MUSIC: Real Names Of Some Musicians

I found this on Yahoo when I was checking my email. The original piece had ten, but I just put the ones I found most interesting. - OlderMusicGeek

List Of The Day: Performers Who Won’t Be Changing Their Stage Names Anytime Soon
by Rob O'Connor

Would a rose smell any sweeter if it had been named a bowel evacuator? It'd be a little odd. Celebrities often change their names because their real ones suck. Or they know no one will remember it. Not everyone can be born with the name Bruce Springsteen, after all. In the case of Miley Cyrus, well, she got stuck being Hannah Montana because someone thought it'd be a better idea if the name rhymed! That may be true for song lyrics, but it's not necessary for a stage name. So we here at List of the Day applaud Ms. Cyrus' taking back her name, but it made us wonder what would happen if others followed suit.

Now Prince tried to change his name to hieroglyphics. And Johnny Cougar slowly worked his way to John Cougar Mellencamp and finally John Mellencamp, but here are some others who have never looked back. They are who they say they are.

John Denver--Henry John Deutschendorf: Well, first off he's dead, so he won't be making any new decisions. But even had he lived I don't see Henry here opting to switch back to that last name. I wonder if he had trouble spelling it. I wouldn't want to have to fill out forms and endorse checks with that many consonants to worry about. Imagine getting pulled over for a DWI and being asked to spell your name. Stick with Denver.

Cher--Cherilyn Sarkisian: Once you're a one-name celebrity, you don't look back. You've made it.

Gene Simmons--Chaim Witz: As music's most famous marketer, Gene Simmons saw his future and knew it wasn't Chaim Witz. Just like he didn't name his band Radio Free Vestibule. Kiss was obviously a stronger choice. The man may have difficulty singing and A&E knows his "reality" show has the most scripted feel of anything I've seen in terms of "reality" (I didn't even realize he had a dog until they spent an entire episode looking for it.), but the man knows how to put his name and image on everything. So break out the Witz! (I like how he talks of how proud he is of being a Jew - even said in an interview that the interview wasn't a "real Jew", but he didn't take a very Jewish stage name! - OMGeek)

Lou Reed--Butch Firbank: Ok, Lou Reed really is Lou Reed's name, but that didn't stop a rumor started in CREEM magazine that Lou's real name was Butch Firbank. Someone had written in to ask if Lou Reed was a pun on "Lurid" and the cheeky editor decided on Lou's new name of origin. It still from time to time gets considered a fact. My favorite kind: the ones that aren't true but should be.

Elton John--Reginald Kenneth Dwight: Oh Reggie! Supper's ready! You can hear why this wasn't going to work. Though why he would to decide to pick a last name that could either be interpreted as a toilet or a person who frequents prostitutes. If it's considered hard to be a pimp, imagine how much worse it is to be the guy on the other end. Look at that Spitzer dude. He wishes he was only likened to a toilet these days.

I'd like to add David Bowie to this list, just because he changed his name from David Jones because he didn't want to be confused with Davey Jones of The Monkees. And because I actually got a question on a trivial game right because of this. It asked which name was most common in England like John Smith is in America. And I figured if there were two famous musicians named David Jones, that had to be the name! - OlderMusicGeek

a link to the original piece.