The band *insert name here* IS or ARE a great band?

[G.T]

Just a small question for you guys.

Is a band name a singular or plural noun?

Say, "Black Stone Cherry is a great band"
Or, "Black Stone Cherry are a great band".

I have always believed a band name to be a singular. But someone begs to differ (you know who you are ).

What do you guys think?

Edit: Poll is multi-choice in case it can be both.

 

[Ross]

For that particular example it would be the top one but for something like "The Beatles" it would be "The Beatles are a great band"

 

[Danny]

I would go with 'are'.

E.g

'Muse are playing festivals this year'
as opposed to
'Muse is playing festivals this year'.

 

[Techy]

I prefer "is", mostly because I think band is treated as a unit unless an -s is added.

E.g. - "That band is perfect in its song writing."

 

[Seismica]

Well a band name implies there is more than one person so I would say it would be plural, but it can work both ways.

I think it's more accurate to use 'are' as you're referring to the band as a group.

Sometimes though you get bands which are named after the lead singer even though they are a group (Bon Jovi, Daughtry just a couple off the top of my head), this is where even more confusion arrises because are you referring to the band or the person?

 

[Liquid]

Grammar And Spelling Thread

Merge?

I'll write up about this in the morning. I'm too tired to debate it now.

 

[thesrdic]

Depends on wether the band name is pluralised I.e. Katrina and the waveS, not Katrina and the wave
But just go by ear, Muse does flow easier when they 'are playing', depends on the final vowel sound in the band's name.

 

[Sleek Stratos]

Generally, bands are pluralized when it comes to verb conjugation.

"Coldplay are a cool band" or "Aerosmith play a great show every time" (as opposed to "plays")

I'd say it varies though. In some cases it sounds perfectly normal to use the singular forms.

If you say "the band" you must say "is" because you refer to them as one unit.
Same as if you say "The Smith family is..."

 

[Slash]

Sounds fine either way. Not picky. More common to hear "is" though.

 

[gogatrs]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a great band.
Coldplay is a great band.

I know that band by itself is a collective noun, which means it's singular as opposed to plural.

 

[Driving Park]

From what I have observed on these forums and TV shows like Top Gear versus American TV, people in the UK generally go the plural for any collective noun (not limited to just bands), e.g. "Metallica are a great band" or "Honda are coming out with a new concept car", whereas Americans will take the singular, e.g. "Honda is coming out with a new concept car" and "Metallica is a great band".

Although I am American, aside from spelling I tend to think of grammar in the British way and not American, seeing as the only TV show I watch is Top Gear, but in this instance I believe the Americans are correct, because as others have outlined, the generic "band" or "car company" or whatever else it is is singular, so the specific form should be as well. I think gogatrs may be up to something with the Red Hot Chili Peppers analogy though, it seems to make sense that if the band name is plural, even though the collective noun is singular it should take the plural?

 

[W3H5]

Generally this kind of thing differers between the US and the UK versions of English.

One region might perhaps say "Apple are a huge company." and another might say "Apple is a huge company".

Not my example, by the way, might even be from the grammar thread or some text I was reading recently.

 

[Skython]

As everyone else has said, it's both in different cases.

Example: Iron Maiden is a great band

The Foo Fighters are good but too many people treat it like it's better than it really is.

Mainly just if an "S" is on the end then you say are. If not it's is.

 

[jcm]

I would say 's, simply because it flows better. Iron Maiden's a great band, Metallica's playing a small gig at my friends house (5$ a ticket), Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' is a great album to listen to while driving forwards around the Nurburgring.

As for the official way to say it, As with most grammmmer, I just assume I'm saying it wrong

 

[Schwartz]

Or you could just post your question in the Grammar Thread.

Edit: Tree'd.

 

[AlexGTV]

I voted for singular, but realised both are correct.

-When band name is in plural, it's "are"
e.g. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Scorpions

-When band name is in singular, it's "is"
e.g. "Coldplay", "Nickelback", "Whitesnake"

However you always say "the band is" and not "are".

 

[Robin]

I would say 'are' most of the time but it does sound correct to say 'is' if the band is singular.

 

[Azure Flare]

It just depends on the name of the band, but most of the time its singular.

 

[G.T]

I see, thanks guys! I figured it would be varied.