the UK with a CD single, but no video. "Maybe Katie" and an edited version of "For You" from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland were also released as singles to radio. The album was their weakest seller in years, with a short chart life. With the release, the band fulfilled their contract with Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
, with whom they did not re-sign. This made the band independent for the first time since 1992 (though they retained a distribution relationship with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
). On the subsequent Everywhere For Everyone tour, in early 2004, the band began offering their full live shows for purchase as a download or CD-R on www.barenakedladies.com, as well as subsequent studio releases.
Return to independence
Barenaked for the Holidays
Barenaked for the Holidays is a full-length holiday-themed album released by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies on October 5, 2004. The album includes Christmas and Hanukkah songs as well as "Auld Lang Syne", which is traditionally sung on New Year's Eve. There are also several songs that are simply...
, which was released on October 5, 2004. It was their first independent record since The Yellow Tape, as well the first album recorded at Steven Page's then-recently completed studio at his farmhouse called Fresh Baked Woods. The band created the record label Desperation Records for this album. The label has been used for all releases since. Currently, the label is just a title used to release the band's own material, and the band is not looking to sign outside artists.
In January 2005, the band taped a television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a variety show, tentatively titled Barenaked Ladies Variety Show, which was ultimately rejected by the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network. Later that year, the band was asked to write music for the Stratford Festival of Canada
Stratford Festival of Canada
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
's musical production of Shakespeare's As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
. Steven Page wrote most of the music (Shakespeare had provided lyrics in the play), and the band recorded it for the actors to sing over. The recording (with Page's vocals) was available on CD from the festival and on the band's website. On July 2, 2005 BNL took part in the Live 8 concert
Live 8 concert, Barrie
On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held at Park Place in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Barrie is located north of Toronto.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 Toronto" or "Live 8 Canada"...
in Barrie, Ontario
Barrie, Ontario
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
. Following several writing sessions throughout 2005, the band went into the studio at Fresh Baked Woods that fall to begin recording 29 songs. They broke from the studio in November and December of that year to play a 22-show holiday tour, each night of which they played one of their new songs. An iTunes Originals
ITunes Originals
iTunes Originals is a series of digital releases available exclusively through the iTunes Store. It was developed and produced by longtime KCRW DJ and film music supervisor Chris Douridas, who recruited Stephen Marsh to provide audio mastering for the albums. Each release features the music of a...
– a collection of interviews and live songs (coupled with some old album tracks) was recorded while the band was in the studio and was released in February 2006.
Also in February, the band went back into the studio to finish up the recordings they started the previous fall. Initially unsure of how to release so many songs, the band announced in May 2006 that they would release a one-disc album in early September entitled Barenaked Ladies Are Me
Barenaked Ladies Are Me
Barenaked Ladies Are Me is the seventh full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was their first original-material album since 2003's Everything to Everyone. It was released in September 2006 internationally...
. Several alternate versions are available, including downloadable versions and a USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
version. The B.L.A.M. tour in support of the album, and its follow-up Barenaked Ladies Are Men
Barenaked Ladies Are Men
Barenaked Ladies Are Men is the eighth full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies, and the second release of material from the 29-song session that bore the companion album Barenaked Ladies Are Me...
(both of which hail from the same sessions), ran in Fall 2006 for the U.S., February 2007 for Canada, and later in 2007 for the UK. That same year, the band wrote and recorded the theme song for the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
.
Snacktime!
Snacktime! is the debut children's album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies released on May 6, 2008. A companion book was written with artwork by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn, who also contributed artwork for the album. It is the final Barenaked Ladies album to include Steven Page, who departed...
. The album features the artwork by Kevin Hearn in its liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
, which is also available in the form of a hardcover book with the CD included. The album was promoted with a series of television appearances and in-store appearances at bookstores in the north-eastern and west coasts of the United States, as well as Toronto.
In July 2008, the band chose to cancel scheduled appearances at several Disney Music Block Party concerts following Page's arrest on allegations of cocaine possession. In August, Robertson crashed his single-engine plane (without casualty), and in December, his mother passed away. Band members made several comments about how the events of the year marred their celebration of the band's 20th anniversary (October 1, 2008).
