Barenaked Ladies

In spite of the fact that the peak of the Barenaked Ladies fame came to the end of 90's, this collective with indie roots was formed in 1988 in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada. Initially, the band was founded by a duo, consisting of Ed Robertson and Steven Page, who went to the same school. They made friends when ran into each other in a cafй after the gig by Peter Gabriel and found out that they had much in common in musical tastes. However, the organized soon group Barenaked Ladies was not a success, until Robertson and Page started performing live. In order to amuse the public they read improvised rap monologues between the covers and joked. Soon the artists began to write songs themselves. The band was added by friends of Page and Robertson - drummer Andy Creeggan and his brother, bassist Jim Creeggan - in this lineup Barenaked Ladies self-produced the album called Barenaked Lunch, also known as The Pink Tape(1990). In half a year after their first indie release, the artists had to look for a substitute for Andy Creeggan, who went to Ecuador on the student exchange program - and Tyler Stewart entered the band. Lately he became the full-right member of Barenaked Ladies.

Soon Barenaked Ladies got the YTV Achievement Awards and made an appearance on the TV with their song Be My Yoko Ono. Gaining popularity band went on a tour over Canada. In 1991, the collective made the indie-pop record Yellow Tape and sold its copies during the performances right from the scene. The sales of Yellow Tape and Barenaked Ladies glory rushed up after the Christmas scandal, featuring the band - they were forbidden to sing on the Nathan Phillips Square near the Toronto City Hall, as their title was thought to be sexist. The first official released of the band had the name of Gordon and saw light in 1992, becoming the national hit in Canada. It generated pop rock hits Be My Yoko Ono, Enid, If I Had $1000000 and Brian Wilson, devoted to the member of The Beach Boys. The next disc Maybe You Should Drive was released in 1994 and was followed by the unsuccessful tour around the USA. The band survived hard times, Andy Creeggan left Barenaked Ladies, and the collective was on the edge of collapse. Page suffered from a depression and alcohol abuse. All these dark moods were noticeable in the pop released Born On A Pirate Ship of 1996. It contained hits Shoe Box and The Old Apartment.

The music of the band was featured in such popular series as Friends and Beverly Hills 90210, which resulted in the long-awaited success of Barenaked Ladies in the USA. In 1998, the group had a burst of popularity among the US public with the Stunt album, featuring major hit One Week. It emasculated the glory with tour around the North America. However, their keyboardist Kevin Hearn, who substituted Andy Creeggan, was diagnosed leukemia. After the bone marrow transplantation, he recovered and joined his colleagues by the end of the tour. In 2000, the artists released Maroon long-play with the single Pinch Me. After it, they decided to overview their career with the compilation Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits. In 2003, Barenaked Ladies issued the Everything To Everyone album, which signaled the end of the band's contract with their label - thus Barenaked Ladies got back its indie status. In 2004, the command released full-length Barenaked For The Holydays. Lately the musicians wrote many songs - Barenaked Ladies Are Me album of 2006 saw the follow-up Barenaked Ladies Are Men in 2007. In 2008, the Canadian entertainers released the magnificent alt-rock disc Snacktime! written for children. The rockers’ discography was enlarged by the ninth studio attempt titled All In Good Time in 2010. The record got fair reviews from the critics, who noted the traditionally high quality of the performance and the signature atmosphere. There is absolutely no doubt that All In Good Time turned out to be a perfect continuation and development of Barenaked Ladies’ ideas.