The B-52's是一支5人组合，来自美国乔治亚州一个名叫Athens的城镇，成立于70年代的中期。他们的歌声欢快活泼，歌词也平易近人，因此在当地的俱乐部和大学院校内吸引了不少年轻人。乐队的名字来源于他们的两位女歌手Kate Pierson和Cindy Wilson，因为她们在表演中经常打扮以巨大蓬松的发型，这是南方的俚语。乐队的其他成员还包括歌手Fred Schneider，也是乐队的创始人之一。吉他手Ricky Wilson，也是Cindy的哥哥，还有鼓手Keith Strickland。关于乐队最初成立时候的情形，还有个故事。那是一天晚上，在一家中国餐馆，当时几个人都喝醉了，那时乐队成员中除了Fred、Kate、Keith有些许的表演经验，Wilson兄妹还是一无所知。就这样，他们在事先录好的磁带伴奏下，进行了他们的首次表演。
 
1978年初，The B-52's首次推出单曲唱片“Rock Lobster”和“52 Gils”（8年后再版时局英国排行榜前20名），马上就被抢购一空。乐队的首次正式的演出是在著名的Max's KansasCity俱乐部。两位女歌手的装束为乐队带来了好运气：迷你裙、长筒靴……很快就吸引了一批固定的观众。乐队的伴奏由轻快的重鼓节奏和深沉的低音合成器组成，衬托出低音贝司不同凡响的谐音。一组堂堂的锣声，无线接受器和玩具式打击乐器的敲击声互相交织，使Fred那令人激奋的唱腔得以自由发挥。
 
1979年乐队与华纳公司签约并发行了首张同名大碟《The B-52's》，怪异、另类的曲风为他们赢得了不少好评。随后在美国及欧洲的巡回演唱会，更使得唱片的销量节节攀升，乐队的知名度也逐渐扩大。第2张专辑《Wild Planet》于1980年发行，这次更加成功，专辑的销量进入了排行榜的前20位。1982年的EP专辑《Mesopotamia》请来了著名的TalkingHead乐队的DavidByrne作为制作人，更拓宽了乐队的演唱风格。到第3张专辑《Whammy！》1983年发行的时候，已经明显有了些电子风格在里面。其中的热门单曲包括“Legal Tender”、“Song For A Future Generation”等。
 
就在乐队的发展一帆风顺的时候，不幸也离他们不远了。1985年，就在乐队录制他们的下一张专辑《Bouncing Off The Satellites》的期间，吉他手Ricky Wilson死了，尽管当时宣布为自然死亡，然后后来证明他是死于可怕的爱滋病。这张专辑发行以后的几年里，整个儿乐队都沉寂在失去Ricky的悲痛之中，Rick的死对乐队是一个沉重的打击。然而The B-52's并未就此结束，鼓手Keith改行接替了Ricky吉他手的位置。
 
1989年乐队重整旗鼓后卷土重来，带来了全新的专辑《Cosmic Thing》，在保持了原有的独特气质的基础上，又增添了些许的舞曲活力，这使得这张专辑成为他们最为成功的一张。其中的单曲“Love Shack”和“Roam”都进入了排行榜的前3名。1990年，在自己的事业达到了顶峰后，Cindy决定退出乐队。只剩下3个人的The B-52's继续着他们的音乐历程。1992年仍然发行了专辑，然而已是力不从心了。虽然Cindy曾经一度回到乐队并在巡回演出中亮相，但是乐队再没有新的专辑发行。The B-52's终究不是属于90年代的。
 
The first of many acts to cement the college town of Athens, GA, as a hotbed of alternative music, the B-52s took their name from the Southern slang for the mile-high bouffant wigs sported by singers Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, a look emblematic of the bands campy, thrift-store aesthetic. The five-piece group, which also included founding members Fred Schneider, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindys older brother), and drummer Keith Strickland, formed in the mid-70s after a drunken evening at a Chinese restaurant; the bandmembers had little or no previous musical experience, and performed most of their earliest shows with taped guitar and percussion accompaniment.
 
After pressing up a few thousand copies of the single Rock Lobster, the B-52s traveled to the famed Maxs Kansas City club for their first paying gig. Subsequent appearances at CBGBs brought the group to the attention of the New York press, and in 1979, they issued their self-titled debut album, a collection of manic, bizarre, and eminently danceable songs which scored an underground club hit with a reworked version of Rock Lobster. The following year, they issued Wild Planet, which reached the Top 20 on the U.S. album charts; Party Mix!, an EPs worth of reworked material from the bands first two proper outings, appeared in 1981.
 
1982s Mesopotamia arose out of a series of aborted sessions with producer David Byrne which saw the B-52s largely abandon their trademark sense of humor, a situation rectified by the next years Whammy!, a move into electronic territory. After a Schneider solo LP, 1984s Fred Schneider & the Shake Society, the group returned to the studio to record 1986s Bouncing Off the Satellites. On October 12, 1985, however, Ricky Wilson died; though originally his death was attributed to natural causes, it was later revealed that he had succumbed to AIDS. In light of Wilsons death, the group found it impossible to promote the new album, and they spent the next several years in seclusion.
 
In 1989, the B-52s finally returned with Cosmic Thing, their most commercially successful effort to date. Marked by Stricklands move from drums to guitar and club-friendly production from Don Was and Nile Rodgers, the album launched several hit singles, including the party smash Love Shack, Roam, and Deadbeat Club. In 1990, Cindy Wilson retired from active duty, leaving the remaining trio to soldier on for 1992s Good Stuff. A year later, dubbed the BC-52s, they performed the theme song for Steven Spielbergs live-action feature The Flintsones. Wilson returned to the group for a tour supporting the release of 1998s hits collection Time Capsule.