Departure of Page
On February 24, 2009, Barenaked Ladies and Steven Page separately announced that Page had left the band "[by] mutual agreement." The remaining members continued as a quartet while Page pursued solo projects including theatrical opportunities. In July, it was announced the band had left Nettwerk management and had hired the newly merged management firm CAM 8.Robertson commented on the departure of one of the band's founding members:
BNL went into the studio as a quartet in May 2009 to record a new album with producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda
Michael Phillip Wojewoda
-External links:*...
. "You Run Away," the lead single from the new album, was released to Canadian radio on January 8. All in Good Time
All in Good Time (Barenaked Ladies album)
-Singles:Two singles were released for this album. "You Run Away", the first and lead single, received decent radio play. "Every Subway Car" was released as a single, but did not chart.-Charts:...
was released March 23, 2010 in Canada and March 30 in the U.S. On January 6, 2010, the band announced that it had signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with EMI Label Services. The same announcement implied that following the departure of Page the band has created a new label for itself called Raisin' Records.
All in Good Time was generally well received by the critics. The band toured the United States and Canada during the summer of 2010, with a leg in the United Kingdom on the fall. When asked about Page's departure, Tyler Stewart said "“We don't keep in touch, but we certainly we [sic] wish him the best and there's good will there” In October 2010, Page stated that he has no plans to rejoin the band in the near future, other than a possible one-off performance. He added that it felt strange the band continued to use the same name and perform the songs that he wrote and performed.
Page later commented in August 2011 that around the subsequent time of his arrest, "the band was no longer the joyous place that it once was, but it hadn’t been joyous for a long time before that. It wasn’t that we didn’t put on good shows, we still had a great time onstage every night,” he added. “But it became a place where work was just about the stress and not the end product."
On board the fourth installment of the band's Ships and Dip cruise, it was said in a Q&A segment that a new children's record and regular record were in the works.
The band announced that a new greatest hits album, titled Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before
Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before
Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before is a greatest hits compilation album by Barenaked Ladies, which includes most of the band's US singles released from 1997 to 2010. The album was originally planned to be released on September 13, 2011, then September 20, 2011, but it was finally released on...
will be released September 27, 2011. Another new album, titled Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, which will contain rarities and never-before-heard songs, will be released later in 2011.
Innovation and technology
Barenaked Ladies has often attempted to utilize new technologies to promote themselves and their music. They were among the early adopters of computers for promotion when they released an "Interactive Press Kit" on floppy diskFloppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
for Maybe You Should Drive in 1994, which earned them a MuchMusic Video Award. They used their website to allow fans to choose between two songs ("Be My Yoko Ono" and "Alternative Girlfriend") for inclusion on their greatest hits CD, Disc One (though polling was nearly tied and both songs were included).
Beginning in April 2003, the band began a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on its website to keep fans updated personally, coinciding with the band's return to the studio for Everything to Everyone. During a subsequent studio session, for Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Ed Robertson began a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
in addition to the blog which ran from February to August 2006 (with a series of four videos added in early 2007 with highlights from the band's first cruise.
The band has adopted many of the current online social networking sites, including accounts on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, and most recently, Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The Twitter feed has been integrated into the band's site, and it also typically announces new blog posts with a link. These accounts have been used for contests and to debut new tracks. Different band members have also had individual accounts on these sites at times.
Barenaked Ladies has sold recordings of almost all of its live concerts since early 2004. Initially, concerts were sold on CD-R or as MP3 downloads. By the end of 2004, lossless FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
files were also offered. Professionally printed copies of some concerts were later offered through some isolated record stores, and some concerts have been added to the iTunes Music Stores and other digital retailers.
The band was praised for a unique use of USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
technology. The band offered its 2004 Barenaked For the Holidays album on a customized flash drive in MP3 format, with extras including bonus tracks, and photos and videos from the studio sessions for the album. The band used a 128 MB USB stick, limiting the bitrate of the music included. The band described the product as a test of the technology and the market for that technology. It subsequently released Are Me in the USB format as well (on a 256 MB stick). The band also incorporated the technology into its live music sales, offering fans a copy of concerts in MP3 format on a USB stick at the merchandise booth directly after the show.
In 2009 the band took part in an interactive documentary series called City Sonic
City Sonic
City Sonic is a documentary series about Toronto-based musicians and the places that influenced their music. The first five City Sonic films were previewed at Toronto's 2009 North by North East Music and Film Festival.-Films:...
. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Tyler Stewart reflecting on his memories of the now closed Ultrasound Showbar. The films were accompanied by an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
application, which uses GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
technology to unlock more videos when the user is close to the specific location.
