Barenaked Ladies Tickets

Get the album Detour De Force here

When it comes to timeless songs, Barenaked Ladies know all about making them. The four-piece from Ontario, Canada, have tapped into their wacky side again and again to fuse whimsical lyrics with incredibly catchy hooks and rhythms that have endured over the years.

The group took root in the early 80s with Ed Robertson and Steven Page, who grew up going to the same school. They also bonded as counsellors at Scarborough Music Camp over their love of Peter Gabriel and “Weird Al” Yankovic, not to mention their shared joy of coming up with fictional band names.

When they ran into each other in 1988 while attending a Bob Dylan concert in Toronto, the pair decided to start a band together. The duo’s first gig was a one-off charity show supporting a food bank for which they dubbed themselves Barenaked Ladies – never expecting the silly name to remain with them decades later. Their set was basically an improvised mix of banter, raps and songs.

More opportunities to perform live followed and saw them play covers of Madonna, Johnny Cash and other artists. They often got into random grooves while freestyling verses laden with pop culture references that would ultimately become a hallmark of their music.

BNL’s first demo tape, called Buck Naked, came out in 1989. By 1991, the band had more than doubled in size after brothers Jim and Andy Creeggan and Tyler Stewart, whom they met at the Waterloo Busker Festival, were invited to join. Around this time, they also recorded two more demos called Barenaked Lunch and The Yellow Tape, plus a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s Lovers In A Dangerous Time for a tribute album to the illustrious Canadian singer-songwriter.

After being rejected by every label they approached, Barenaked Ladies were finally signed to Sire Records in 1992 and their debut studio album Gordon was released. It spawned three hits: Be My Yoko Ono, a revamped version of their beloved live show sing-along If I Had $1,000,000 and Brian Wilson, an ode to the Beach Boys’ co-founder.

Their 1994 follow-up, Maybe You Should Drive, went double platinum in Canada and saw BNL’s profile grow in the US and UK. Two years later, Born On A Pirate Ship arrived featuring the song The Old Apartment, directed by the band's friend: actor and fellow Canadian Jason Priestley.

In 1995, Andy Creeggan left BNL and was replaced by Kevin Hearn, who had played with them earlier that year on their Born On A Pirate Ship tour.

A steady output of albums would follow over the next 20 years, with 1998’s career-defining Stunt becoming their highest charting in the UK at No.20. It boasted the tracks It’s All Been Done and One Week, a novelty rap-pop song that was also inspired by the improvisational nature of their live shows. Becoming the band’s breakthrough hit, One Week peaked at No.5 on the UK singles chart.

Barenaked Ladies also landed another huge hit with lead single Pinch Me from their fifth album, 2000’s Maroon.

In addition to selling over 15 million albums worldwide, Barenaked Ladies have been nominated for two Grammys and won eight Juno Awards. Plus, they’ve had a Ben & Jerry’s flavour named after them: If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours, described as “a collision of chocolate and vanilla ice creams”.

In 2007, Barenaked Ladies were asked to compose and perform the theme song for The Big Bang Theory and 12 years later they were invited back for the TV series’ historic finale, where they also recorded a special acoustic rendition of it.

The band was reduced to a four-piece in 2009 after parting ways with founding member Page.

In 2017, the Barenaked Ladies issued their 15th studio album, Fake Nudes, featuring the single Lookin’ Up. That was trailed by the release of the digital EP Fake Nudes: Naked with acoustic renditions of the album’s songs.

The group were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2018, and also that year Toronto Mayor John Tory declared 1 October as Barenaked Ladies Day.

In 2019, Barenaked Ladies released a vinyl-exclusive record – Original Hits, Original Stars – and toured that summer with Hootie And The Blowish. They returned again in 2021 with the album Detour De Force, which included a songwriting collaboration with Better Than Ezra singer Kevin Griffin.