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Canadian rock band

Alternative pop Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well known for creating and performing the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Initially a duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page, the band quickly grew to a quintet, adding brothers Jim and Andy Creeggan and Tyler Stewart by 1990. Andy Creeggan left the band in 1995 and was replaced by Kevin Hearn. Page left in 2009, reducing the group to a quartet. The band's style has evolved throughout their career, and their music, which began as exclusively acoustic, quickly grew to encompass a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop and rap. The band's live performances feature comedic banter and freestyle rapping between songs. They have won multiple Juno Awards and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards. The group has sold over 15 million albums and singles and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in March 2018.

Barenaked Ladies began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page. at Churchill Heights Public School but were not friends until they met each other at a Harvey's restaurant after a Peter Gabriel concert. Page had an extra ticket to a Bob Dylan concert at Exhibition Stadium and asked Robertson to join him. Bored, they amused each other by pretending they were rock critics and inventing histories about the Dylan band. They also invented fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies." On another front, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands at Nathan Phillips Square for the Second Harvest food bank, but the band broke up. A week before the show, Robertson received a phone call to confirm the gig, so he improvised the band had changed its name to "Barenaked Ladies." He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name. They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all. while the other bands set up they played every song they both knew. The show went well, and they were invited to open for another established local band, The Razorbacks, at the Horseshoe Tavern the coming weekend. Missing three more scheduled rehearsals, they improvised their set once again. These acts set a precedent for Barenaked Ladies concerts, which still almost always contain improvised raps, songs, and banter. and by squeezing into a small "Speaker's Corner" video booth in Toronto to perform "Be My Yoko Ono". (After the band signed to a major label, Page Publications remained in operation, later releasing albums by artists such as The Lowest of the Low, Leslie Spit Treeo, Annette Ducharme, David Gogo, and Bodega.) During this era, the band garnered radio airplay with a live cover of Dean Friedman's "McDonald's Girl", which included a rap break incorporating lyrics from Beastie Boys' "Hey Ladies". Another major break for the band came in November 1991 when Barenaked Ladies contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" to the Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness. The song became the band's first Top 40 hit in Canada. Sales of The Yellow Tape were jump started when the band was removed from the lineup of the 1991 New Year's Eve concert in Nathan Phillips Square outside Toronto City Hall because a staffer for then mayor June Rowlands believed the band's name objectified women; the decision was affirmed by city councillor Chris Korwin Kuczynski. The group shrugged it off and booked another show at McMaster University. They received enough publicity from the incident that MuchMusic offered them its second ever Intimate and Interactive special on 17 January. The tape eventually became the first ever indie release to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada. after a long period of being rejected by every label they approached. The band's first full album, Gordon, was released in July 1992 and was a big success in Canada; It included some of the band's most well known songs, including "Enid", the first single; "Be My Yoko Ono", the single which helped fund the album; "If I Had $1000000", which spawned a tradition of throwing Kraft Dinner during live shows, which the band later discouraged; Tyler Stewart has also suggested that Creeggan had never fully accepted his replacement by Stewart as a percussionist. Barenaked Ladies also had a guest appearance in a 1999 episode of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. Led by the "Pinch Me" single, in the US Maroon (2000) The first single off the album was "Another Postcard (Chimps)", which received modest radio play. "Testing 1,2,3" was the second single from the album and received a video, but no CD single, while "Celebrity" was released later in the UK with a CD single, but no video. "Maybe Katie" (and an edited version of "For You" from a concert in Glasgow) were also released as singles to radio. The album was their weakest seller in years and had a short chart life. The release fulfilled their contract with Reprise Records, and they did not re sign. This made the group independent for the first time since 1992 (though they retained a distribution relationship with Warner Bros. Records). On the subsequent Everywhere For Everyone tour, in early 2004, the band began offering their full live shows for purchase as a download or CD R via their website, as well as subsequent studio releases. The band recorded the theme song for the 2000 children's program Seven Little Monsters. They also appeared in "The Honeymoon's Over", the premiere of Charmeds third season, performing "Pinch Me" onstage at the fictional night club P3. In 2003 they recorded the theme song for Odd Job Jack.

