A stage name can mean all and it can mean nothing. At its very best, a catchy and thoughtful stage name can spawn not just a successful career, but business spin-offs from the most unlikely of angles.
A stage name can mean all and it can mean nothing.
At its very best, a catchy and thoughtful stage name can spawn not just a successful career, but business spin-offs from the most unlikely of angles.
Ask reigning Primus Guma Guma Super Star (PGGSS 5) champ Knowless Butera.
Knowless was born Jeanne d’ Arc Ingabire Butera, but many say she only adopted the "Knowless” bit of it when she decided that American R&B diva Beyonce Knowles was what she wanted to be like when she takes to the microphone.
However, the diva has always denied any links between her stage name and Beyonce.
Knowless is a powerful stage name for several reasons, but most importantly, it embodies the boundless and almost magical power of a single-character stage name. Like Madonna.
Needless to say, it would have been aesthetically wrong, weak, and unimaginative of her if Knowless had simply cropped, cut-and-pasted the American diva’s more recognisable name – Beyonce.
Also worthy of note is the fact that she actually didn’t take the "Knowless” name in a cut-and-paste fashion.
You will realise that Beyonce is actually "Knowles” (with a single ‘s’), while Ingabire Butera’s own version comes with two ‘s’ –Knowless.
So while Beyonce is "Knowles” (pronounced ‘Knowls’, our own version is pronounced "Know-Less”.
And this Knowless is not just a Rwandan pop music diva, Knowless is also a brand name for a beer!
That’s the first thing I see in a stage name.
But this does not mean that musicians must be expected to come up with intelligent explanations for their stage names at every given opportunity.
A stage name for a musician could be looked at in just the same way we look at the nicknames and other terms of endearment we usually bestow upon friends and those we share a close emotional bond with.
So you could choose to look at colourful stage names like Bruce Melodie, Kid Gaju, Social Mula, Riderman and Bulldog the way you do nicknames like J.P for Jean Paul, or Fab for Fabrice.
A stage name can be the result of a musician not ‘trusting’ their given name enough, in just the same way that Freedom Fighters in political and military struggles in different African contexts have over time been known to drop their birth names and replace them with those they deem to be more befitting of their identity and their struggle.
A stage name can also be useless and mean nothing and serve only one purpose –to set the bearer of the name apart from the rest of the competition.
A priceless example is the case of the Kenyan singer, Nameless.
According to the free, open-content online encyclopedia, Wikipedia; musicians and other public performers may have several motivations for acquiring a stage name:
"A performer will often take a stage name because his/her real name is considered unattractive, dull, or unintentionally amusing, is difficult to pronounce or spell, has been used by another notable individual, or projects an undesired image. Sometimes a performer adopts a name that is unusual or outlandish to attract attention. Other performers use a stage name in order to retain anonymity. The equivalent concept among writers is called a nom de plume or pen name, while the term ring name is used in professional wrestling. In radio, the term "radio name” or "air name” is used.”
That paragraph basically summarises all the conventional and known reasons for stage name acquisition. Typically there is no formula to the birth of a stage name. A good number of the musicians with stage names just took on a nickname that was given to them either by the parents, friends, or schoolmates earlier in their lives.
Here, Jose Chameleone (real name Joseph Mayanja) from Uganda comes to mind. Apparently, the "Chameleone” was coined by the singer’s mother who, having discovered that her then teenage son would sneak out of the house to go clubbing at night, christened him "Chameleone” to describe his elusive character.
But even without this free and catchy stage name from his mother, it’s doubtful that the singer would have stuck to his given name –Mayanja, which is not only a family name (his father and all his siblings bear it), it’s also one of the more common names in the Buganda region of Uganda where the singer hails from. Chances are that he would have come up with something more unique still.
His younger singing brother, Weasel must have borrowed ideas from Chameleone’s stage name, in just the same way that Knowless Butera zeroed on her stage name after being inspired by Beyonce Knowles. He thus went for the rather unusual animal that a weasel is, just like a chameleon.
The Mayanja family has since taken to animal-related names like their very lives and musical careers depended on it. For instance, did you know there is another singing Mayanja –a younger brother to Chameleone called Pius Lizard?
It was the late Emmanuel Mayanja, the youngest of the Mayanja singing brothers that chose to do things a little differently, picking AK 47 for a stage name.
Bobi Wine, another Ugandan singer got a better alternative to his birth names –Robert Kyagulanyi while still nursing his musical dreams in high school. Fond of singing to fellow students during lesson breaks, Kyagulanyi soon had the school matron wondering who this ruffian-looking boy was that was exciting her students (the girls) like wine.
Hence the last half of his stage name was born. ‘Bobi’ is simply a more stylized version of ‘Bob’ –the short form for Robert.
If a performer’s first, middle or last name sounds unique they may choose to go by just that. Usually, they choose a name that is not only the most easily pronounceable and memorable, but catchy as well.
Examples here could include Rihanna (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty), Beyonce (born Beyonce Giselle Knowles), and Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone).
Also, some types of music call for stage names than others. That is why Riderman, a hip hop artiste has a stage name while Kamaliza did not need one in her time; neither do Abdul Makanyaga and Intore Masamba and Cecile Kayirebwa.
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The stories behind 15 celebrity stage names
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of having a solid, memorable name if you want to have a successful show business or literary career. So if you’re born with a dud moniker, it might not hurt to change it. Have you ever wondered how some famous writers and performers came up with their pseudonyms? Here’s a look at how some notables got their stage names.
1. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was born Calvin Broadus, but his parents nicknamed him "Snoopy” because he looked like the famous cartoon beagle.
2. Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks is a brilliantly funny man, but even he might not have made it too far in show business with his birth name: Albert Einstein.
Brooks originally tried to go by his first and middle names, Albert Lawrence, but decided that "sounded like a Vegas singer.” The name Brooks was already in his family, so he ran with that. His brother, Bob Einstein, actually kept the family surname when he entered show biz, but even he’s better known by an alias: Super Dave Osborne.
3. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg took her stage name from the whoopee cushion. The actress, who was born Caryn Johnson, said that a tendency to break wind led a number of friends and colleagues to accuse her of being "like a whoopee cushion.” According to Goldberg, she considered going by the name "Whoopi Cushion” when she advanced her comedy career, but her mother warned her that nobody would take her seriously with such a silly name. Her mom thought it would be smarter to pair "Whoopi” with a more serious name and proposed that her daughter use "Goldberg.”
4. Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan was working at a construction site in Australia when he got his famous nickname: one of his co-workers couldn’t pronounce Chan’s first name, Kong-sang, so he called him "Little Jack” instead. The name soon morphed into "Jackie,” and stayed that way.
5. Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss, but he took on the stage name Harry Houdini as a tribute to famed French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. "Harry” was the Americanized version of his childhood nickname, "Ehrie.”
6. MC Hammer
MC Hammer got his nickname from his childhood job with the Oakland Athletics. Eccentric longtime A’s owner Chuck Finley loved Stanley Kirk Burrell, the talented kid who danced in the team’s parking lot and eventually became a batboy for the club. The benevolent owner called him "Little Hammer” because he thought Burrell looked like "Hammerin’” Hank Aaron. When Little Hammer picked up the mic, he became MC Hammer.
7. Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper, who was born Vincent Furnier, was supposedly playing with a Ouija board in the late 1960s when a 16th-century witch doctor named Alice Cooper contacted him. Furnier and his buddies then started a band called Alice Cooper with the magnetic Furnier in the lead role of "Alice.” Since the name originally referred to the whole band and not just Furnier, he continues to pay an annual royalty to his old bandmates for the commercial use of the Alice Cooper name.
8. Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was born Walker Smith, Jr., but once he began to make some noise as a boxer, commentators described his fighting style as "sweet as sugar.” So beginning in 1939, his manager began promoting him as "Sugar Ray Robinson,” and every future boxer named Ray suddenly had a nickname.
9. Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas. He changed it because we already had a famous actor by that name. You may have heard of him.
10. LL Cool J
LL Cool J stands for "Ladies Love Cool James,” as you may already know. What you might not know, though, is that the name wasn’t necessarily true when it made its debut. When James Todd Smith and a buddy were 16 years old, they began calling themselves LL Cool J and Playboy Mikey D in the hopes that it would help their stock with the girls they tried to woo. In a 2008 interview with CBS’ Early Show, LL admitted that the ladies didn’t actually love cool James quite yet, saying, "It was just wishful thinking, just hoping for the best.”
11. Pee-Wee Herman
Paul Reubens’ Pee-wee Herman character got his name from two different sources: Reubens owned a brand of harmonica called a Pee-wee, and he remembered a particularly high-strung grammar school classmate named Herman. Reubens later told Vanity Fair that he ran with the combination because, "I like that it didn’t sound like a made-up name, that it was just kind of cruddy.”
12. Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious—who was born John Simon Ritchie, and later went by John Beverley—got his famous stage name from Sex Pistols frontman John "Johnny Rotten” Lydon’s old pet hamster, Sid. The bassist was playing with Lydon’s hamster one day when the rodent bit him and forced him to exclaim, "Your Sid is vicious!” Lydon thought the remark was so amusing that he started calling his friend "Sid Vicious.”
13. John le Carré
John le Carré was working as a diplomat when he began writing novels, but the British Foreign Office didn’t allow its employees to publish under their real names. The writer, who was born David John Moore Cornwell, claims that he took his pseudonym from a store he saw in London called "Le Carre.”
Agencies
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YOUR VOICE: What’s the story behind your stage name?
RIDERMAN
Initially, my stage name was Gangster Rider, but a few years later, I changed it. There’s a Ugandan singer I met when I was going to perform at a certain event and he was like, brother, you shouldn’t call yourself that because you’re not a ‘gangster’. Instead, simply keep it as Rider. I realised that Rider was more meaningful than what I had, and so I only added Man to make it easy to pronounce.Riderman is a name that drives my career. I am simply riding my career to the next level.
AMA G THE BLACK
I’ve used Ama-G the Black since I joined the music industry. It’s something that reflects what I believe in and what my music has to offer. Ama was supposed to be Amani but I removed it for easy use, and G means Gangster while Black sums up the meaning of the whole name. I believe in Pan-Africanism and it’s what motivates me to do music that will speak to the world. I am so proud of being an African and this is what my stage name reflects.
KNOWLESS
My name wasn’t inspired by Beyonce like most people think. ‘Know less’ literally means having no idea about what you’re doing, which is what a close friend used to tell me. She always discouraged me and told me to quit music. She always used those words ‘know less’ to emphasis her point. I kept the name to motivate my work and prove to haters that there’s nothing impossible for the willing heart.
LIL P
The P stands for my name Papias and the ‘Lil’ was added when I started music in 2005. It was given to me by a friend. We were three and I was the youngest, so they always called me ‘Lil’ meaning little, hence the origin of the name. However, it became the foundation of what I’ve achieved and it influenced me from a young age.
DANNY NANONE
Nanone, which literally means again, came after I released my second song that was also a hit. And so everyone was like ‘he’s made another hit’. It motivates me to always do something that people will like.
Compiled by J. Bizimungu