Three sons of military men whose fathers were stationed in England in the early 1950s, at the United States Air Force installation at RAF West Ruislip, London, and whose mothers were English, all happened to be back in England in the mid-1960s and all three attended London Central High School, about 16 miles Northwest of London, where they met while playing in two different bands.

• The three were:
• Gerry Beckley-born September 12, 1952, in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Dewey Bunnell-born January 19, 1951, in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England.
• Dan Peek-born November 1, 1950, in Panama City, Florida.

They decided to start their own band that was initially called, Daze. However, while trying to think of a different name for the band, they saw an old jukebox with the name "Americana" written on it. It made them think about how much they'd like to go back to America and thus the band named AMERICA was born in 1969.