Artist and the Band

Hopefully, one of the heartbreakers filled in for Tom's absence at the photoshoot.

A band that relies on its frontman might not deserve to be called a band (according to nitpickers). If a band realizes that, it might be best to name the band after that lead artist. But what about the other members? The frontman doesn't want to discredit them, and in some cases, they also come up with their own material and stand out from being your average backing band.

Let's call them "Artist and the Band". This naming device puts emphasis on the band member who provides most of the creative input while also reminding the public that the artist is backed by a group of faithful instrumentalists. In other cases, this isn't the band's native name, and a rebranding happened after that one band member made it big with their solo material. Or in a bigger twist, it could turn out it's just a solo project with a plural name. You may also use variations of that kind of name by using "+", "&" or "And his/her/their".

A Sub-Trope to I Am the Band and Sister Trope to Spotlight-Stealing Title, which extends to any media with the same objective marketing-wise, but also uses other naming conventions besides "X and the Y". Might lead to The Band Minus the Face if that lead member leaves and the band doesn't change their moniker.

Not to be confused with And the Rest or My Friends... and Zoidberg; those tropes are more dismissive of the other people, while Artist And The Band is about highlighting a backing band.

Related to the practice of choosing names that do, in fact, refer to the entire band, but prominently feature the name of the frontman, e.g. "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" or "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"; that trope is Egocentric Team Naming.

This naming convention is rather recent—as is the practice of a number of musicians contributing to a musical act all going by a collective moniker. Buddy Holly arguably formed a group following the Artist And The Band naming scheme with "Buddy Holly and the Crickets" in 1957, though they were promoted as simply "The Crickets" until after Holly's death.

Interestingly, there don’t seem to be many examples of a backing band going on to perform under their name minus the frontman. Make of that what you like.

For similar naming conventions, compare and contrast The Noun and the Noun (as in Guns N' Roses) and Name and Name (as in Simon & Garfunkel), which tend to regard the ensemble members all as equal peers, and Protagonist and Friends, where the ensemble name is specifically "And Friends".

Not to be confused with the music act known as The Band.

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Examples:

Music:

Blues

• John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers was an early British blues band. It featured singer and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall with a rotating roster of musicians. In addition to guitarist Eric Clapton, the various lineups also included future members of Fleetwood Mac: bassist John McVie and guitarist Peter Green. Future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Cream bassist Jack Bruce were also among the members.
• Lil' Ed Williams is the lead guitarist and singer for Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials.

Country

• Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys were an American bluegrass band formed by guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, the Foggy Mountain Boys being a revolving lineup of performers.
• American Country artist Jason Isbell fronts his own band called Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit.
• Alison Krauss & Union Station: Krauss is the lead singer and plays fiddle. The Country Music Association has nominated both Krauss for the solo Female Vocalist of the Year award and Alison Krauss & Union Station for Vocal Group of the Year, sometimes in the same year.

Folk

• Neko Case's first two albums were credited to Neko Case & Her Boyfriends. Starting with Blacklisted it's just been Case by herself.
• Folk Music legend Bob Dylan played with The Band (who served as a backing band) on stage in the mid-sixties and seventies. Their first concerts were billed as Bob Dylan & The Band, and the 1975 album The Basement Tapes was also credited in that manner (with Dylan writing a majority of the songs though you could also call it an album by The Band).
• Several albums by Canadian Folk/Rock artist Neil Young also feature a band called Crazy Horse (some albums credit the two as "Neil Young & Crazy Horse" or "Neil Young With Crazy Horse). Crazy Horse was originally a doo-wop band called Danny & The Memories (fronted by Crazy Horse lead singer Danny Whitten) before connecting with Neil in the late sixites and re-establish themselves as a rock act.

