23 rock and metal bands that took their names straight from books

Loudwire has published a roundup of 23 well-known rock and metal bands whose names came directly from literature, either from book titles or from characters found inside them. The feature notes that both fiction and nonfiction served as inspiration, and that in several cases the band ended up far more famous than the book behind it.

My Chemical Romance is one of the examples included. The band landed on its name thanks to a member who was stocking books on the shelves at Barnes & Noble at the time. Good Charlotte, meanwhile, borrowed from a children's book that, according to the piece, the members themselves do not think much of these days.

The list also covers older corners of alternative and art rock. The Velvet Underground pulled their name from an obscure title that set out to expose "aberrant" sexual behavior. Other acts went with characters instead: Veruca Salt took the name of one of the brattiest kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and English rockers Uriah Heep also settled on a distinctly unsavory figure.

Taken together, the roundup doubles as a tour through decades of heavy and alternative music history, showing how the printed page has quietly worked as a shortcut for bands searching for an identity. In plenty of cases, fans singing along have no idea the logo on their shirt started out on a bookshelf.

The full rundown of all 23 bands and the works and characters behind them is available in the original Loudwire feature.