Back in December 1998, when Eminem was just hitting MTV and rap radio, we remember people pronouncing his name as "Eee-mine-im," and not the candy-inflected way it actually was. We even made the mistake during our first viewing of "My Name Is" late at night on the video channel and calling a buddy to ask him if he knew who the hell this scrawny white dude was.
Little did we know that Eminem would be a household name in just a few months. A few years later, at the end of 2003, "Caney" West was getting pretty popular, confounding potential fans who hadn't heard his name out loud yet. In less than a decade, his name would be either be "Asshole" or "Genius," sometimes used in the same sentence by the same person.
Since we can remember, the correct pronunciation of a band's name and even their album titles has been a topic of nerd discussion. Sometimes you waited for older and smarter people to say the name first before you uttered the name around them as to not look like a neanderthal. By the way, Grateful Dead's Aoxomoxoa is pronounced "ox-oh-MOX-oh-AH." We know you were all waiting for clarification, stoned out of your gourds.
Not every group makes it as easy on their potential fans as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Here's a list of commonly mispronounced band names and their phonetic pronunciations, which hinge on whether or not you speak pure, white-bread white-people English. Otherwise, screw these names up as much as you want.
Some people still think that Bouncy Knowles was in Destiny's Child and is married to DJ Jay-Z Jeff. Maybe we did mess up even some of the pronunciations ourselves, and maybe you should get back to work and stop reading a music blog.
Bon Iver: "Bone eev-AIR"
Alternate: "I have something in my eye. Get me a beer."
Sufjan Stevens: "Soof-YAWN Stevens"
Alternate: "Yawn Yawn"
Husker Du: "Whoo-SKER Doo"
Alternate: "I thought this was the Replacements..."
Kanye West: "Khan-YAY West"
Alternate: "Arrogant Asshole"
!!!: "Chick-Chick-Chick"
Alternate: "(tongue click), (tongue click), (tongue click)"
Ray LaMontagne: "Ray LUH-mon-TAIN"
Alternate: "Chicks are crying in the bathroom"
Deadmau5: "Dead Mouse"
Alternate: "When did raves come back? The fuck?"
Sigur Ros: "SEE goo-ROSS"
Alternate: "Bless you!"
Daedelus: "DEAD-uh-luss"
Alternate: "Nerds!"
Incubus: "INK-you-bus"
Alternate: "I lost my virginity listening to what?"
David Garza: "Dah-VEED Garza"
Alternate: "Cool house show, brah."