Jazz

• This trope page would be miles-long if we included any band that was named "[Artist] and his/her/their Orchestra", so let's just put here that a large amount of 1940s Billboard #1 singles were performed by an artist and their orchestra. Notable artists include Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman.
• Some of Louis Armstrong's most important recordings are those with the late-1920s bands he led, which were usually billed as his Hot Five, his Hot Seven or his Savoy Ballroom Five. (There were in fact two completely different Hot Five lineups, while the Hot Seven was an expansion of the first Hot Five.) Later in the decade, he performed with bigger lineups simply billed as his Orchestra. Shortly after World War 2 Armstrong returned to leading small bands, using the name Louis Armstrong and his All Stars.
• Jazz drummer Art Blakey started a hard bop combo initially named The Jazz Messengers. As they became a Revolving Door Band, with Blakey himself the only permanent member, the name changed to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Also of note is that Blakey and the early Messengers lineup recorded a few sessions with pianist Horace Silver; initially these were just billed as the Horace Silver Quintet, but compilation rereleases billed them as Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers.
• Les Brown and His Band of Renown is a Big Band ensemble formed in 1938 that would feature prominently in movies and television for several decades, including stints as the house band for both the Steve Allen Show in the '50s and the Dean Martin Show in the '60s. Even though Brown died in 2001, a version of the band led by his son, Les Jr., is still actively performing.
• "Charlie and his Orchestra" was a swing band developed in Nazi Germany as part of the Propaganda Machine. Their repertoire consisted of covers of popular dance and swing tunes from Allied countries, with the lyrics changed to be demoralizing or boasting about German victories. They also performed as "Bruno and His Swinging Tigers."
• Early in Duke Ellington's career, he performed and recorded as Duke Ellington's Washingtonians, and also put out one album in 1958 as Duke Ellington's Spacemen. But most of the group's career was spent under the more prosaic name Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra.
• Red Nichols named his backing band the Five Pennies. The pun was so irresistible most people didn't care that most of the time there weren't actually five men in the band.

Pop

• Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass started out as Alpert recording himself overdubbing trumpet parts before demand for live performances necessitated the need for an actual brass band, with which he had a prolific recording career throughout the '60s.
• Fictional singing group Alvin and the Chipmunks was originally named David Seville And The Chipmunks (David being the human character who looks after the chipmunks). After the success of 1980s animated series, their current name appeared on the 1992 album Chipmunks in Low Places and remained since.
• ANOHNI and the Johnsons is an Art Pop band fronted by ANOHNI. The Johnsons are a reference to transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson (while no member of the band has Johnson in their name).
• Christine and the Queens is the solo project of French singer Héloïse Letissier. "The Queens" refers to drag queens who would perform for him during the start of his career. Despite having adopted a range of alternative monikers since 2018, such as Chris or Redcar, his following releases are still credited to "Christine and the Queens".
• "At The Hop" is a classic fifties doo-wop song by Danny & The Juniors (fronted by Danny Rapp). After his death in 1983, the band continued to tour without changing the name.
• An averted example with Marina Diamandis whose first stage name was "Marina and the Diamonds." The "Diamonds" in question aren't any backing band and refer to Marina's fans (explaining it on Myspace: "I am Marina, and you are the diamonds").
• Dion and the Belmonts we're a popular Doo-wop vocal quartet in the late 1950s. Even though they were a proper group, not a solo act and backing band, Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without the other three Belmonts in 1989, which caused a great deal of friction between him and the other members.
• The Miami Sound Machine eventually became Gloria Estefan And Miami Sound Machine, before becoming just Gloria Estefan.
  • MAD ran a parody of the above situation with the rise and fall of a starlet in a church choir. At first, it's "The Fellows" with just her head sticking out of the row of singers, then it's "The Fellows and Melanie", "Melanie and the Fellows", before apexing at "M" with a closeup of her face. From there it spirals down the way it came, with her a sad, nameless member of the choir again.
  • MAD #79 had a similar "Rise and Fall" feature, with the starlet starting as a nameless member of a vocal group, advancing from "The Euclid Phlomm Chorale with Patricia Blousen" to "Patricia Blousen and the Euclid Phlomm Chorale," reaching the peak of her career with an album cover showing "Patti" and a closeup of her face, then gradually declining until once again becoming a nameless member of the Euclid Phlomm Chorale.
• Florence + the Machine is another case of a lead singer-songwriter (Florence Welch) backed by a band. However, Florence started the band with producer and keyboardist Isabella Summers who was nicknamed "Machine" while Florence was nicknamed "Robot." It started as an inside joke that got way out of hand and "Florence Robot/Isa Machine" turned into the group we know today.
• Foster the People started as "Foster and the people", with Mark Foster in that role, but after several people misheard it as "Foster The People", they decided to opt for that name.
• Selena Gomez and the Scene. Note that "The Scene" part comes from the fact that Selena has been called a "wannabe scene" and thus ONLY refers to Selena. Selena actually wanted to form a band with a band identity, a la Paramore; it was her label that wanted her name in the group's name.
• Natalia Lafourcade was briefly part of a group called Natalia y La Forquetina for her album Casa.
• Contemporary Christian singer Geoff Moore formed the band Geoff Moore And The Distance in 1987.
• The mainstream success of early sixties vocal group The Ronettes was thanks to Ronnie Spector and her vocal performance on "Be My Baby" (in fact, she's the only Ronette who sang on that track). This was acknowledged when the band was revived in The '70s under the title Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes.
• Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons got their current name in 1970. They were previously known as The Four Seasons and their legal name was The Four Seasons Partnership.

