Somewhere between “original recording artist” and “karaoke aficionado” lies the shadowy world of tribute bands — bands entirely devoted to imitating someone else, sometimes right down to the details of costumes and makeup. Unfamiliar with the concept? Think Elvis impersonator, except not just for Elvis, and actually performing songs rather than just pelvis-wiggling. (Not that we have anything against pelvis-wiggling, in moderation. Why hello there, Elvis impersonation community; have I mentioned how much we value your contribution to society?)
Obviously it takes more than just ordinary fandom to merit the tribute band treatment — all those rehearsals and costumes represent a serious commitment. So you might think only the biggest of acts would be tribute-worthy. But we at SonicLiving get nosy about these things, so we thought we’d do a little digging. We counted all the tribute bands we could find in our own database, plus any others who turned up on Google, Yahoo, or sites like Tribute City.
A few caveats for data nerds: first, we actually excluded Elvis, since figuring out who was a real tribute musician and who was just working at a drive-through chapel in Vegas turned out to be too tricky; second, we excluded Broadway-style musicals like this one; and third, there may still be some bands that didn’t show up online.
Herewith, I give you the ten artists with the most . . . tributaries? Tributeers? We may need some new vocabulary here.

Surprised? There isn’t a whole lot of crossover between those bands and the Billboard top artists. But it looks like there are some other patterns; this top ten skews heavily (har har) towards heavy metal, and also towards bands founded in the 1970s. Let’s take a look and see if those patterns persist beyond the top ten:
Heavy metal, rock, and hard rock account for fully half of the tribute bands we found. That’s a lotta guitar solos. And look at what happens if we count our tributes by the year the original band was founded:

So why might guitar-heavy bands from the classic rock era be better tribute material than other bands? We’re leaving the realm of data and entering the realm of speculation, but here’s a couple of theories. First, a lot of folks know how to play the guitar, and learned on those very songs. And second, to make a tribute band work, both the band members and their audience have to be old enough to go to a show, which might present a challenge to some of the tween-fueled acts of today. So who knows? Maybe as time goes on, the current top artists will gather more tribute mojo.
But maybe there’s something else at work. Perhaps the real inspiration behind tributes is which band names are easy to spoof. Speaking of which, here are some of our favorite tribute names, and their inspiration:
- AC/DSHE (AC/DC)
- Maybe Winehouse (Amy Winehouse)
- Surely Bassey (Shirley Bassey)
- Fan Halen (Van Halen)
- The Red Stripes (The White Stripes – a reggae tribute!)
- Buddhist Priest (Judas Priest)
- Joy Revision (Joy Division)
- Fully Clothed Gentlemen (Barenaked Ladies)
- Nearvana (Nirvana)
- The Ms. Fits (The Misfits)
- Still Collins (Phil Collins)
- Red Not Chili Peppers (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- The Rolling Clones (The Rolling Stones)
So now you know. Also, holler if you want to join my new tribute band. I’m thinking of naming it “The Who Tang Clan”.