Ships and Dip cruises
Following a lead from other artists, the band held a fan cruise called "Ships and Dip", January 15–19, 2007. Other artists who joined the Ladies included side projects The Brothers CreegganThe Brothers Creeggan
The Brothers Creeggan is a Canadian alternative rock/jazz band composed of Jim Creeggan , Andy Creeggan and Ian McLauchlan...
, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle are a Canadian band consisting of Barenaked Ladies multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn as the front man , bassist Chris Gartner and drummer Great Bob Scott. The three had previously collaborated as members of the Canadian alternative rock band The Look People...
and The Vanity Project
The Vanity Project
The Vanity Project is an album released as a side-project by Steven Page, then of the band Barenaked Ladies . It is also the artist name under which the album was released...
s, as well as friends of the band, Guster
Guster
Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1991, the group is known for its live performances and humor, founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel came about to begin practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford,...
, Jason Plumb
Jason Plumb
Jason Plumb is a Canadian singer-songwriter who was the lead singer and front man of The Waltons. He currently performs as a solo singer-songwriter with a backing band called The Willing....
, The New Odds, and others. The ship also featured stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
from band friends Seán Cullen
Seán Cullen
Seán Cullen is a Canadian comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters. -Career:Cullen entered into the public eye...
, and Harland Williams
Harland Williams
Harland Williams is a Canadian actor, comedian, author, artist, musician and radio personality.-Personal life:Harland Reesor Williams was born on November 14, 1962, in Toronto, Ontario, to Lorraine , a social worker, and John Reesor Williams, who worked as a member of the Ontario Provincial...
.
The success of the cruise led to a second cruise, ironically named "Ships and Dip III", held January 27 – February 1, 2008. Many of the same artists were joined by newcomers such as Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
, who were a headlining performer. The third annual cruise, "Ships and Dip V", sailed February 1–6, 2009, again featuring some returning and some new artists, adding Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
as an opening act for each of the band's three main theater shows. Other new acts included Sloan
Sloan
Sloan may refer to:*MIT Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts*Sloan, a Canadian rock band*Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a major astronomical survey...
, Luke Doucet
Luke Doucet
Luke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He writes and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal....
, The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
and The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P...
.
The artists on the Ships and Dip cruises have sailed on board with the rest of the passengers for the duration of the cruises; this contrasts some music cruises on which the artist or artists travel separately to one of the cruise destinations and perform there, or join the cruise for only a portion of the trip. Band members have enjoyed other artists' shows and the ship's amenities freely with the other guests. Barenaked Ladies have performed several full shows on each cruise, and the band members also commonly have sat in with other artists at their shows.
The fourth Ships and Dip cruise (dubbed "Ships and Dip 4", breaking with the odd-numbered naming convention of the first three cruises) sailed February 6–11, 2011 on the Norwegian Dawn from Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. Ships and Dip 4 was the first Ships and Dip cruise since the departure of Steven Page.
Awards and nominations
In 1993, Barenaked Ladies were nominated for their first four Juno Awards: Canadian Entertainer of the Year, Album of the year for Gordon, Single of the Year for Enid, and Group of the year, which was their only win. The group was again nominated for Canadian Entertainer of the Year in 1994 and Group of the Year in 1995.Barenaked Ladies' first Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination came in 1999 for "One Week" in the Pop Performance by a Duo or Group category, but lost to Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
's "Jump, Jive an' Wail". The song, and its album Stunt, brought the band three more Juno Awards that year, for Best Single, Best Pop Album, and Best Group. Robertson lost to Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
in the newly revived Best Songwriter Category. The video for "One Week" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
for Best Art Direction, but lost to "Doo Wop (That Thing)
Doo Wop (That Thing)
"Doo Wop " is the debut single from American R&B/Hip-Hop artist Lauryn Hill. The song is taken from debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Written and produced by Hill, the song was released as the album's lead single in October 1998. It was Hill's first and only Billboard Hot 100...
" by Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
.
The band was nominated for their second Grammy in 2001 for "Pinch Me", again in the Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group category, but lost to "Cousin Dupree
Cousin Dupree
"Cousin Dupree" is the first single from Steely Dan's 2000 album Two Against Nature. The song describes the desire a young man has for his attractive cousin...
" by Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
.
