The B-52s are an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, percussion), Ricky Wilson (guitar, vocals), and Keith Strickland (drums, guitar, keyboards, vocals). Ricky Wilson died of AIDS-related illness in 1985, and Strickland permanently switched from drums to lead guitar. The band has also added various auxiliary members for albums and live performances.
The B-52s have had many hits, including "Rock Lobster", "Planet Claire", "Party Out of Bounds", "Private Idaho", "Whammy Kiss", "Summer of Love", "Wig", "Love Shack", "Roam", "Funplex", and "(Meet) The Flintstones". They have been nominated for three Grammy Awards, twice for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 1990 and 1991, and for Best Alternative Music Album in 1992. A 2023 Las Vegas residency was announced in November 2022.
The group evoked a "thrift-shop aesthetic", in Bernard Gendron's words, by drawing from 1950s and 1960s pop music, rock-and-roll, and camp/kitsch culture. Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson sometimes use call-and-response-style vocals (Schneider's often humorous and camp Sprechgesang contrasting with Wilson and Pierson's melodic harmonies), and their guitar- and keyboard-driven instrumentation is their trademark sound, which was also set apart from their contemporaries by the unusual guitar tunings Ricky Wilson used on their earlier albums.
History 1976–1979: Formation and early years The group formed in 1976 when Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson (her elder brother), Pierson, Strickland, and Schneider held an impromptu jam session after sharing a flaming volcano drink at a Chinese restaurant in Athens, Georgia. When they first jammed, Strickland played guitar and Ricky Wilson played congas. They later played their first concert (with Wilson on guitar) in 1977, on North Milledge Avenue in Athens, at a Valentine's Day party for their friends. The venue later became a private residence.
The name "B-52s" comes from a particular beehive hairdo resembling the nose cone of the aircraft, which Pierson and Cindy Wilson wore in performances during the band's first decade. Other names the band considered were the Tina-Trons and Fellini's Children. Strickland suggested the name after a dream he had of a band performing in a hotel lounge. In the dream, he heard someone whisper in his ear that the band's name was "the B-52s".
The band's quirky take on the new-wave sound of its era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart from their contemporaries by thrift-store chic and the unusual guitar tunings Ricky Wilson used.
The band's first single, "Rock Lobster", recorded for DB Records in 1978, was an underground success, selling over 2,000 copies, which led to gigs at CBGB and Max's Kansas City in New York City. Both this version of "Rock Lobster" and its B-side, "52 Girls", are different recordings from those that appear on the band's 1979 debut album and the early version of "52 Girls" is in a different key.
The re-recorded version of "Rock Lobster" was also released as a single, and in the UK and Germany, it was backed with an instrumental version of "Running Around", a nonalbum track at the time. (A vocal re-recording of this appears on the band's second album, 1980's Wild Planet.) The buzz the record created in the UK meant their first show in London at the Electric Ballroom was packed and attended by UK pop stars, including Sandie Shaw, Green Gartside from Scritti Politti, and Joe Jackson. In Canada, released on the Warner Bros. label, the single went from cult hit to number one on the RPM-compiled national chart on May 24, 1980. John Lennon credited the song with inspiring his return to writing music.
1979–1982: The B-52s, Wild Planet, and Mesopotamia
In 1979, the B-52s signed contracts as they flew over to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, to record their debut studio album, with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell producing. The band was surprised by Blackwell's recording methods; he wanted to keep the sound as close as possible to its live sound, so he used almost no overdubs or additional effects.
Released on July 6, 1979, The B-52's contained re-recorded versions of "Rock Lobster" and "52 Girls", six originals recorded solely for the album, and a cover of the Petula Clark hit "Downtown". The album was a major success, especially in Australia, where it reached number three on the charts alongside its three singles: "Planet Claire", "Rock Lobster", and "Dance This Mess Around". In the U.S., the single "Rock Lobster" reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the album was certified platinum by the RIAA. In 1980, John Lennon called the B-52s his favorite band and specifically cited "Rock Lobster" as an inspiration for his album Double Fantasy (1980). Citation posted at Originally posted January 21, 1997.
In April 1980, the B-52s returned to Compass Point Studios to record their next album. Several of the songs on the new album had been concert staples since 1978; the band did not record them for their first album, as they had more songs than could fit in a quality LP record. Rhett Davies co-produced the album, which had a more polished production sound than the debut.
Released on August 27, 1980, Wild Planet was well received by critics. It reached number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1980 and was certified gold; "Private Idaho" became the band's second Hot 100 entry. The B-52s performed on Saturday Night Live on January 26, 1980, and at the Heatwave festival (promoted as the "New Wave Woodstock") near Toronto, Canada, in August 1980. The band also appeared in the Paul Simon film One-Trick Pony. In July 1981, Party Mix! was released, a six-song collection containing songs from the first two albums remixed and sequenced to form two long tracks, one on each side.