Rhythm & Blues

• Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames is a British R&B band whose drummer Mitch Mitchell went on to be the drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
• Gladys Knight & the Pips is a Motown R&B group. It is a Band of Relatives whose cousin nicknamed "Pip" was an inspiration behind "The Pips".
• Martha Reeves & The Vandellas is a R&B vocal girl group.
• Smokey Robinson and the Miracles was the temporary stage name of R&B vocal group The Miracles from 1965 to 1972.
• The Motown Soul trio The Supremes featured Diana Ross as its lead singer and changed its name to Diana Ross And The Supremes in 1967 before Diana left the group three years later.
• Booker T. and the MGs were the house band at Stax Records in the 1960s and 70s, fronted by Booker T. Jones on piano and organ and also including Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, both of whom would later perform with The Blues Brothers. In addition to session playing on many of the albums produced by the label, they also recorded their own albums and had several top ten hits in the United States.

Rock

• Early in the career of The Beach Boys, they had two side-projects bearing that kind of name: Kenny & The Cadets (a trio which had Al Jardine and Brian Wilson in its lineup) and the Carl Wilson-led Carl & The Passions, (whose name would be used as the title of the album of the same name). However, Carl didn't recall that band to ever exist.
  • In 1990, lead singer Mike Love toured as Mike Love Of The Beach Boys And The Endless Summer Beach Band, a backing band consisting of musicians who previously were touring members for The Beach Boys, including Adrian Baker.
• Notably averted with The Beatles. When they were starting out in Liverpool in the late '50s, almost every rock n' roll group followed the naming format "X and the Ys." The future Beatles, then a trio calling themselves the Quarrymen, did not have a dedicated lead singer, with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison more or less taking equal time leading songs. They did play this trope straight for a single performance in 1958, where they called themselves "Johnny and the Moondogs."
  • There were a few rare early recordings where the band was asked to back up Tony Sheridan, these were accordingly billed as Tony Sheridan and the Beatles.
  • The original version of Let It Be began with John Lennon jokingly introducing the first song as "'I Dig a Pygmy' by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-Aids!"
• Dazey and the Scouts follows this naming scheme, yet there isn't a member of the band named Dazey.
• Big Brother and the Holding Company sounds like this but is a subversion as the whole name is the band, that introduced the world at large to Janis Joplin. The band continued to exist after Joplin left.
• Michelle Blades y Los Machetes is a Psychedelic Rock band that is dedicated to Michelle's live performances on American soil.
• David Bowie:
  • Bowie had his early singles "Liza Jane", "You've Got a Habit of Leaving", and "Can't Help Thinking About Me" respectively credited to Davy Jones with the King Bees, Davy Jones & the Lower Third, and David Bowie with the Lower Third. After the release of "Do Anything You Say", almost all of his material was credited under just his name for the remainder of his career.
  • The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars centers around a fictional example, the titular Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Ziggy was an alter ego that Bowie adopted for the album, while the Spiders from Mars referred to his backing band at the time (who themselves released an album without Bowie in 1976, well after Bowie abandoned the Ziggy persona).
• Dick Dale released his first few albums credited as Dick Dale & His Del-Tones.
• Eric Clapton's legendary band "Derek and the Dominos" took its name from Clapton, whom the other members of the band had taken to calling "Derek" or "Del" after touring with singer/songwriter duo Delaney & Bonnie the previous year. The band had previously gone by the simpler "Eric Clapton and Friends," but the name was dropped almost immediately. The group's biggest song is "Layla."
• Elvis Costello & The Attractions. While The Attractions were first a backing band for Elvis, they released their own album in 1980. When the group replaced their bassist, they became known as Elvis Costello & The Imposters.
• Parodied with Echo & the Bunnymen, who didn't actually have any members named Echo; a common rumor claims that "Echo" was the name of their drum machine before they hired drummer Pete de Freitas, but the band have denied this. The typical connotations of this trope would, however, lead to people mistakenly calling frontman Ian McCulloch "Echo" more than once.
• Frank Soda & The Imps was a band featuring Italian-Canadian singer/guitarist/songwriter Frank Soda, along with his backing band of diminutive musicians, leading them to be called the Imps.
