Bands that started off in a garage
Many successful bands had humble beginnings – so if you’re currently playing in a garage or basement band, you’re in good company!
Here are some bands that started as garage bands:
Nirvana
![](https://fz-wp-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24132240/nirvana-cc2-300x283.jpg)
P.B. Rage from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
One of the most iconic grunge bands of all time, Nirvana got their start in the burgeoning grunge scene in Washington State. They held practice in many unassuming spots, including Cobain’s home and a friend’s barn in Tacoma.
The Ramones
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UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Ramones Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Considered to be one of the first true punk rock bands, the original members of The Ramones met in the middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills in Queens. John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi had been members of a garage band in high school called Tangerine Puppets.
The Who
In the 1960s, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle created a band in a West London garage called “The Detours”. The band would later gain drummer Keith Moon and rechristen themselves as The Who – one of the biggest stadium rock bands of all time.
Weezer
![](https://fz-wp-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24132549/Weezer_36822221322-300x200.jpg)
David Lee from Redmond, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Weezer’s early days took place in the “Amherst House”, a small rented house in LA. The band rehearsed and even recorded early demos there. They paid tribute to their origins with the song “In the Garage” off of their debut album.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The “Proud Mary” songsters started off as a high school garage band called The Blue Velvets, playing school dances and sock hops in the 1950s in the suburbs of San Francisco.
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