Did you know that Grammy-winning rock band Greta Van Vleet was named after an actual person? It's true. Sadly, the woman the band was named after, Gretna Van Vleet, passed away on Monday, May 19, at a senior living center.
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If you're wondering, then yes, Gretna is from the same community as where the band originally hails from.
"I think they checked out my background to make sure I wasn't on the Ten Most Wanted list or something, and they went ahead with it," Van Fleet told MLive.com in 2019. "But later, when I met the boys, I said, 'That's OK.' But, no, they did not approach me to begin with."
The story behind the band's name is quirky but simple. Durmmer Kyle Hauck has previously told people in interviews that the band was nameless with a local show on the horizion. One day, he heard his father discussing the need to help a friend, and that friend was Gretna Van Vleet.
From there, the group chose to run with Greta, rather than Grenta, and the name was board. Clearly, something worked because the group won a Grammy in 2019 for best rock album. According to The New York Post, the group's album "Starcatcher" was a nominee for best album in 2024.
Greta Van Vleet Has a Strong Following
Learning of Grenta's passing will undoubtedly hurt the band. Yet, in a charming way, her memory will live on through the group's music. With over 4.3 million streams per month on Spotify, the late-Gretna's memory will live for decades, if not longer.
When looking at Spotify, "Highway Tune" is currently the group's most successful song. It's been played 326 million times and is still racking up the numbers. "Black Smoke Rising" sits second on the band's list of most popular tracks, with over 193 million streams on the platform. "Safari Song" rounds out the top three with 181.3 million.
"There's a couple others that I like, but that's not really my style," Gretna said of the band's music, via The New York Post. "It's not my era that they're making popular come back."
Currently, there's no information regarding Gretna's funeral. However, one would hope the band attends to pay its final respects.