• Gerry And The Pacemakers is a British '50s/'60s Merseybeat band fronted by Gerry Marsden, famous for their hit "You'll Never Walk Alone" which became an anthem for Liverpool's soccer team.
• Girish and the Chronicles is a hard rock band from India fronted by Girish Pradhan.
• Bill Haley & His Comets is a '50s Rock & Roll act that had numerous hits during that decade. Following Bill's death, seven various iterations of the band have been formed (and are claimed to be a continuation of the original act, with some varying degree of authenticity).
• Jimi Hendrix was part of various bands before forming The Jimi Hendrix Experience. These bands are Curtis Knight and The Squires, Joey Dee and The Starliters, and Jimmy James and The Blue Flames.
• Havalina Rail Co.: After the departure of a key band member, Matt Wignall announced he was marking the shift by changing the band name to Matt Death and the New Intellectuals. Under the new name, they only released a few songs via Myspace, as their finished album wound up getting shelved indefinitely.
• Richard Hell and the Voidoids was a punk act fronted by the singer of the same name who was part of bands such as Television and The Heartbreakers (the one fronted by Johnny Thunders, that is).
• Buddy Holly was the frontman of a band called "Buddy Holly and the Crickets" before he focused on a short-lived solo career. After Buddy's death in 1959, The Crickets continued performing with Earl Sinks as its lead singer.^note Holly was inspired by groups who were named after birds, and considered several insect-themed names before settling on "The Crickets." One of the names Holly considered was "The Beetles," which would later be adopted by a little-known Liverpool-based rock band as a direct homage to Holly.
• Hootie & the Blowfish: One of the defining rock bands of the mid-to-late-'90s. Also a notable subversion, since no one in the band is named Hootie and the band itself is not called The Blowfish. It was named after two college friends who were nicknamed "Hootie" and "The Blowfish."
• Frank Iero has many side projects such as Frank Iero And The Cellabration, Frank Iero And The Patience, and Frank Iero And The Future Violents.
• In the early 1980s, DeWayne Jessie (the Animal House actor who played the lead singer Otis Day of the Fake Band Otis Day and the Knights in the film) bought the rights to the band's name and created a real-life version of it using a few of his family members.
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are a hard rock band Jett formed after her first band The Runaways broke up in 1979.
• Elton John did a fictional example with "Benny and the Jets" from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
• Bruce Johnston was the sole member of Bob Sled & The Toboggans, a short-lived side project which only released one single in 1963. Its gimmick was to mix Surf Rock with skiing.
• Japanese Soft Rock artist Makoto Kubota had a breakthrough with Makoto Kubota & The Sunset Gang in The '70s.
  • In the early eighties, Japanese singer Sandii joined the band, changing its rock roots to New Wave Music and renaming themselves as Sandii & The Sunsetz.
• Theo Lawrence is a French Blues/Rock artist who first started his career with a band called Theo Lawrence & The Hearts before going solo.
• Huey Lewis and the News was previously named Huey Lewis & The American Express but changed their name to avoid a potential trademark infringement claim from the credit card company.
• Subverted with the Punk Rock supergroup Me First & The Gimme Gimmes which is actually named after a children's book.
• Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards takes its name from the lead singer, who goes by Johnny Manchild.
• Marilyn Manson originally started off as "Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids" before shortening it to just Marilyn Manson referring to both the band and its infamous frontman which has led to its current status as I Am the Band.
• Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush was a Canadian band of rotating members led by singer and guitarist Frank Marino.
• Martha and the Muffins is an interesting case, as there were actually two women named Martha in the band, and both sang lead from time to time. It's debatable who was Martha and who was merely a Muffin named Martha. Less so after Martha Ladly (who also played keyboards) left, then they really were a singer (Martha Johnson) and backing group for a couple of years. (Nowadays it's essentially an Artifact Name as the band still includes Martha, but only one regular Muffin, her partner Mark Gane)
• Mike + the Mechanics were a 1980s supergroup formed as a side project by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford.
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Bandmate Mike Campbell co-wrote some hit songs for the group.
