Awesome Rock Band Logos
Some Logos persist as much as the musical legacy of the bands they represent. Among elaborate drawings to mere acronyms, see below our list of the Top 10 Awesome Rock Band Logos.
10 – AEROSMITH
Joey Kramer (drums) suggested the name Aerosmith for the band, which, according to him, has no special meaning, as for the logo, the wings evolving the giant ‘A‘ signify freedom and wild music which is the central theme of Aerosmith’s musical creations.
9 – NINE INCH NAILS
The Nine Inch Nails‘ logo, which consists of the letters [NIИ] set inside a border, was designed by Reznor and Gary Talpas. The logo first appeared on the music video for Nine Inch Nails’ debut single, ‘Down in It’, and was inspired by Tibor Kalman’s typography on the Talking Heads album ‘Remain in Light’.
8 – VAN HALEN
This is actually the last name of the band’s founding brothers. The Family Van Halen was formed by musicians, Edward and Alex’s father, Jan Van Halen played the clarinet and the children learned to play classical piano since childhood. The symbol is nothing more than an abbreviation of the name Van Halen.
7 – THE WHO
The famous ‘target’ by The Who is based on the colors of the British flag. This ‘target’ was also used by the RAF (Royal Air Force) and over this background its feature an arrow coming out of the last letter of his name, symbolizing masculinity and portraying an uplifting edge, while the two ‘h’ was united to create a sense of unity between the band.
6 – METALLICA
The Metallica logo features the band’s name in a hand-drawn heavy metal typeface, in which the first and the last letters – “M” and “A” – are made up of long lines and sharp angles. It was introduced in the early 1980s by James and is one of the most instantly recognizable logos in rock. James is also responsible for the original logo and the new Metallica star logo.
5 – AC-DC
The band’s logo was designed in 1977 by Gerard Huerta, commissioned by Bob Defrin, the art director at Atlantic Records during the 1970s. It first appeared on the international version of ‘Let There Be Rock’. The band’s logo has the letters AC DC divided by a slash-shaped lightning symbolizing the energy of the band.
4 – RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Red Hot Chili Peppers logo might represent the ‘Star of Affinity’, according to RHCP front man Anthony Kiedis, the symbol has no particular meaning, but began as a simple icon he drew on a piece of paper when asked by record label executives to create a band logo for promotional purposes.
3 – GUNS N ROSES
The Guns N’ Roses world famous logo was hand drawn by Slash. Although Axl Rose would later rule this as untrue and say it was his tattoo artist Bill White who had actually designed it. It features two revolvers side by side with their handles interlocked and bound by two roses.
2 – RAMONES
The Ramones logo was designed by New York City artist Arturo Vega, a longtime friend who lived with several members of the band. Vega was inspired to create the band’s logo design, basing it on The Presidential Seal. Replacing the Seal of the President of the United States in the circular border, Vega paced band member names, changing them as the band’s lineup evolved over the years.
1 – QUEEN
The Queen Crest was designed by Freddie Mercury shortly before the release of their first album.
The logo features the zodiac signs of all four members: two lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (May), and two fairies for Virgo (Mercury). The lions are embracing a stylized letter Q, the crab is resting atop the Q with flames rising directly above it, and the fairies are each sheltering below a lion. There is also a crown inside the Q and the whole logo is over-shadowed by an enormous phoenix.