The band's next album was Barenaked for the Holidays, released on 5 October 2004. It was their first independent record since The Yellow Tape, as well the first album recorded at Page's recently completed farmhouse studio, Fresh Baked Woods. The band created the record label Desperation Records for this album. In January 2005, the band taped a television pilot for a variety show, tentatively titled Barenaked Ladies Variety Show, which was ultimately rejected by the Fox network. Later that year, the band was asked to write music for the Stratford Festival of Canada's musical production of Shakespeare's As You Like It. Page wrote most of the music (Shakespeare had provided lyrics in the play), and the band recorded it for the actors to sing over. The recording (with Page's vocals) was available on CD from the festival as well as the band's website. On 2 July they participated in the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario. Following several writing sessions throughout 2005, that fall the band entered the studio at Fresh Baked Woods to begin recording 29 songs. They broke from the studio in November and December to play a 22 show holiday tour, playing one of their new songs each night. An iTunes Originals – a collection of interviews and live songs (coupled with some old album tracks) was recorded while the band was in the studio. It was released in February 2006, when the band went back into the studio to finish up the recordings they started the previous fall. Initially unsure how to release so many songs, the band decided to release a single disc album in early September entitled Barenaked Ladies Are Me. Several alternate versions are available, including downloadable versions and a USB flash drive version. The B. L. A. M. tour in support of the album and its follow up, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, which hailed from the same sessions, ran in fall 2006 and briefly in June 2007 for the US, February 2007 for Canada, and later in 2007 for the UK. That same year the band wrote and recorded the theme song for the television series The Big Bang Theory. On 6 May 2008, the band released Snacktime!, an album of original material aimed at children. The album features artwork by Hearn in its liner notes, which is also available in the form of a hardcover book with CD included. The album was promoted with a series of television and in store appearances at bookstores in the US northeast, the West Coast, and Toronto. Complications began in July 2008 when the band cancelled several appearances at several Disney Music Block Party concerts following Page's arrest on allegations of cocaine possession. In August, Robertson crashed his single engine plane (without casualty) and his mother died that December. Band members lamented how the events of the year marred their 20th anniversary festivities (1 October 2008).

The band released a second greatest hits album, Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, through Rhino Entertainment (a division of their former parent label, Warner Music Group) on 27 September 2011. Another Rhino album, Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, containing previously recorded but unreleased rarities, was planned for release later in 2011 but was delayed until 8 May 2012. Barenaked Ladies was commissioned to compose the original score for a musical based on National Lampoon's Animal House. The project was announced in early 2012. However, by mid 2013, the band had been dropped from the production. The band returned to the studio in May 2012 to record a single, "Boomerang". The session was produced by Gavin Brown. The band indicated plans for "Boomerang" to be released as a single during the summer of 2012 in conjunction with their Last Summer On Earth tour on which the song was performed nightly. The single was also performed on the late 2012 Symphony Barenaked Tour but remained unreleased. The band had mentioned the possibility of abandoning the album concept and releasing only singles and EPs. However, the band went into the studio in February and March 2013 to work on a full album, which was released as Grinning Streak on 4 June 2013. The band then signed with Vanguard Records for the release, their first label album of originals since going independent following 2003's Everything to Everyone. "Boomerang" was added to the new album tracks and was released as a single on 26 March 2013. Two further singles were released: "Odds Are" in late 2013 and "Did I Say That Out Loud?" in mid 2014. Each of the latter singles had a music video produced by Rooster Teeth Productions. Looking to maintain a high profile, the band began work on a new album in December 2014. The band's 11th studio album, Silverball, was released on 2 June 2015, three days before the band kicked off its Last Summer on Earth 2015 tour with Violent Femmes and Colin Hay. The lead single, "Say What You Want", was released on 28 April 2015. The music video for the next single, "Duct Tape Heart", contained live footage of the band's performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the Last Summer On Earth 2015 tour, was released on 19 October 19 to coincide with the start of the Canadian leg of the Silverball tour. Barenaked Ladies released their second live album, BNL Rocks Red Rocks, on 20 May 2016. It was recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the Last Summer on Earth 2015 tour. The band also held a Last Summer on Earth 2016 tour with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Howard Jones in conjunction with the new live album. BNL Rocks Red Rocks is the band's first commercial live release since the departure of Page in 2009. On 23–24 October 2016, the band recorded an album with New York City a cappella group, The Persuasions and producer Gavin Brown. The album, Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies and The Persuasions, consisted of new versions of existing Barenaked Ladies songs (along with one Kevin Hearn song and one Persuasions song). It was released on 14 April 2017. The band returned to the studio in the winter of 2017 to record their 12th studio album, Fake Nudes. The lead single, "Lookin' Up", along with "Bringing It Home", were made available for download to those who pre ordered the album. The album itself was released on 17 November 2017. On 25 March 2018, the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards in Vancouver. The band performed alongside former members Steven Page (who was included in the induction) and Andy Creeggan. This was Page's first performance with the band since his departure in 2009. Despite his presence at the ceremony, Andy Creeggan was not inducted into the Hall with the other five members. Though there are reportedly no plans for another reunion, neither side has ruled it out. In the summer of 2019, Barenaked Ladies took a break from their own Last Summer On Earth tours and opened for Hootie and the Blowfish on that band's 44 date Group Therapy Tour. It was the band's first tour as an opening act since the early 1990s. On 4 October 2019, Rhino Records released a new greatest hits collection titled Original Hits, Original Stars exclusively on vinyl. On 14 January 2020, Robertson stated he was working on songs for a new album, with a tour to follow supported by Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket. The tour was slated to begin on 3 June in St. Augustine, Florida and end on 23 July in Toronto but was delayed until 2021, and delayed again until 2022, due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In conjunction with the original tour announcement, the band also launched the "Barenaked Bytes" mobile app, allowing fans to gain access to ticket pre sales, VIP packages, news, and discounts on merchandise. Starting 29 March 2020, the band began releasing a series of webcam based performances that they have dubbed #SelfieCamJam on their YouTube channel in response to the need for isolation during the COVID 19 pandemic. Their 13th studio album, Detour de Force, was released on 16 July 2021, aided by the singles "Flip", "Good Life" and "New Disaster". In September 2021, Robertson revealed that Barenaked Ladies were working on a "secret project" with Rush bassist Geddy Lee. On September 15, 2023, the band released their fourteenth studio album, In Flight, which included the singles "Lovin' Life" and "One Night". The album has received mixed reviews since its release.