They also won three more Juno Awards for Maroon under Best Pop Album, Best Album and Best Group, bringing their total to seven. "Pinch Me" was nominated for Best Single, but lost to "I'm Like a Bird
I'm like a Bird
"I'm Like a Bird" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, and produced by Gerald Eaton and Brian West, as the first single from her first album Whoa, Nelly!. It was one of the year's critically acclaimed songs and widely considered as Furtado's signature song...
" by Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
. Additionally, Page and Robertson were nominated in the Best Songwriter category in its penultimate year for "Pinch Me", "Too Little Too Late" and "Falling for the First Time".
Five more Juno nominations have followed, totaling 18 nominations for the band. In 2004 they were up for Pop Album of the Year for Everything to Everyone, as well as Group of the Year. In 2005, they were up for Music DVD of the Year for the documentary The Barenaked Truth, though they did not put out the DVD themselves. In 2006, they were again nominated for group of the year. They were nominated for and subsequently won a 2008 Juno for their children's album Snacktime!
Snacktime!
Snacktime! is the debut children's album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies released on May 6, 2008. A companion book was written with artwork by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn, who also contributed artwork for the album. It is the final Barenaked Ladies album to include Steven Page, who departed...
.
Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Award
Billboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
s is sponsored by Billboard magazine and held annually in December. Barenaked Ladies has received two awards from two nominations.
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1998 ||rowspan="2"| "One Week" || Best Clip (Alternative/Modern Rock) ||
|-
| Maximum Vision Award ||
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
of the United States. Barenaked Ladies has received two nominations.
|-
| || "One Week" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
| || "Pinch Me
Pinch Me
"Pinch Me" is the title of a song by the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was released in August 2000 as the first single from their 2000 album, Maroon, which was a follow-up to their hit album, Stunt. As such, "Pinch Me" is often regarded as an attempted follow-up to the hit single "One Week"...
" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ||
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards is a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is the organization responsible for conducting the Juno Awards, Canada's primary national musical honours...
. Barenaked Ladies has received six awards from nine nominations.
|-
| || Barenaked Ladies || Group of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| || Barenaked Ladies || Best Group ||
|-
| Stunt
Stunt (album)
Stunt is the fourth full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies. By far their most successful album, it entered the US charts at #3 and sold over 4 million units by the end of its chart run. Its first single, "One Week" would become the band's breakthrough single in the U.S. market by hitting #1...
|| Best Pop Album ||
|-
| "One Week" || Best Single ||
|-
|rowspan="5"| || Barenaked Ladies || Best Group ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| Maroon || Best Pop Album ||
|-
| Best Album ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| "Pinch Me" || Best Single ||
|-
| Best Songwriter ||
|-
| || Snacktime!
Snacktime!
Snacktime! is the debut children's album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies released on May 6, 2008. A companion book was written with artwork by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn, who also contributed artwork for the album. It is the final Barenaked Ladies album to include Steven Page, who departed...
|| Best Children's Album ||
MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Barenaked Ladies has received one nomination.
|-
| || "One Week" || Best Art Direction ||
MuchMusic Video Awards
The MuchMusic Video Awards
MuchMusic Video Awards
The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos....
(MMVAs) is an annual awards ceremony presented by Canadian television station MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
that honours the best music videos. In the past, the awards including some vote-in People's Choice categories that were not specifically tied to videos. Barenaked Ladies has received three awards and several other nominations.
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1992 || rowspan="2"| "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" || VideoFACT Award
VideoFACT Award
The following is a list of the MuchMusic Video Awards winners for the "VideoFACT Award", also called the "VideoFACT Best Independent Video Award" in 2008 and "VideoFACT Indie Video of the Year" in 2009 after merging the "Best Independent Video Award" with the "VideoFACT Award"....
||
|-
| People's Choice: Best Group ||
|-
| 1993 || "Brian Wilson" || People's Choice: Best Group ||
|-
| 1995 || Maybe You Should Drive || Best Canadian Band Interactive Press Kit ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2001 || "Pinch Me" || MuchMoreMusic Award
MuchMoreMusic Award (MMVA Award)
The following is a list of the MuchMusic Video Awards winners for the MuchMoreMusic Award. This award is now defunct, and has not been awarded since 2007....
||
|-
| rowspan="2"| "Too Little Too Late" || People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Group ||
|-
| People's Choice: Favourite Video By A Canadian ||
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
honours recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
. Barenaked Ladies has received one award.
|-
| 2000 || Barenaked Ladies || World's Best-Selling Canadian Group ||
Biography
Barenaked Ladies have an authorized biography which was released in 2001, titled Public Stunts Private StoriesPublic Stunts Private Stories
Public Stunts Private Stories is an authorized biography of the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies originally published in 2001...
