25 iconic bands that started in high school

Radiohead originally formed when founding members Thom Yorke, Ed O'Brien, Philip Selway, and Colin Greenwood were still studying at the all-boys Abingdon School, where they all met. Younger brother Jonny Greenwood joined shortly after. However, early on, they went by the name On a Friday. About six years later, the band changed its name to Radiohead.

Like Radiohead, Green Day formed when founders Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were students at Pinole Valley High School in California. They were only 14 years old at the time. Who would have thought these young teens were creating one of the most iconic pop-punk bands of its time? The band’s original name was Sweet Children.

Did you know that U2 actually started from a bulletin board note stating “musicians wanted"? That’s right, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posted the ad on his high school’s notice board in Dublin, Ireland, eager to start his own band. After several students responded, the band apparently met for rehearsals wherever they could, including in a kitchen and at the school gym. If that’s not an iconic rockstar beginning, I don’t know what is.

Perhaps one of the most iconic bands of all time, The Beatles began their music career under a completely different name: The Quarrymen. At the time, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were still in high school when they met through friends as they pursued forming a DIY band. Eventually, George Harrison, a friend of Lennon’s at the time, joined the band at just 14, and Ringo joined several years later. 

The vocal harmony group Boyz II Men started in 1988, when the members were studying at Philadelphia’s High School of the Creative and Performing Arts. According to the Philadelphia Music Alliance, founding members Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson sang together for several years with different students, many of whom graduated and moved on. Eventually, they found their core members and became a quintet, performing at their school’s Valentine’s Day show, which was an excellent starting point.

Some of the most popular rock bands from the 90s/2000s were founded by high school students. Red Hot Chili Peppers is a prime example. Although the band didn’t achieve mainstream success until the 90s, classmates Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Hillel Slovak, and Jack Irons founded it in 1982. Their first gig took place in December of that year under the name "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem," while the four were still in high school.

Did you know Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, and Ryan Dusick founded Maroon 5 as classmates at Brentwood School in Los Angeles? They originally named the then-grunge band Kara's Flowers after a girl they both had a crush on. However, they briefly disbanded to attend college, then reunited and recruited James Valentine as a guitarist. This time around, they named their band Maroon 5 and shifted into the pop-rock genre.

Panic! At The Disco actually started as a Blink-182 cover band called Pet Salamander by childhood friends Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith when they were in high school. Eventually, after deciding to write their own material, they recruited their mutual friend, Brent Wilson, who invited his classmate, Brendon Urie. 

Did you know that Daft Punk started as an indie rock band at a Paris high school? Before becoming an electronic duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo collaborated with another classmate on a rock project, which they called Darlin'. At the time, a British magazine labeled one of the guitar tracks "daft punky thrash.” This review actually fueled Thomas and Guy-Manuel’s decision to trash their original idea and pursue an electronic music project, repurposing the hilarious insult as a band name. 

Australian rock band Silverchair was formed when the band members were only 14/15 years old. In fact, they recorded their debut album while still in high school. Originally, they called themselves the Innocent Criminals.

Did you know that Kevin and Joe Jonas were still in high school when they started the Jonas Brothers? Of course, Nick was even younger—only about 12 at the time —and was homeschooled from a young age because of his acting career. However, once their music picked up and they began touring, all three boys went back to homeschooling. 

Robert Smith formed The Cure with a few high school classmates in 1976, and he and his friends apparently played music together frequently as teens (and even pre-teens). Originally, they went by “Malice,” then “Easy Cure.” Within a few years, they signed with Fiction Records and released their debut album. The rest is history.

The founding core members of INXS began playing music together while still in high school. At the time, Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence studied at Davidson High School in Sydney, Australia, and quickly became friends, jamming together in their free time. Eventually, Andrew’s younger brother (Jon, who also attended Davidson High) and older brother (Tim, who went to a nearby secondary school) joined with some friends, thus forming the Australian rock band.

Okay, so the band itself technically didn’t form in high school. However, the original members of The Ramones all met and became friends while attending Forest Hills High School in Queens, New York. Without those formative years, the band likely never would have formed.

Did you know that the core founding members of No Doubt were still in high school when they started the band? That’s right: the iconic Gwen and Eric Stefani were only teenagers when they created the legendary ska group with 17-year-old John Spence. Spence was the original vocalist of the band, but he tragically passed away just a year later.

Some of the founding members of Slayer (like Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman) were still in high school when they formed the band. In fact, some of their earliest shows took place in high school gymnasiums. 

The iconic UK rock band Arctic Monkeys formed in 2002, while the founding members were still in high school. Alex Turner and Matt Helders were actually childhood friends/neighbors. Together, and with two other classmates, they decided to start a band.

The legendary pop-punk band Simple Plan was founded in 1999 by a group of high school friends. Hilariously, before the band formed, Chuck Comeau and Pierre Bouvier started a punk band called Reset when they were only 13. In other words, they were just kids when they first started jamming together.

Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump were only 16 and 17 when they started Fall Out Boy with Pete Wentz, who was about 22 at the time. In fact, the two were still in high school when the band started touring.

In true pop-punk fashion, Paramore started when founder Hayley Williams, along with Josh and Zac Farro, were in their teens. She met the brothers while attending a private school. At 14, Atlantic Records scouted Hayley. However, she insisted on remaining in Paramore and refused to sign as a solo artist.

Another pop-punk classic, Good Charlotte was created by a group of high school friends (and twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden) in 1995. The Madden brothers were only about 16 when they recruited classmates to join the band.

The founding members of Avenged Sevenfold were still attending high school in Huntington Beach, California, when they created the band. In fact, they released their debut before even graduating.

A group of childhood friends/high school classmates formed Rush in 1968. The band formed in Toronto's Willowdale neighborhood, where guitarist Alex Lifeson and original drummer John Rutsey created it. Soon after, they recruited Lifeson’s childhood friend and schoolmate Geddy Lee to replace their first bassist. At the start of their career, the band would play at local Toronto-area high schools, church basements, and youth centers.

Did you know that Linkin Park originally went by the name Xero? While the band officially formed and became more serious after high school, founding members Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson were high school friends with a deep musical connection. Eventually, they recruited more members and rebranded—first with the band name Hybrid Theory and eventually as Linkin Park.

The Beach Boys not only started their music career in high school, but their first hit was originally a music class project. The kicker? It received an F. Brothers Brian and Carl Wilson and their classmate Al Jardine were attending Hawthorne High School at the time, and little did they know their failed project would become one of their first hits as a successful band.