From pronouncing the name of one of the Beastie Boys to how to say “Sade” correctly, here are a few tips for your tongue.
ByJake Rossen|Feb 16, 2024, 9:26 AM EST
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If you know your favorite musical act only by what comes up on their Spotify tracks, you may be surprised to find you’ve been mispronouncing their name all along.
1. Rihanna
If you’ve been saying the “Umbrella” singer’s name as “Ree-AH-na,” you’re all wet. Her name is pronounced “Ree-ANN-uh.” Writing a song titled “What’s My Name” was probably not a coincidence.
2. Haim
The trio of sisters get “Haim” as in Corey Haim, but it’s actually pronounced “HI-uhm.”
3. Sade
Born Helen Adu, the graceful singer can often be labeled “Sadie” or even “Shar-day.” It’s actually “Sha-DAY.” That’s also the name of her band, but most people consider Sade a solo act.
4. Björk
The Icelandic singer has likely given up correcting people who say “Bee-york” a long time ago, but you probably stand a better chance of an autograph if you say it properly: “Bee-YERK.”
5. Hozier
Irish singer Hozier has heard it all, from “Hose-ee-air” to “Hozzer.” According to the musician himself, it rhymes with cozier—“HOH-zee-ur.”
6. David Bowie
Proving you can be as famous as any person who has ever lived and people will still mess up your name, rocker David Bowie isn’t “Bow-ee” where the “bow” rhymes with bow as in “take a bow.” It’s “BOH-wee,” like doughy. (In a 2000 interview where the interviewer pronounced his name “BOW-ee,” Bowie responded, “I don’t even know how to pronounce it any more, I’ve lost track. I always thought it was ‘BOH-ee,’ I thought it’s a Scottish name, it must be ‘BOH-ee,’ but no-one in Scotland pronounces it like that, they pronounce it ‘BOO-ee’ I think.”)
7. Adam Yauch
The Beastie Boys co-founder might have gotten “Yuck,” but it’s “Yowk.”
8. Ric Ocasek
The Cars member is “Oh-CASS-ick,” not “Oh-CASE-ick.”
9. Ray Davies
The lead singer of The Kinks didn’t pronounce it “Day-vies” but “DAY-viz.”
10. Macklemore
The “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” singer gets “Mackle-more” a lot, but it’s actually “MACK-la-more.”
11. Chad Kroger
Nickelback singer Chad Kroger’s name is often pronounced “KROH-ger,” like the grocery chain—but as the singer himself told Loudwire in 2022, “It’s KROO-ger, don’t trust the internet … If I just stop and go, ‘Actually, it’s Kroeger,’ I’m gonna look like such a d**k. So I’m just like whatever, I don’t care.”
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12. Sleater-Kinney
You might be tempted to pronounce the first word in the name of this rock band—which was co-founded by Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein—“SLEE-ter,” but it’s actually “SLAY-ter.” The band took its name from a road located between Seattle and Portland.
13. Bon Iver
Don’t call this band “bon-EYE-ver”—it’s “bone-ee-VARE.” As band founder Justin Vernon explained in an interview with Pitchfork, “When I was living up north I wrote a letter. I’d come across a story about this Alaskan town that the people, the first snow of every year, they come out of their houses and gather in town square. They hug and kiss each other and they say ‘Bon Iver.’ I was like, ‘whatever that is, that’s cool!’ … Then I found out how it’s spelled [bon hiver] and it was sort of disappointing. I didn’t like how it looked. It didn’t have any emotion. … I wanted to look at it and feel something. It was sort of a compromise. I sorta wanted it to be like ‘Bon Iverre,’ sort of like how I saw it, but that didn’t look good either, so I just decided to chop off the h.”
14. Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish may have sold millions of records before she turned 21, but that hasn’t stopped a number of news outlets from butchering her last name: It’s “EYE-lish,” not “EE-lish” or “EL-ish.”
A version of this story ran in 2022; it has been updated for 2023.
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How Bruce Springsteen Turned One of America’s Darkest Crimes Into a Haunting Classic
Springsteen composed and recorded his celebrated “Nebraska” by himself, in his bedroom.
ByTim Brinkhof|Jul 24, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT
Between January 21 and 29, 1958, a 19-year-old garbageman from Lincoln, Nebraska, called Charles Starkweather went on a killing spree with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.
Described as a “swaggering good-for-nothing in blue jeans and a black motorcycle jacket” known to yell “go to hell” at strangers, Starkweather killed 11 people—including Fugate’s mother, stepfather, and half-sister—before he was caught and sent to the electric chair.
News of the seemingly random serial killings—a prelude to the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer—shocked many Americans, including singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen.
Today, the event is best remembered through the song “Nebraska,” the first in Springsteen’s album of the same name. Though told from Starkweather’s own perspective, it never properly explains his motives—and that’s precisely the point.
How a Murder Spree Inspired a Musical Masterpiece
Though widely regarded as the best album in Springsteen’s long and industrious career—including by Springsteen himself—the singer-songwriter didn’t know if any of its songs would resonate with people. His doubts weren’t unreasonable. Contrary to his previous albums, which were recorded in a studio alongside his E Street band, the songs on “Nebraska” Springsteen recorded by himself, in his bedroom.
Springsteen had tried recording them with his band, but felt that the high production quality didn’t suit their dark, intimate nature. Ultimately, he decided that his own recording—originally intended to be little more than a demo—was superior.
“Nebraska” marked an important turning point in Springsteen’s career. Although dashed dreams and harsh realities had always been a prominent part of his repertoire, this new album sounded much more hopeless.
Unlike with many of the songs on “The River,” Springsteen’s focus was less on celebrating man’s resilience in the face of unyielding hardship, and more on bemoaning the seemingly cruel nature of the universe.
As he sings in the opening song, which is best listened to with the knowledge that Starkweather never gave a proper confession of his crimes: “They wanted to know why I did what I did / Well sir I guess there’s just a meanness in this world.”
Springsteen later claimed that he did not create “Nebraska” with a political agenda in mind, concentrating instead on achieving a particular sound. True or not, his music is often placed in a political context—one that continues to resonate today.
Donald Trump frequently plays Springsteen’s music at his rallies, particularly “Born in the USA.” This he does to the great chagrin of Springsteen himself, who knows better than anyone that his songs do not applaud or criticize American nationalism.
The Album That Almost Stayed a Demo
Though certainly a response to current events, “Nebraska” also came into existence because of developments in Springsteen’s own career. Having become a superstar, he wanted to close the gap between him and his fans, and avoid turning into a sellout.
“All popular artists,” Springsteen wrote in his 2016 memoir Born to Run, “get caught between making records and making music.” Once he found himself in this very spot, he chose to make music.
Despite Springsteen’s doubts, “Nebraska” became both a critical and commercial success, topping U.S. and U.K. charts and selling millions of copies. Ultimately, though, it’s remembered for closing that aforementioned gap.
As E Street guitarist Steve van Zandt later said: “An artist could never get closer to his audience than this. Not because it was done with an acoustic guitar, but because he was literally singing for himself.”
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