The artists formerly known as..
★ SINGER The Weeknd is now going by real name Abel Tesfaye.
The Canadian, inset, who says he got his stage name after “leaving one weekend and never coming home”, also told how he wanted to “kill The Weeknd”.
★ Here NADINE LINGE looks at 10 other music stars who changed their monikers…
PRINCE: In 1993, the Purple One announced he would be known as a “love” symbol – a mash-up of gender signs – as part of a dispute with his record label Warner Bros. Many simply referred to him as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
SNOOP DOGG: Born Calvin Broadus Jr, the rapper sold 30million albums as Snoop Dogg before reinventing himself as reggae artist Snoop Lion. After a trip to Jamaica in 2012, he announced his conversion to Rastafarianism and the name switch but Dogg was back by 2015.
CAT STEVENS: The Father And Son singer was born Steven Demetre Georgiou but took the name Cat Stevens when a girlfriend said he had eyes like a moggy. Stevens became Yusuf Islam after converting to the religion in 1977. SEAN “DIDDY” COMBS: The king of the musical name change, he has gone by Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Love, and Brother Love but announced he was going to be known by his nickname Diddy. He has also changed his middle name from John to Love, making him Sean Love Combs.
KANYE WEST: In 2021, the rapper officially changed his moniker to Ye after a judge in Los Angeles granted his request. He cited “personal reasons” behind the switch.
DAVID BOWIE: Born David Jones, the singer altered his name to Bowie in 1966 so he wouldn’t be confused with Monkees star Davy Jones. His new surname was inspired by 19th-century US pioneer Jim Bowie who gave his name to a type of fighting knife.
STEVIE WONDER: When the star signed with Motown, he legally changed his name from Stevland Judkins to Stevland Morris, taking on his mother’s maiden name. But when a record exec started calling him Wonder, he adopted that.
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK: The crooner wasn’t born with such an exotic moniker. Instead, at the request of his manager in the 1960s, plain old Arnold George Dorsey changed his name to that of the German composer behind the 1893 opera Hansel and Gretel.
MILEY CYRUS: Miley’s parents gave her the name Destiny Hope in the belief she would accomplish great things. But she was such a happy baby they nicknamed her Smiley, later shortened to Miley. In 2008, she legally switched to Miley Ray Cyrus.
ELVIS COSTELLO: Born Declan Patrick MacManus, Elvis adopted his surname from his singer dad’s stage name of Costello and then added his first name as a tribute to Elvis Presley. He said: “I thought Elvis was a better name than Jesus.”