The music of Barenaked Ladies is primarily classified as alternative pop, with influences from folk and rock. The band is known for delivering witty lyrics on a platter of catchy melodies. They developed their style of comedy rock to suit audience demand in their early days of opening for college comedy troupes. The intellectual appeal of their lyrics has led to being labeled geek rock by Eric Weisbard and others.

Barenaked Ladies has often attempted to use new technologies to promote themselves and their music. They were among the early adopters of computers for promotion when they released an "Interactive Press Kit" on a 3.5 inch floppy disk for Maybe You Should Drive in 1994, which earned them a MuchMusic Video Award. They used their website to allow fans to choose between two songs ("Be My Yoko Ono" and "Alternative Girlfriend") for inclusion on their greatest hits CD Disc One (though polling was nearly tied and both songs were included). Beginning in April 2003, the band started a blog on its website to keep fans updated personally, coinciding with the band's return to the studio for Everything to Everyone. During a subsequent studio session for Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Ed Robertson began a podcast in addition to the blog, which ran from February to August 2006 (with a series of four videos added in early 2007 with highlights from the band's first cruise). The band has adopted many of the current online social networking sites, including accounts on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. The Twitter feed has been integrated into the band's website, and it also typically announces new blog posts with a link. These accounts have been used for contests and to debut new tracks. Different band members have also had individual accounts on these sites at times. Barenaked Ladies has sold recordings of almost all of its live concerts since early 2004. Initially, shows were sold on CD R or as MP3 downloads. By the end of 2004, lossless FLAC files were also offered. Professionally printed copies of some concerts were later offered through some isolated record stores, and some shows have been added to the iTunes Music Stores and other digital retailers. The band was praised for a unique use of USB flash drive technology. The group offered its 2004 Barenaked For the Holidays album on a customized flash drive in MP3 format, with extras including bonus tracks and photos and videos from the studio sessions for the album. The band used a 128 MB USB flash drive, limiting the bitrate of the music included. The group described the product as a test of the technology and the market for that technology. It subsequently released Are Me in the USB format as well (on a 256 MB flash drive). The band also incorporated the technology into its live music sales, offering fans a copy of concerts in MP3 format on a USB stick at the merchandise booth directly after the show. In 2009 the band took part in an interactive documentary series, City Sonic. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, includes Tyler Stewart reflecting on his memories of the (now closed) Ultrasound Showbar. The films were accompanied by an iPhone application, which uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to unlock more videos when the user is close to the specific location. In February 2013, Barenaked Ladies participated in what was billed as the "first space to earth musical collaboration" involving the band and Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut and commander of the International Space Station, along with the Wexford Gleeks, a Canadian student choir. The group, Hadfield, and the choir performed a song "I. S. S. (Is Somebody Singing)" that was commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Space Agency.