, written by friend of the band and fellow Scarborough native Paul Myers with input from the band. It is published in Canada by Madrigal Press. An updated version of the biography was released in 2003 in the United States with a different cover, several corrections, and additional information about Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits and Everything to Everyone, which were released after the initial printing.
Canadian Music Creators Coalition
In May 2006, Barenaked Ladies, along with other prominent Canadian musicians, formed the Canadian Music Creators CoalitionCanadian Music Creators Coalition
Canadian Music Creators Coalition is a group of Canadian music artists opposed to introducing legislation similar to the United States' DMCA into Canadian intellectual property law. The group was officially formed April 26, 2006...
in response to plans by the Canadian government to revisit and update copyright laws. Steven Page has acted as a conduit between the CMCC and the press, urging the government to focus on the Canadian cultural scene. Page has said the formation of the CMCC was in response to what he believes is the wrong direction taken by the RIAA and the major labels, by suing fans for filesharing.
Barenaked Planet
The band has also become a proponent of environmentalism, following from Page's passion for greening (he is himself a board member of WWF CanadaWorld Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
). The band began bringing an "eco-village" organized by the Reverb
Reverb (non-profit)
Reverb is a non-profit environmental organization that educates and engages musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability. It was founded by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner....
organization on their 2004 Au Naturale tour. The band has since partnered with Reverb to form the "Barenaked Planet" project, which is the band's label for their project to progressively "green" their touring. Efforts the band have made include ensuring backstage materials are recycled, using biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
in their tour vehicles (B20 as of December 2006), and offsetting carbon emissions
Carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....
with wind power. This includes both band-sponsored offsets for their own emissions, as well as having volunteers sell "Barenaked Planet" stickers to concertgoers with the money going to offset their drives to the venues.
"If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours" ice cream
In May 2009, BNL partnered with American ice cream company Ben & Jerry'sBen & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...
to create the flavor "If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours." Named after the song "If I Had $1000000
If I Had $1000000
"If I Had $1000000" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies from their album Gordon. Composed by founding members Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the sing-along track has become one of the band's best-known songs, and is a live show staple, despite never having been a true single...
", the confection consists of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cups, chocolate-coated toffee chunks, white chocolate chunks and chocolate-coated almonds. In the United States, this ice cream flavor is sold under the name "Everything But The...".
BNL is the first Canadian band to receive their own ice cream flavor, following in the footsteps of other band-themed Ben & Jerry's flavors such as Cherry Garcia (Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
), One Sweet Whirled and Magic Brownies (Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
) and Phish Food (Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
). All royalties from the sale of "If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours" are donated to the ABC Canada Literacy Foundation, a Toronto-based organization that promotes reading to children at home.
Side projects
Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan, and Kevin Hearn all have past or present side projects during their time off from BNL. Stewart was part of a trio called Don't Talk Dance which released a self-titled album in 1995. The album was made for charity and all profits went to Casey House, an AIDS charity in Canada. The trio is no longer together. Jim Creeggan is part of the alternative/jazz trio The Brothers CreegganThe Brothers Creeggan
The Brothers Creeggan is a Canadian alternative rock/jazz band composed of Jim Creeggan , Andy Creeggan and Ian McLauchlan...
, with brother and former BNL member Andy Creeggan and friend Ian McLauchlan. Andy Creeggan also has several solo albums with the most recent one released in 2010. Hearn is the frontman of Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle are a Canadian band consisting of Barenaked Ladies multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn as the front man , bassist Chris Gartner and drummer Great Bob Scott. The three had previously collaborated as members of the Canadian alternative rock band The Look People...
, who play a mix of alternative rock and jazz with many other eclectic influences.
Ed Robertson has a television show titled Ed's Up! that premiered on November 1, 2006, on the Canadian Outdoor Life Network., and he has occasionally guest-hosted on the science news show Daily Planet
Daily Planet (TV series)
Daily Planet is a television program on Discovery Channel Canada which features daily news, discussion and commentary on the scientific aspects of current events and discoveries. The show first aired as @discovery.ca in 1995. It was renamed to Daily Planet in 2002. The show relaunched with in high...
on Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel devoted to nature, adventure, science and technology programming. Discovery Channel is currently owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc...
