Famous Music Acts and Their Surprising Real Names

Their names are forever etched in our collective memory – or are they? As you’ll see in our list of 72 Musicians Who Are Totally Lying About Their Names, plenty of famous folks aren’t called the same thing by their mother.

There are many reasons, beyond just thinking a new name is way cooler than the one your parents came up with. Sometimes, there is someone else called the same thing. (This is a very big deal in Hollywood: The Screen Actors Guild requires a one-of-a-kind title, so a man also born Michael Douglas became Michael Keaton.) Other times, artists decide to shorten their names to make them more memorable. Occasionally, nicknames just stick.

In some cases, these moniker shifts might have become well-known. A couple of bands – the Ramones and Traveling Wilburys – were famous for standardized member names. Other rockers were able to slip into a new guise largely unseen or simply made the change so long ago that many have forgotten.

READ MORE: Albums Released Under Different Names

Certain trends began to emerge along the way: For instance, seven separate Kiss contributors, including three of the band’s original lineup, are included here – as is every founding member of Motley Crue. Poison has three entries. A slew of others is featured twice, including the Rolling Stones, the Cars and others.

Also of note: Bob Dylan appears twice, and there are two separate collaborators of Paul McCartney. Keep scrolling to find out who made our list of 72 Musicians Who Are Totally Lying About Their Names.