When Jethro Tull first took to the London club scene in 1967, they were just another band trying to stand out in a crowded musical landscape. And like many unknown acts of the time, they had a problem: they couldn’t get booked twice. If a performance didn’t land, clubs weren’t eager to bring them back—so the band solved this by constantly changing their name. They cycled through aliases like Navy Blue, Ian Henderson’s Bag o’ Nails, and Candy Coloured Rain, often unaware of what name they’d be playing under until they saw the posters.
It was a booking agent’s staff member—also a history buff—who suggested the name “Jethro Tull,” inspired by the 18th-century English agriculturist who invented the horse-drawn seed drill in 1701, revolutionizing farming and laying the groundwork for the British Agricultural Revolution. The name finally stuck when the band, under this moniker, impressed the manager of the famed Marquee Club enough to land a recurring gig.
Frontman Ian Anderson has since admitted he might have chosen a different name had he known it would follow him for decades. But by then, Jethro Tull was becoming known for something more than an unusual name—it was Anderson’s wild, theatrical flute playing that helped carve out a distinctive identity. While most bands of the era leaned on guitars and bluesy riffs, Jethro Tull sounded like nothing else on the scene.
The band’s first album, This Was, came out in 1968, introducing their bluesy roots. But after a key lineup change—guitarist Mick Abrahams was replaced by Martin Barre—Jethro Tull shifted toward a more folk-influenced sound with 1969’s Stand Up. The album hit No. 1 in the UK and marked the beginning of their commercial breakthrough.
Throughout the ’70s, the band evolved at a steady clip, releasing a new studio album almost every year. With 1971’s Aqualung, they veered into progressive rock and found their biggest success. Later in the decade, they embraced folk rock, and by the 1980s, their sound incorporated electronic elements as lineups shifted once again.
Jethro Tull’s most infamous moment in the spotlight came in 1989, when they won the very first Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance with Crest of a Knave—a move that baffled critics and fans alike. Even the band had been advised not to attend the ceremony because they weren’t expected to win. The award was widely predicted to go to Metallica, and when it didn’t, the backlash was swift. Jethro Tull responded with a wink, publishing a cheeky ad showing a flute atop an anvil, proudly declaring: “The flute is a heavy, metal instrument.”
Though the band wound down recording and touring activity in the 2000s, Ian Anderson and Martin Barre continued to perform separately. By 2017, Anderson had revived the Jethro Tull name for new releases in the 2020s, proving that even decades later, the seed planted back in 1967 was still growing.
To date, Jethro Tull has sold over 60 million albums, including 11 gold and 5 platinum releases. Despite their commercial success, musical influence, and decades-spanning career, they’ve never been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—a fact that Anderson has publicly shrugged off.