. He has sporadically taken acting roles as well.
Ed Robertson also took on a small mini-project with the machinima makers of Red vs Blue, Roosterteeth. The three episode series, Captain Dynamic was created using the MMORPG City Of Heroes. Robertson portrayed himself as a hero who was "Awesome".
Reception
In December 2008, former BeatleThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
Sir Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
was asked by a session musician which bands he enjoys in the current music scene. The response was the Barenaked Ladies: "Their harmonies are right on. They could out-sing us any day of the week. I don’t think John
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and myself ever had the sort of range they do." McCartney added that he would not mind recording with the band in the future.
Discography
- GordonGordon (album)Gordon is the debut album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. It was released through Sire Records on July 28, 1992. After The Yellow Tape was certified platinum in Canada, the group won a contest hosted by a local radio station. With the winnings, Barenaked Ladies were able to hire producer Michael...
(1992) - Maybe You Should DriveMaybe You Should Drive- Singles :* "Jane"** Released: 1994** Formats: CD, cassette* "Alternative Girlfriend"** Released: 1995** Formats: CD- Charts :Album...
(1994) - Born on a Pirate ShipBorn on a Pirate ShipBorn on a Pirate Ship is the third full-length album by Barenaked Ladies. Its well-known tracks are "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart." "The Old Apartment" would become BNL's first US hit in 1997 and began the process of winning many new American fans.This was...
(1996) - Rock SpectacleRock SpectacleRock Spectacle is a live album by Barenaked Ladies and their first live release. This was the album that finally broke the American market for BNL, with the live version of "Brian Wilson" and a release of "The Old Apartment" from Born on a Pirate Ship featuring this live version becoming hits, and...
(1996) - StuntStunt (album)Stunt is the fourth full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies. By far their most successful album, it entered the US charts at #3 and sold over 4 million units by the end of its chart run. Its first single, "One Week" would become the band's breakthrough single in the U.S. market by hitting #1...
(1998) - Maroon (2000)
- Everything to EveryoneEverything to EveryoneEverything to Everyone is the sixth full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was released in 2003 and was produced by Ron Aniello. Singles from the album include "Another Postcard", "Testing 1, 2, 3", "For You", "Celebrity" and "Maybe Katie"...
(2003) - Barenaked for the HolidaysBarenaked for the HolidaysBarenaked for the Holidays is a full-length holiday-themed album released by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies on October 5, 2004. The album includes Christmas and Hanukkah songs as well as "Auld Lang Syne", which is traditionally sung on New Year's Eve. There are also several songs that are simply...
(2004) - Barenaked Ladies Are MeBarenaked Ladies Are MeBarenaked Ladies Are Me is the seventh full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was their first original-material album since 2003's Everything to Everyone. It was released in September 2006 internationally...
(2006) - Barenaked Ladies Are MenBarenaked Ladies Are MenBarenaked Ladies Are Men is the eighth full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies, and the second release of material from the 29-song session that bore the companion album Barenaked Ladies Are Me...
(2007) - Snacktime!Snacktime!Snacktime! is the debut children's album by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies released on May 6, 2008. A companion book was written with artwork by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn, who also contributed artwork for the album. It is the final Barenaked Ladies album to include Steven Page, who departed...
(2008) - All in Good TimeAll in Good Time (Barenaked Ladies album)-Singles:Two singles were released for this album. "You Run Away", the first and lead single, received decent radio play. "Every Subway Car" was released as a single, but did not chart.-Charts:...
(2010)
Video releases
- Barenaked in AmericaBarenaked in AmericaBarenaked in America is a 1999 documentary film about the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies filmed during the 1998-1999 Stunt tour. Directed by actor Jason Priestley, the film was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival...
(Not released by the band) - Too Little Too Late
- Barelaked NadiesBarelaked NadiesBarelaked Nadies is the second DVD release from Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, though it is the first full length release. It is a compilation of their music videos from 1991–2002, with one exclusion: the video for the Rock Spectacle version of "Brian Wilson" is missing, and the Gordon version is...
- The Barenaked Truth (Not released by the band)
- Talk to the Hand: Live In MichiganTalk to the hand"Talk to the hand" is an English language slang phrase associated with the 1990s. It originated as a contemptuous way of saying that no one is listening, and is often elongated to a phrase such as "Talk to the hand, because the ear's not listening"...