• Inverted with Queen when they resumed touring and recording after the death of frontman Freddie Mercury. To establish the idea that their new singers were simply guest players and not replacements for Mercury, they billed themselves as Queen + Paul Rodgers and Queen + Adam Lambert.
• American Emo band Reggie And The Full Effect is a solo project of James Dewees.
• Paul Revere and the Raiders, although the frontman was named Paul Revere Dick and dropped his last name. Bandmate Mark Lindsay also had a huge leading influence in the band as its composer/producer). After the passing of Paul in 2014, the band renamed themselves Paul Revere's Raiders.
• Bob Seger was backed by, and billed alongside, "The Silver Bullet Band" from 1976 to 1995.
• Japanese rock band Sheenah & The Rokkets was fronted by Etsuko "Sheena" Ayukawa until her death in 2015.
• After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Gary Sinise began volunteering for USO tours to visit troops in the Middle East, but soon wanted to do more than shake hands and take pictures. He asked his guitarist buddy, Kemo Williams, to help him round up some singers and musicians, and together they formed "Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band." Sinise said that since the troops were calling him by his Forrest Gump character's name anyway, it only made sense to name the band after the character, too.
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, fronted by Siouxsie Sioux (one of The Banshees, Steven Severin, is a frequent co-writer for the band's songs).
• Bruce Springsteen has formed many backing bands during his career, but the most consistent one is the E Street Band. Like some others on this page, Springsteen and the E Street Band are technically separate entities - the E Street Band have backed other singers, and Springsteen has worked with different bands. Bruce's 1974 tour for the promotion of Born to Run was billed as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and that moniker would reappear more or less throughout other tours and on live albums, while studio albums are credited as just "Bruce Springsteen".
• Ringo Starr created his own live band called Ringo Starr & The All-Starr Band, comprised of artists who were former members of 1970/1980s rock bands, making it also a Supergroup.
• During his tenure with the Faces, the groups' billing changed from "Faces" to "Faces featuring Rod Stewart" and finally "Rod Stewart and Faces" before Ronnie Lane quit and the group essentially just became Stewart's backing band.
• The Stooges went on to be renamed Iggy & The Stooges since the release of their third album Raw Power.
• Richard Swift was always credited solo on his albums since he recorded most of the instruments by himself anyway. But for live shows, he had a consistent backing band, so they were billed as Richard Swift and the Sons of National Freedom.
• Steve Taylor initially recorded with Some Band, a frequently changing group of backing musicians. The live album Limelight is the only one where they're outright billed as "Steve Taylor and Some Band". For the 2014 comeback album Goliath, his new all-star lineup was billed as Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil. This morphed again into Steve Taylor and the Danielson Foil when they recorded a collaboration with Daniel Smith.
• George Thorogood's band was founded as the Delaware Destroyers, but have been billed as George Thorogood and the Destroyers for most of their career.
• The Punk Rock act Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers (unrelated to Tom Petty's).
• The Tremeloes is a British rock band that became famous when they were put against The Beatles for a contract with Decca Records (the company chose The Tremeloes based on the fact that they lived in London and thus were more accessible). From 1962 to 1966, the band rebranded itself Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, in reference to Buddy Holly And The Crickets.
• Almost all of Stevie Ray Vaughan's albums were released by "Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble".
• Throughout The '80s, Roger Waters was credited on the touring circuit as Roger Waters and the Bleeding Heart Band. The credit was also extended to Waters' soundtrack for the film adaptation of When the Wind Blows.
• Subverted by blues rock guitarist Johnny Winter, who started a short-lived band with former members of the McCoys after his brother Edgar moved on to solo success in 1970. The band and debut album were named "Johnny Winter And".
• Alluding to the dark nature of the music, "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds."
• A large number of Frank Zappa's albums were credited to "Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention," the latter of whom were his backing band at the time.
• New Wave band Katrina and the Waves is named after the lead singer Katrina Leskanich.
• Blues Rock band Wild T and the Spirit is led by Wild T (Toney Springer), as singer and guitarist.

