10 Musician And Band Names With Dark Unusual Origins

According to Cheap Trick's guitarist Rick Nielsen, the Illinois rock band's name was not a product of their own imaginations. Rather, it was dictated to them by a spirit during a session with an ouija board. When asked what they should call their new band, the spirit spelt out the words Cheap Trick, and that is allegedly how the label was born. Although Nielsen's ludicrous claim was likely designed to confuse journalists, it makes a good story all the same.

Bassist Tom Petersson has a more realistic explanation for their choice of name: it was derived from a flippant comment that he once made at a Slade concert. While watching Noddy Holder and his fellow musicians play, Petersson turned to the other members of his band and stated that Slade were using "every cheap trick in the book".

Interestingly, Cheap Trick is not the only musical outfit whose name is rumoured to have been inspired by the paranormal. Alice Cooper, whose real name is Vincent Furnier, once said that his stage name was inspired by an ouija board session that his mother took part in. Sitting at the board, she asked, "Who is Alice Cooper?", to which the spirit responded, "Vincent". The shock rocker evidently couldn't argue with this statement, for he became known as Alice Cooper from that point onwards.