Fans of The Simpsons are only just realising that the TV show is the inspiration for one huge rock band’s name. The news was shared on Reddit as many people admitted they didn’t know
They’ve scooped seven awards including Grammys, yet many are still clueless about how Fall Out Boy chose their legendary band name. The American rockers, featuring Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley, kicked off in 2001 as a pop-punk side project.
The band cycled through several drummers before Hurley came aboard, leading to their debut album Take This to Your Grave in 2003 and catapulting them into stardom. Among their smash hits are tunes like Sugar, We’re Goin Down, Dance Dance, Thnks fr th Mmrs, and My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up).
Yet, despite their stardom, the origin of Fall Out Boy’s name remains a mystery to some fans, with one Reddit user confessing they’d only just discovered the tale behind the name.
A Reddit user shared: “Today I learnt the band Fall Out Boy was named after a character in The Simpsons (Radioactive Man’s sidekick), when a fan in the crowd, at their second ever show, shouted the name as a suggestion.”
Further details from American Songwriter reveal: “In the 1990s, Radioactive Man was introduced on the long-running animated series The Simpsons. A movie starring the famous comic book hero was being filmed in Springfield and Bart Simpson’s friend, Millhouse Van Houten, auditioned and was chosen to play the role of Radioactive Man’s sidekick Fallout Boy.”
“Several years later, when bassist Pete Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman were forming a new band, they were reserved to booking shows as ‘Pete’s New Band,’ until something better came along.
“In 2001, the name Fall Out Boy was chosen after the band asked the crowd, during their second show together, what they should be called and someone yelled “Fallout Boy. ” The name immediately stuck.”
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It went on: “Though the band liked the name, they had no idea at the time that it was referencing a Simpsons character at first.
“Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy originally made their first appearance in the real comic book series published by Bongo Comics, in 1994.
“Co-founded by Simpsons creator Matt Groening in 1993, the short-lived comic series featured stories centred around the Simpson family and other characters from the show. The comic printed its final issue, Simpsons Comics #245, in 2018.”
Reacting to this revelation, one Reddit user said: “Now I feel super old. I thought this was common knowledge.”
Meanwhile another added: “I always thought that was a really good band name.”
A third user said: “Weird… I’ve never associated ‘Fall Out’ in Fall Out Boy to mean radioactive fallout.”
A fourth person also exclaimed: “Huh… I always assumed it was about something else I wasn’t aware of… but I guess it’s nice that I was right without knowing it..”