Soul/Funk

• D'Angelo's output from 2014-2015 were credited to "D'Angelo and the Vanguard".
• Eric Burdon and War formed in 1969 when record producer Jerry Goldstein paired the ex-Animals frontman with some up-and-coming musicians he'd seen performing around Los Angeles. They released two albums together before Burdon left in 1970. The rest of the group, now simply calling themselves War, would go on to have a very successful recording career of their own.
• The Revolution is one of Prince's many side projects. The album Around the World in a Day is credited to Prince And The Revolution (the band was also present on 1999 (Album) although uncredited).
  • After The Revolution disbanded in 1986, Prince assembled a new backing band called The New Power Generation (or sometimes NPG) that played on most of his albums from 1990 on, with five of those albums (beginning with 1991's Diamonds & Pearls) specifically credited to "Prince and the New Power Generation". NPG also released three albums of their own material and have toured independently since Prince's death.
  • The Time occasionally referred to themselves as Morris Day and The Time.
• Funk/Soul act Sly and the Family Stone includes two brothers and two sisters and is named after lead singer/producer Sly Stone.

Other Genres

• The "wizard rock" bands, Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and Tonks and the Aurors (though the last one is just one musician).
• Comedy Lounge Lizard singer Richard Cheese and his jazz combo are often billed as "Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine".
• "Scrumpy and Western" band The Wurzels were originally billed as "Adge Cutler and the Wurzels", until Cutler's death in a car accident.
• Haruomi Hosono released his Exotica-influenced 1978 album Paraiso under the name Harry Hosono & The Yellow Magic Band. This one-off project (involving Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi) would lead to the creation of Yellow Magic Orchestra.
• In 1989, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers emerged, which was nothing less than a group of DJs that made medley (or mixing) of the 50, 60, and 70 decades music and had a cartoon rabbit as a mascot. The group's activity period is still unknown, but had big hits like "Swing the Mood", "That's What I Like" and "Let's Party".
• A popular modern Klezmer (Yiddish folk) band fronted by Daniel Kahn is named Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird.
• Belgian Neo-Soul rapper Lous And The Yakuza is the solo act of Marie-Pierra Kakoma. "The Yakuza" refers to her collaborators, whether it is in the studio or on stage.
• Mark Wahlberg, today best known for his Hollywood acting career, fronted a hip-hop group in the '90s ^note "Back when Mark Wahlberg was Marky Mark," as another successful rapper once said called "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch." Their biggest song was 1991's "Good Vibrations."
• Reggae legend Bob Marley started his career with the band The Wailers. Following his major involvement in the band as a writer, their album Natty Dread was credited to Bob Marley And The Wailers while previous albums have been retroactively credited that way.
• Japanese artist Ryuichi Sakamoto released his album Summer Nerves under "Ryuichi Sakamoto & The Kakutougi Session", a band which include his YMO bandmate Yukihiro Takahashi as well as Kenji Omura and Akiko Yanno who were also session players and touring members of YMO.
• Japanese New Wave band Moonriders had its first album credited to Keiichi Suzuki And The Moonriders.

