Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band from Liverpool, England. The band was formed in 1978 by singer/guitarist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant, and bassist Les Pattinson.

The “Echo” in the name isn’t for any specific band member; according to popular legend, it was the name of the drum machine that the band used before recruiting drummer Pete de Freitas in 1980. The band, however, have denied this; in the 1982 book Liverpool Explodes!, Will Sergeant claimed that the name was just one of many random and outlandish suggestions that a friend came up with.

After recording their first five albums, McCulloch left and de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident, one of many musicians to meet an untimely end at the age of 27. The band reformed in 1997 without de Freitas although Pattinson would leave the following year. Today, McCulloch and Sergeant still tour and record as Echo & the Bunnymen.