The effect of pre-existing shear bands induced by cold-rolling on the crystallization behavior was investigated in the Cu46Zr46Al8 bulk metallic glass. It was found that with increasing degree of pre-deformation, more shear bands are created resulting in the decrease of the crystallization activation energy for the alloy. Our experimental results demonstrate that pre-existing shear bands can promote the nucleation of crystals, which is discussed in terms of nucleation thermodynamics and kinetics aspects.