Fictional Examples:

Comic Books

• The Archie Comics band Josie and the Pussycats which got its own series and feature film.
• Scott Pilgrim features a band battle between Scott's Sex Bob-omb and Crash and the Boys.
  Crash: Good Evening. I am Crash, and these are The Boys.
  Wallace: Is that girl a boy too?
  Crash: Yes.
  The drummer flips him off.
  • The band later has a hostile takeover and is renamed The Boys!! and Crash!
• In The Beano, Dennis the Menace (UK) had a band called Dennis and the Dinmakers.
• The 1968 Stanley and His Monster story "Music, Monster, Please!" featured a band called Peter Piper and the Pickle Pickers.

Films — Live-Action

• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension has the title character in a band with several members of his inner circle. They go by Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers.
• Animal House features a Fake Band called "Otis Day and the Knights" that performs in the movie, with Otis Day (played by DeWayne Jessie) as the lead singer and the Knights as his backup singers/musicians.
• Bedazzled (1967): The Devil foils Stanley's 'pop singer' wish by manifesting as the lead singer of Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations.
• The Blues Brothers: Jake and Elwood are dismayed to find that several of their old bandmates have formed "Murph and the Magictones," a cheesy lounge band.
• King Ralph: After becoming the Third Duke of Warren, Ralph forms a band with several female backup singers called Ralph and The Dukettes.
• High Fidelity: The garage band that Barry joins starts out with the name Sonic Death Monkey, but when they open at the record release party for the Kinky Wizards, Barry announces "we're on the verge of being called Kathleen Turner Overdrive, but for tonight we are Barry Jive and the Uptown Five."
• House II: The Second Story: Charlie and Lana invite themselves to stay at Jesse and Kate's new house while plotting to get Kate (a record company exec) to "discover" Lana's band, Puce Glitz and the Avoiders.
• The eponymous rock band of the Jonathan Demme movie Ricki and the Flash, led by Ricki Rendazzo.
• Shock Treatment features Oscar Drill and the Bits, a "suburban-garage" band that befriends Janet during her ascent at DTV.
• In the second half of Shredder Orpheus, Orpheus's band goes from "The Shredders" to "Orpheus and the Shredders."
• That Thing You Do!: At the height of The Wonders' fame, they get a cameo role in a teen beach movie. Instead of playing themselves, they portray the doubly fictional surf band Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters. This becomes a Brick Joke later when The Wonders are getting interviewed and Lenny confidently cites Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters as one of his biggest musical influences.
• The Jim Abrahams film Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael features a cover band called G. Wiliker And The G. Wilikers.

Literature

• Daisy Jones & The Six takes its name from how the titular artists were credited on their collaborative album Aurora. Daisy insisted on the credit as she was contributing to the songwriting and not just providing guest vocals, the way she'd done for the previous single they'd recorded together.
• In Dogs Dont Tell Jokes, one of the other competitors at the climactic talent show is a band called Howie Zowie and the Screamers, although Gary notes that Howie is only the drummer.
• In the Jeeves and Wooster novel "Thank you, Jeeves'', Bertie becomes obsessed with playing the Banjolele after watching a performance by a fictional band called "Ben Bloom and his Sixteen Baltimore Buddies".
• In the Discworld novel Soul Music, rejected names for The Band With Rocks In include "Cliff and the Cliffettes" and "Glod and the Glodettes". Dibbler says the proper name for a musical group is something like "Bertie the Balladeer and his Troubador Rascals".

Live-Action TV

• An episode of The Donna Reed Show had Jeff and the Gents, whose records ended up used as proto-Frisbees.
• In Full House, Jesse briefly fronts a band named Jesse and the Rippers. That band's name would be reused when John Stamos provided lead vocals on a cover of The Beach Boys's "Forever" (from their Summer in Paradise album) which was released as a single.
  • The band comes back in Fuller House and once again, they play a cover of "Forever".
• Julie and the Phantoms: The titular band is formed from the ghostly former members of 90s rock band Sunset Curve and Julie Molina, the only living member and the one who enables the other members to be seen while performing. People in-universe assume "The Phantoms" are holograms rather than ghosts.
• The Muppet Show:
  • The show's main band is Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, led by Dr. Teeth on keyboard. In The Muppets Mayhem the rest of the band admit they were never happy with Dr. Teeth getting top billing but let it go to keep the peace. On learning this, Dr. Teeth insists they shorten the name to "The Electric Mayhem".
  • A recurring act is a band made up of elderly people called Jerry and the Atrics (a pun on "geriatric").
• Sesame Street has Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats and Little Jerry and the Monotones.
• The Two Ronnies: One musical finale has the fictional Irish folk musicians Pete Cutter and the Boggers.
• Yo Gabba Gabba!: The episode "A Very Awesome Christmas Special'' featured singing duo Cults under the more child-friendly name "Madeline, Brian, and the Band".

