As good as your music may be, one of the most important aspects of "making it" in the music business is simply getting your name out there, and making sure people remember it. These seven artists, however, decided to switch between multiple aliases, largely for artistic reasons, which probably makes organizing their albums in a record store a huge pain.
1. Sean Combs
Perhaps the most famous example of an artist who is constantly changing his or her name is Sean Combs. After rising to prominence as Sean "Puffy" Combs for his production work with Mary J. Blige and The Notorious B.I.G., Combs released solo albums under the names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and then simply Diddy, though in 2014, he switched back to Puff Daddy for his single "Big Homie" with Rick Ross and French Montana. In his acting career, however, he's typically credited as simply "Sean Combs."
2. Richard D. James
To electronic music fans, Richard D. James is best known as ambient techno pioneer Aphex Twin, though this is far from the only name under which James has released music. James has also released albums and EPs under the names Bradley Strider, Power-Pill, GAK, Polygon Window, Caustic Window, AFX, and The Tuss, so even though 2014's Syro was technically the first Aphex Twin album since 2001, James had still been releasing music over the last 13 years under different names.
3. Dan Snaith
Canadian electronic musician Dan Snaith began releasing albums under the name Manitoba in 2001, but in 2005, he was forced to change the name of his project to Caribou after Dictators singer Handsome Dick Manitoba threatened to sue (because it's not as if the province of Manitoba has existed since the 19th century or anything). Other than these two names, however, Snaith has also released an album and several EPs under the name Daphni.
4. Will Oldham
Although alt-country singer-songwriter Will Oldham has stuck with his Bonnie 'Prince Billy moniker since his classic 1999 album I See A Darkness, he cycled through quite a few names during the '90s, including Palace, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and Palace Brothers, as well as his birth name for his 1997 album Joya and several EPs.
5. John Mellencamp
Once you get outside of indie rock, electronic music, or hip-hop, the whole "different names for one artist" business becomes pretty rare, though one notable exception is heartland rocker John Mellencamp, who debuted in 1976 under the name Johnny Cougar. In 1979, Mellencamp shortened this to John Cougar, but in 1983 he threw his original last name into the mix, releasing albums as John Cougar Mellencamp. By 1991, however, he officially retired "Cougar" and became known professionally as John Mellencamp.
6. Keith Thornton
Though rapper Keith Thornton performed under the name Kool Keith for his legendary hip-hop group Ultramagnetic MCs, he made the unusual choice to go by a different name for his 1996 solo debut Dr. Octagonecologyst, which was released under the name Dr. Octagon. Throughout his solo career, Keith would release albums under a number of different aliases, including Dr. Dooom and Mr. Nogatco.
7. Daniel Dumile
Like Kool Keith, fellow New York rapper Daniel Dumile has released solo albums under quite a few different stage names. He's best known as MF Doom (which stands for "Metal Face Doom," a reference to his signature metal mask), but has also released albums as Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, and simply DOOM, and that doesn't even include his collaborative albums as Madvillain and DANGERDOOM.
Who are some other solo artists that have performed under multiple names? Let us know down in the comments section below!
