The Square Roots – Final name: The Roots
Before earning a permanent spot as the house band for the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Roots were just two guys performing in their school’s talent show, but with, let’s just say a much nerdier name. It all started in Philly back in 1987 when Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter called themselves Radio-Activity, which turned into Back to the Future, before finally settling on the Square Roots.
Photo by Dave Allocca / Starpix / Shutterstock
But as “Hip-hop’s first legitimate band” began to gain traction, they discovered that there was already a Philadelphia folk group with the same name. So they shortened their name to something a bit less mathematical: The Roots.