School isn’t just about reading, writing and arithmetic – sometimes it’s about rock and roll music too! In fact, some of today’s most successful rock music bands were formed within the corridors of a high school or university. Let’s take a look at the top 10 rock bands that formed in school.
Green Day
This power trio first formed in high school in 1987. Guitarists Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were already in a band called Sweet Children; however, their other two band members left the group. They then recruited drummer John Kiffmeyer and became Green Day. In 1988 the band, whose members were all 16 at the time, signed with Lookout! Records. In late 1990, Tre Cool would replace Kiffmeyer as the permanent drummer for Green Day. Then, just a few years later the band would release Dookie, becoming an overnight success in mainstream punk rock.
Pink Floyd
Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright met while studying architecture at the London Polytechnic in the early 1960s. Syd Barrett was an art student at another university when he met the gang. At the time, the band called themselves Sigma 6. The band performed at private functions and rehearsed in a tearoom in the basement of the Regent Street Polytechnic.
The group would officially adopt the name Pink Floyd in 1965, and sign with EMI just two years later. Pink Floyd would release their first album entitled The Piper at the Gate’s of Dawn reaching number six, spending 14 weeks on the UK charts. Of course, they would go on to become one of the greatest rock music bands of all time.
Queen
Brian May and Roger Taylor began their rock career in a band called Smile while they were attending college. When their singer, Tim Staffell, left to go solo, they were joined by Freddie Mercury. They then added bassist John Deacon, and Queen was complete. In the summer of 1971, Queen played their first show with the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon at a Surrey college outside London. They finished school and released their self-titled debut album Queen in 1973. Without much promotional backing the album didn’t perform well initially; however, the band would go on to become one of the most successful bands of all time with an estimated 250-300 million records sold worldwide.
Coldplay
Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland first met during their orientation week at University College London, in 1996. Guy Berryman would soon join the band which was then called Big Fat Noises. They finally settled on the name Coldplay after drummer Champion joined the band in 1998. The rest is history!
Check out some of the band’s best songs on our Top 10 list.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is another iconic band that formed while the members were in high school. The band members all attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles together in 1982. They were originally named “Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem,” but soon settled on Red Hot Chili Peppers after signing with EMI.
Their debut album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was in August 1984, selling 300,000 copies. Though the membership has changed since the band’s origin back in high school, they’ve continued to have a very prosperous career.
U2
U2 began when their drummer Larry Mullen Jr., posted an ad in his school looking for musicians to play with. Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton were some of the musicians who responded. The five members settled on the name “Feedback” for the group because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Early rehearsals took place in their music teacher’s classroom at Mount Temple School.
Who would’ve guessed that a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted band, that’s sold approximately 160 million records over the course of their career, would’ve formed through an ad posted on a high school’s bulletin board?
The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger became classmates and childhood friends in 1950. The two bonded over their love of Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. They even settled on the name Blues Boys for their first band.
Soon they were introduced to Brian Jones, who became their lead guitarist. According to Richards, Jones gave the band its new name during a phone call to Jazz News. When asked by a journalist for the band’s name, Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor. One of the tracks was called “Rollin’ Stone.” The rest is history. It’s hard to imagine that one of the worlds top rock music bands met at such a young age.
Vampire Weekend
Ezra Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, drummer Christopher Tomson, and keyboardist-guitarist Rostam Batmanglij met while at Columbia University. They bonded over a shared love of punk rock and African music. The band chose the name “Vampire Weekend” from the title of a short film project Koenig worked on during the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college.
Their first show was in 2006 at a Battle of the Bands event in college. Their demos eventually took off online and the group released their self-titled debut album in 2008.
Radiohead
Guitarist and singer Thom Yorke, bassist Colin Greenwood, guitarist Ed O’Brien, drummer Phil Selway, and Jonny Greenwood met while attending the same boarding school. The group name they settled on was On a Friday’s. They eventually separated to attend college, but still get together and play gigs as On a Friday’s. During one performance, they caught the attention of some executives and signed with EMI.
They were asked to change the band name and settled on Radiohead, which they got from the song “Radio Head” on a Talking Heads album.
The Strokes
Lead singer Julian Casablancas and Nikolai Fraiture met when they were six at the school Lycée Français de New York. Casablancas then met Nick Valensi and Fab Moretti years later while attending Dwight School in Manhattan. Casablancas was eventually sent to a Swiss boarding school and met guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. there. Hammond eventually found himself in New York to go to film school and ended up joining The Strokes.
The rock music band had gone on to win many awards. In 2021, the band won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, making it their first Grammy Award win. Overall, the Strokes have received seven awards from 22 nominations, becoming of the most successful rock music bands out today.