Theatre

• Hedwig and the Angry Inch (The Angry Inch being a backing band named after the scar that Hedwig got after an unsuccessful surgery).

Toys

• In The '80s, Barbie launched a line of dolls based around this trope known as "Barbie and the Rockers."
• In the early 2000 specials featuring Polly Pocket, she was the frontman of her band, Polly and the Pockets.

Video Games

• Green Tentacle from Maniac Mansion is an aspiring musician. When he gets inspiration to start a band, he plans to call it GT and the Suction Cups. In the sequel, Day of the Tentacle, we find out that he was successful in starting a band, but it's now called Green T and the Sushi Platter.
• Papa Louie Arcade has the successful ska-punk band named "Scarlett and the Shakers", consisting of Scarlett on vocals, Rudy on bass, Marty on guitar, and Clover on drums. Each member of the band has been a customer in the series as well as a worker in some of Papa's restaurants (Rudy and Scarlett work at the same restaurant).

Webcomics

• In the course of the run of Ménage à 3, lead character Zii tries to establish her band "Zii and the Troublemakers". Her egocentric rival Angel eventually renames their band from "Pretty Boyz with Electric Toyz" to "Angel and Their Electric Toyz".

Western Animation

• American Dad!: In "American Dream Factory", Steve and his friends form a band called Steve and The Ass-Tones. His friends quit to join another band, so Steve replaces them with a family of illegal Mexican immigrants that Stan is hiding from the authorities and renames the band Steve and The Ass-Tonos.
• ChalkZone:
  • The end-of-episode music videos give Rudy's trio one of three titles: "Rudy and the Chalkzone Band", "Rudy and the Chalkzone Gang", or "Rudy Tabootie and Chums".
  • "Insect Aside" has Rudy, Snap, and Penny watch a performance by Mo Skeeter and the Stingers.
• Cartoons That Never Made It: The short "Heidi and the Yodelers", a spoof of Josie and the Pussycats where the band is portrayed as a group of stereotypical Swiss yodelers.
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "The Record Deal" has a scene where Eustace bangs on his car radio for not playing music by his idol Velvet Vic, during which a voice can be heard announcing a song performed by a band called Johnny and the Diltones (a play on the name of the show's creator John R. Dilworth).
• Jem: The protagonists of the series belong to a band called Jem and the Holograms; "Jem" is the stage name of the main character, Jerrica Benton.
• Johnny Bravo: The cast's short-lived band, Johnny and the Deer Ticks.
• Phineas and Ferb: When the title characters decide to become one-hit wonders, they name their band "Phineas and the Ferbtones."
• Pig City: Mikey's cousin Reggie is a member of a Heavy Metal band he formed with his friends that's called "Reg And The Rashers".
• Regular Show: While drunk on soda, Mordecai and Rigby order custom t-shirts so they can pretend they're in a band called Mordecai And The Rigbys. Mordecai regrets their purchase the next morning because neither of them can play an instrument and the name doesn't make any sense, but he decides that they should become an actual band to impress his crush Margaret.
• Seven Little Monsters: The episode "Gone But Not Four-Gotten" has a car radio mention a band called Tom and the Toenails.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Wigstruck" features a band called Ned and the Needlefish.
• Steven Universe:
  • In "Steven and the Stevens", Steven forms a band of the eponymous name consisting of him and three alternate versions of himself made as a result of using a magic hourglass upon realizing that it allows him to travel back in time.
  • Sadie's band is called "Sadie Killer and the Suspects," as she's the lead singer, and her frustrated horror-inspired lyrics gave the band its identity.

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Costello: All I'm asking is, Who was the artist who played with The Band?

Abbott: No, I told you, The Who is a different band...

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