A hurdy gurdy (or hurdy-gurdy, also known as a wheel fiddle) is a stringed musical instrument in which the strings are sounded by means of a rosined wheel which the strings of the instrument pass over. This wheel, turned with a crank, functions much like a violin bow. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of these strings to change their vibrating length, and therefore pitch.

Hurdy Gurdy formed from the Danish group Peter Belli & the Boom Boom Brothers (aka The B.B. Brothers) in June 1967. Three of the B.B.