Top 10 Bands Whose Authentic Names Are Abbreviations / Acronyms

The Top Ten
1 AC/DC

AC/DC = Alternating Current, Direct Current. Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after seeing "AC/DC" on an electric sewing machine.

2 R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, lead guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry.

Stands for: Rapid Eye Movement (a phase of sleep). Apparently, when picking a name for the band, Michael Stipe randomly selected R.E.M. from a dictionary.

3 ABBA ABBA are a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

An acronym from the initials of the band members first names - Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid.

The only definitive acronym here.

4 W.A.S.P. W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 by Blackie Lawless, who is the only remaining original member of the band.

W.A.S.P. probably stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, being the original meaning of the acronym.
Some claimed W.A.S.P. was an acronym for "We Are Sexually Perverted."

5 UFO UFO are an English rock band that was formed in 1969. They became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal.

UFO stands for Unidentified flying object.
UFO is a rock-to-metal band from the UK. I really like their song Doctor Doctor (covered by Iron Maiden).

6 REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s.

REO stands for Ransom Eli Olds - pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named.
The band founder Neal Doughty came up with this name, inspired by his transportation history class at the University of Illinois.

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band.

Apparently, the car manufacturer decided to pronounce the acronym as one word, sounding like "Rio". However, the members of the band decided to make things different by pronouncing the letters individually.

7 INXS INXS were an Australian rock and pop band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales.
8 U2
9 D.R.I. D.R.I. is an American crossover thrash band that formed in Houston, Texas in 1982. As of 2015, the band comprises two of its founding members, vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as drummer Walter "Monsta" Ryan and bassist Harald Oimoen.

D.R.I. = Dirty Rotten Imbeciles.
D.R.I. is an American crossover thrash band.

10 H.E.A.T
The Contenders
11 OMD
12 NOFX NOFX are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after.

American punk rock band. Guitarist Eric Melvin says that he came up with the name, inspired by the broken up punk band "Negative FX". The name is also meant to symbolize the band's rejection of gimmickry that the band was seeing in music at the time.

13 KMFDM KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project.
14 AFI AFI (abbreviation for A Fire Inside) is an American rock band from Ukiah, California, formed in 1991. Since 1998, it consists of lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backing vocalist Adam Carson, bassist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Hunter Burgan, and guitarist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Jade Puget. Havok and Carson are the sole remaining original members. Originally a hardcore punk band, they have since delved into many genres, starting with horror punk and following through post-hardcore and emo into alternative rock and gothic rock.
15 P.O.D. Payable on Death, also known as P.O.D., is a Christian nu metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California.

Payable On Death

16 ABC
17 OMC
18 O.A.R.
19 R.I.P.
20 PIL
21 HIM HIM was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen under the name His Infernal Majesty, the band broke up in 1993, before being reformed in 1995 by Valo and guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström.
22 UB40

UB40 - The UK government's form number for the Unemployment Benefit Attendance Card, as shown on the band's debut album Signing Off.

23 S.O.D.

Stormtroopers of death

24 ELO The Electric Light Orchestra are an English rock band from Birmingham. They were formed in 1970 by songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne with drummer Bev Bevan.

I think their authentic name isn't an abbreviation - their name is Electric Light Orchestra, ELO is just for short.
Authentic names are AC/DC or ABBA, for example. They have no other (longer) names.

25 MGMT MGMT is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio.
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