They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated to TMBG) is an American alternative/college rock duo consisting of John Linnell and John Flansburgh. Known for their experimental pop music, they have been popular on college campuses and earned a reputation as “intellectual rock” or “nerd rock” thanks to their music’s unconventional subject matter, which often features allusions to history, science, film, literature, and other artists’ music. Despite being billed as a college rock band they have in recent years expanded greatly from such and now have a wide following among young and old alike. The band has maintained a loyal following since its formation in 1982, enough that fans rushed an online poll and got John Linnell voted one of People Magazine’s “Most Beautiful People” in 1998. In recent years TMBG have worked on children’s albums and have toured to promote both their children’s albums and their “adult” albums by playing two shows a day.

TMBG began as a band comprising the Johns - school acquaintances from Lincoln, Massachusetts, but did not become good friends until they moved to the same Brookyln, New York apartment on the same day - and the mysterious third member - a drum machine that allowed them to expand their sound beyond anything they imagined. However, after a bike accident that broke Linnell’s wrist and a robbery that stripped Flansburgh’s apartment of nearly everything, the band was rendered useless. They then began Dial-A-Song, a machine that allowed a caller to listen in on demos and other recordings. Service has been sporadic and has been down for a while.

Building upon the more conventionally band-like sound of Apollo 18 - John Henry was created. TMBG was joined by three other members, who have come and gone, the most notable being the two-John and three-Dan band that graced Mink Car and No! Currently, the Johns are joined by Dan Miller on guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass, and Marty Beller on drums.

Arguably, TMBG’s most famous songs were singles from their first three albums: “Don’t Let’s Start” (from They Might Be Giants, “Ana Ng” (from Lincoln), and “Birdhouse in Your Soul” (from Flood). The video for “Don’t Let’s Start” was the first by a band on an independent label to air on MTV, according to the 2005 documentary Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns). The appearance of “Particle Man” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” on the show Tiny Toon Adventures gained further recognition for the band. They are also known for their version of the Bob Mould song “Dog on Fire” (the theme song to The Daily Show), and “Boss Of Me”, the theme to the hit television comedy Malcolm in the Middle, for which they won a Grammy Award. They also provide the theme song for The Travel Channel’s Amazing Vacation Homes, Disney Channel’s Higglytown Heroes and The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shows (along with the Must be a job for a Higglytown Hero mid-show theme, and Hot Dog Mickey show conclusion theme), Cartoon Network’s The Oblongs’s and Teletoon’s The Wrong Coast. TMBG also worked on musical segments on ABC’s A Brave New World. TMBG also worked with the Brothers Chaps (Homestar Runner creators) on the short animated music video, “Experimental Film” along with appearances in the “Puppet Jam” videos.

Their latest projects include podcasts—which can be downloaded from iTunes or their official website, TMBG.com — a songbook, their twelfth studio album, The Else, and a follow up to Here Come the ABC’s entitled Here Come the 123’s with Disney. They can also be heard in a recent series of Dunkin Donuts television commercials, and are creating songs for the Henry Selick stop-motion feature adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book, Coraline.