Initially a duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page,[3] the band quickly grew to a quintet, adding brothers Jim and Andy Creeggan and Tyler Stewart by 1990.

The band's style has evolved throughout their career, and their music, which began as exclusively acoustic, quickly grew to encompass a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop and rap.

[12] (After the band signed to a major label, Page Publications remained in operation, later releasing albums by artists such as The Lowest of the Low, Leslie Spit Treeo, Annette Ducharme, David Gogo, and Bodega.)

During this era, the band garnered radio airplay with a live cover of Dean Friedman's "McDonald's Girl", which included a rap break incorporating lyrics from Beastie Boys' "Hey Ladies".

The following week, sales of the Yellow Tape exploded — by February 1992, it was outselling even Michael Jackson's Dangerous, Genesis' We Can't Dance, and U2's Achtung Baby in some downtown Toronto record stores.

[4] By the end of February, Toronto City Council revised its rules for event bookings at Nathan Phillips Square in the hopes of avoiding another similar controversy.

[3] The group appeared as the guest band on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 ("Spring Breakdown" original airdate: 2 April 1997), immediately preceding their 1997 tour; they performed "The Old Apartment", "Life, In A Nutshell", and "Brian Wilson" at the Peach Pit After Dark night club.

[4][7] From two dates on the Born on a Pirate Ship tour during 1996, Barenaked Ladies recorded and released a live album called Rock Spectacle, which had a modest American radio hit with "Brian Wilson".

Kevin Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after the album was released, eventually receiving bone marrow transplants from his brother and missing most of the Stunt tour.

The singles "It's All Been Done" (used as the opening theme song on the short-lived animated television series Baby Blues) and "Call and Answer" (which later appeared in the film EdTV) were also modest hits.

After finishing a tour on 31 December 2001 in Rosemont, Illinois to promote the compilation, the band decided to take a year off, occasionally playing shows such as the Medals Plaza at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City before returning to the studio in April 2003.

tour in support of the album and its follow-up, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, which hailed from the same sessions, ran in fall 2006 and briefly in June 2007 for the US, February 2007 for Canada, and later in 2007 for the UK.

Complications began in July 2008 when the band cancelled several appearances at several Disney Music Block Party concerts following Page's arrest on allegations of cocaine possession.

[45] The band released a second greatest-hits album, Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, through Rhino Entertainment (a division of their former parent label, Warner Music Group) on 27 September 2011.

In conjunction with the original tour announcement, the band also launched the "Barenaked Bytes" mobile app, allowing fans to gain access to ticket pre-sales, VIP packages, news, and discounts on merchandise.

[76] Starting 29 March 2020, the band began releasing a series of webcam-based performances that they have dubbed #SelfieCamJam on their YouTube channel in response to the need for isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They were among the early adopters of computers for promotion when they released an "Interactive Press Kit" on a 3.5-inch floppy disk for Maybe You Should Drive in 1994, which earned them a MuchMusic Video Award.

During a subsequent studio session for Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Ed Robertson began a podcast in addition to the blog, which ran from February to August 2006 (with a series of four videos added in early 2007 with highlights from the band's first cruise).

The band also incorporated the technology into its live music sales, offering fans a copy of concerts in MP3 format on a USB stick at the merchandise booth directly after the show.

The films were accompanied by an iPhone application, which uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to unlock more videos when the user is close to the specific location.

[83] Barenaked Ladies' first Grammy nomination came in 1999 for "One Week" in the Pop Performance by a Duo or Group category but lost to Brian Setzer's "Jump, Jive an' Wail".

[86] The band was nominated for their second Grammy in 2001 for "Pinch Me", again in the Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group category, but lost to "Cousin Dupree" by Steely Dan.

Efforts the band have made include ensuring backstage materials are recycled, using biodiesel in their tour vehicles (B20 as of December 2006), and offsetting carbon emissions with wind power.

[97] Barenaked Ladies have made several appearances during WE Day events, performing in front of thousands of teenagers, empowering the young students to get involved in their communities and to promote social activity through WE charity's work.

[101] Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, and Ed Robertson all have past or present side projects during their time off from Barenaked Ladies.

Stewart was part of a short-lived trio called Don't Talk Dance, which released a self-titled album in 1995 featuring Chris Brown (who later sat in for Hearn with Barenaked Ladies during his late-90s cancer treatment).

[citation needed] Robertson joined a supergroup called Yukon Kornelius in 2008 with Dave Matthews Band bass player Stefan Lessard, singer/guitarist Adam Gardner of Guster, and drummer Eric Fawcett of Spymob.

Special guests usually join Yukon Kornelius during their shows, including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Carl Bell (formerly of Fuel), Tyler Stewart, and other members of the Dave Matthews Band.

Robertson also hosted three seasons of the 2006 television program called Ed's Up for OLN Canada in which he flew his own plane to various locations to experience and publicize a variety of interesting occupations.

[citation needed] Also, band members (both individually and together) have often collaborated with other artists, such as making guest appearances on their albums, performing live, or co-writing songs with them.