Back The B-52's Catalan The B-52's Czech The B-52's Welsh B-52's Danish The B-52s German The B-52's Spanish The B-52's Basque د بی-۵۲ز Persian The B-52’s Finnish The B-52's French

The B-52s

This article is about the band. For their eponymous album, see The B-52's (album). For other uses, see B52 (disambiguation).

The B-52s
The B-52s performing live in 2011. Left to right, top to bottom: Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Keith Strickland.
The B-52s performing live in 2011. Left to right, top to bottom: Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Keith Strickland.
Background information
OriginAthens, Georgia, U.S.
Genres
Years active1976–present
Labels
Members
Past membersRicky Wilson
Websitetheb52s.com

The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976.[8] The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth 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,[9] and Strickland permanently switched from drums to lead guitar. The band has also added various 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. In April 2022, the group announced they were retiring from touring.[10] A 2023 Las Vegas residency was announced in November 2022.[11]

The group evoked a "thrift shop aesthetic", in Bernard Gendron's words,[7] by drawing from 1950s and 1960s pop sources, trash culture, and rock and roll. Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson sometimes use call-and-response-style vocals (Schneider's often humorous Sprechgesang contrasting with Wilson's 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.

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "The B-52s | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Spitz, Mark (March 16, 2008). "Return of the Rock Lobsters". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "The B-52s, Bringing Back the Party". NPR Music. April 10, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  4. ^ Hermes, Will (October 2005). "The Definitive Guide to: Dance Rock". Spin. Vol. 21, no. 10. ISSN 0886-3032.
  5. ^ "The B-52's: The B-52's". Pitchfork.
  6. ^ Sawdey, Evan. "Dance This Mess Around The B-52's – "Lava"". PopMatters. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Gendron, Bernard (2002). Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club: Popular Music and the Avant-Garde. University of Chicago. p. 289.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference name was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "The B-52s: The stories behind the hit songs". EW.com. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  10. ^ "The B-52s to launch a US farewell tour this summer". AP News. April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "B-52s announce return to Las Vegas for ten-night residency at the Venetian Resort". KTNV Las Vegas. November 29, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2023.

Developed by StudentB