The Barenaked Ladies are a Canadian alternative rock band composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart, and formerly Andy Creeggan. The band first began as a duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page. They went to school together since 4th grade, but didn't become friends until way after. They started hanging out after bumping into each other after leaving a Peter Gabriel show. The Barenaked Ladies, or BNL for short, are most widely known for their popular singles, "One Week", "If I Had a Million Dollars", "Pinch Me", and "Brian Wilson". BNL has sold nearly 10 million records worldwide and have a very dedicated following. Their fan pleasing trademark at all of their shows is their improvised rap songs and humorous banter that acts as a fill in between their sets.
The beginning of BNL's career was pretty rocky. The band had earned the reputation of being booked for gigs and never showing up for rehearsals, then improvising their show sets. The band's first 1991 release of note, Yellow Tape, cost the band approximately $2000-$3000 to record. After recording they sent the demon to all of the Canadian labels and were reject by every single one. With no recording company backing, album stores also refused to sell their album. As a result the band began selling their demo at their shows and the tapes sold really well. As the word of mouth spread, people began asking for the demo at their local record stores. As BNL gained success, their demo tape became their commercial release; it was also the first indie release by any band in Canada to achieve platinum status.
BNL's release of 1998's Stunt marked the bands most successful release. Coincidentally, the band's hottest single off the album, "One Week" spent one week at #1 on the Billboard Top 100. After the band's 2003 release of Everything to Everyone, the band fulfilled its contract with Reprise Records and chose not to resign. Later that next year, the band released, Barenaked for the Holidays, which was the band's 1st independent record since Yellow Tape. The band went to create their own label, strictly for their usage called Desperation Records.
In May 2006, BNL released Barenaked Ladies Are Me. There is currently a contest going on in which individual tracks are available online for fans to remix and submit to the band. The best remixes received will be released on the EP and all proceeds will go to charity. The remaining songs received will be taken into consideration for their upcoming album Barenaked Ladies are Men. The band is also making plans for their fan cruise which is due to feature Guster, The Brothers Creeggan, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. In comparison to other music cruises, BNL will be the headlining band that will stay aboard the ship fort the entire cruise.