The band has also become a proponent of environmentalism, following from Page's passion for greening (he is himself a board member of WWF Canada). The group began bringing an "eco village" organized by the Reverb organization on their 2004 Au Naturale tour. The band has since partnered with Reverb to form the "Barenaked Planet" project, which is the group's label for their project to progressively "green" their touring. Efforts the band have made include ensuring backstage materials are recycled, using biodiesel in their tour vehicles (B20 as of December 2006), and offsetting carbon emissions with wind power. This includes both band sponsored offsets for their own emissions, as well as having volunteers sell "Barenaked Planet" stickers to concertgoers with the money going to offset their drives to the venues.

Barenaked Ladies is the first Canadian band to receive their own ice cream flavour, "If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours", following in the footsteps of other band themed Ben & Jerry's flavours such as Cherry Garcia (Jerry Garcia), One Sweet Whirled and Magic Brownies (Dave Matthews Band) and Phish Food (Phish). The ice cream consisted of "chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate covered toffee, white chocolate, peanut butter cups and chocolate covered almonds." Tyler Stewart described it as "an amalgamation of flavours [ ] kind of like the band in a lot of ways—a lot of different personalities, different ethnic groups, all represented and rolled into one."

Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, and Ed Robertson all have past or present side projects during their time off from Barenaked Ladies. Stewart was part of a short lived trio called Don't Talk Dance, which released a self titled album in 1995 featuring Chris Brown (who later sat in for Hearn with Barenaked Ladies during his late 90s cancer treatment). The album was made for charity, and all profits went to Casey House, an AIDS charity in Canada. Stewart also plays occasionally with the rockabilly band Pogo Rodeo which he first joined in high school. The band reunited in the early 2010s and has since played occasional concerts

Jim Creeggan formed the alternative/jazz group The Brothers Creeggan, with brother and former Barenaked Ladies member Andy Creeggan, later joined by Ian McLauchlan (who died in 2009). The group (variously as a duo and a trio) recorded four albums between 1995 and 2002. The group stopped performing regularly in the mid 2000s and have only played together on rare occasions, such as for Barenaked Ladies' cruises. Andy Creeggan also has several solo albums, with the most recent one released in 2021. Hearn continues to perform in the Toronto area and occasionally tours with Thin Buckle. Hearn was also the musical director and keyboardist for Lou Reed's band from the mid 2000s until Reed's passing in October 2013. He has also released an album of love songs as "The Cousins" in 2004 with his cousin, comedian Harland Williams. Robertson joined a supergroup called Yukon Kornelius in 2008 with Dave Matthews Band bass player Stefan Lessard, singer/guitarist Adam Gardner of Guster, and drummer Eric Fawcett of Spymob. To date, the band has played four shows, but they anticipate doing a short tour when work with their other bands permit. Special guests usually join Yukon Kornelius during their shows, including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Carl Bell (formerly of Fuel), Tyler Stewart, and other members of the Dave Matthews Band. Robertson also hosted three seasons of the 2006 television program called Ed's Up for OLN Canada in which he flew his own plane to various locations to experience and publicize a variety of interesting occupations. Former member Steven Page had a side project called The Vanity Project. The first self titled album was written mostly with long time collaborator Stephen Duffy. In the wake of a band decision to try to keep songwriting amongst its then five members, Page said that the project was an opportunity for him to write with non Barenaked Ladies writers. He indicated that a future release might include other writers and not necessarily Duffy. However, Page did not record a second Vanity Project album before his departure from Barenaked Ladies and has released his post Barenaked Ladies works in his own name. Page has also hosted a season of the reality television series The Illegal Eater, which features Page travelling to showcase food and drink experiences that are in some way taboo, illicit, or outright illegal. Also, band members (both individually and together) have often collaborated with other artists, such as making guest appearances on their albums, performing live, or co writing songs with them. In February 2019 all four band members joined Canadian rock musician Kim Mitchell in recording a rework of Mitchell's former band Max Webster song Diamonds Diamonds from their 1977 album High Class in Borrowed Shoes. A video of the collaboration was released on YouTube.

In December 2008, Paul McCartney was reportedly asked by a session musician which bands he enjoys in the current music scene. His response was Barenaked Ladies: "Their harmonies are right on. They could outsing us any day of the week. I don't think John and myself ever had the sort of range they do." McCartney added that he would not mind recording with the band in the future. In 2018, notable Ontarian musical historians Liam Coholan, Patrick Murphy, and Jon "The Don" Dilario acknowledge in their latest Canadian music history issue that "BNL was one of the most impactful bands when it comes to discussing the development of Canadian society in the 21st century."