In 1981, the band collaborated with Talking Heads' David Byrne to produce a third full-length studio album. Reportedly due to differences with Byrne over the album's musical direction, recording sessions for the album were aborted, prompting the band to release Mesopotamia in 1982 as an EP. (In 1991, Party Mix! and Mesopotamia, the latter of which had been remixed, were combined and released together on a single compact disc.) Also in 1982, the band appeared at the inaugural US Festival, performing on the first day.
1982–1987: Whammy!, Bouncing off the Satellites, and death of Ricky Wilson In December 1982, the band began recording their third album, Whammy! According to Pierson, Strickland no longer wanted to play the drums, so the band switched to drum machines for this album, with Strickland and Ricky Wilson playing all the music on the album, and the rest of the band providing vocals only. Having originally played guitars, organ, bass guitar, and synthesizers, Pierson switched to a mainly vocal role in the studio, but remained behind the keyboards on tour. The band also began experimenting heavily with synthesizers during this period.
Released on April 27, 1983, Whammy! reached number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. "Legal Tender" reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Singles chart alongside "Whammy Kiss" and "Song for a Future Generation". For the Whammy! tour, some tracks featured Strickland on the drums, while others used a backing track so Strickland could come forward and play other parts. This also freed up the vocalists (now sometimes not playing instruments) to perform some simple choreography. Copyright issues with Yoko Ono led to the cover song "Don't Worry" being removed from the album and replaced by "Moon 83"—a rearranged version of "There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)" from their debut album—on future pressings of Whammy!
Before the work on the next album, the band took a one-year break during which Fred Schneider released his debut solo album Fred Schneider and the Shake Society.
In January 1985, the B-52s performed in Brazil at Rock in Rio for their largest crowd ever. Later in the year, the band struggled to write new material for their next album. The band members all lived together in the same house and felt that collaboration was not working, so they decided to try to write songs separately and began recording in July 1985, again using drum machines and synthesizers extensively. During the recording, guitarist Wilson had been suffering from AIDS, though none of the other band members were aware of his illness except for Strickland, as Wilson "did not want anyone to worry about him or fuss about him." Wilson died from his illness on October 12, 1985, at the age of 32.
When the band returned to the studio, Strickland had learned how to play the guitar in Wilson's style and switched permanently to the new instrument, leaving session players to complete the rhythm section. The results were released on September 8, 1986, as Bouncing off the Satellites, a mixture of solo and group efforts. Because of Wilson's death, the band did not tour to promote the album. A music video was made for "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" and the band appeared on some UK television programs, but then took a two-year hiatus. Keith Strickland moved to Woodstock, New York, while Pierson and Schneider stayed in New York City. In 1987, the band released a public service announcement in the style of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover on behalf of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.
1988–1992: Comeback, Cosmic Thing, and Good Stuff Strickland had been composing in 1988. After he played some of his new music for the other band members, they all agreed to try writing together again, with Pierson, Wilson, and Schneider contributing lyrics and melodies. In 1989, the band released Cosmic Thing, their mainstream breakthrough, on Reprise Records worldwide. The single "Channel Z" from the new album became an alternative and college radio hit, hitting number one on the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, receiving significant airplay on MTV's modern rock show 120 Minutes. They then embarked on the Cosmic Tour.
Their next single, "Love Shack", with its party vibe and colorful music video,Unterberger, pp. 133–135 became their first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately reaching number three in November 1989. That peak was matched in March 1990, when their follow-up single, "Roam", also reached number three. In Australia, the country that had most embraced the band a decade earlier, "Love Shack" remained at number one for eight weeks.
A fourth single, "Deadbeat Club", which reminisced about the band's early days in Athens and whose video was shot on location and featured a cameo by fellow Athens artist R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, reached number 30. Cosmic Thing climbed into the U.S. top five and earned multiplatinum certification. The album also had international success, reaching number one in both Australia and New Zealand and number eight in the UK. The group had a successful world tour to support the record and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in March 1990. In 1990, the B-52s were nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. They won two awards: Best Group Video and Best Art Direction.
Pierson sang on Iggy Pop's song "Candy", which gave him his first and only top-40 hit. In 1991, Schneider's 1984 solo record, Fred Schneider and the Shake Society, was repackaged and re-released, resulting in his first Hot 100 single when "Monster" climbed to number 85. Also that year, Pierson again guest-starred on a popular track, R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People", which reached number 10 in September. Pierson also appeared on two other songs from R.E.M.'s chart-topping album Out of Time: "Near Wild Heaven" and "Me in Honey", as well as the outtake "Fretless".