So, you wanna be a rock star, but you’re not sure your name would look the part in the liner notes? The stage name is your friend, my friend. Some guitarists have ended up with a stage name from a nickname, others have deliberately crafted a radically new identity for themselves. Here are a few of the coolest stage names in electric guitar:
Slash – Slash was born in England as Saul Hudson, but moved to the United States as a young child. He was given the nickname “Slash” by a family friend well before he joined the band Guns N Roses.
Tracii Guns – Tracii Guns was born as Tracy Ulrich. As the founder of both LA Guns and Guns N Roses, he gave his adoptive stage name to both bands.
Mick Mars – The Motley Crue guitarist was born BAD as Bob Alan Deal, and says that he took the stage name Mick Mars because he always felt like he was some sort of outsider or alien who didn’t quite belong. Those who know him say the name suits him very well.
Jimi Hendrix – Regularly cited as the world best proponent of the electric gutiar, Johnny Allen Hendrix had his name changed by his father to James Marshall Hendrix, he takes the stage name Jimmy James and then becomes Jimi on the advice of Chas Chandler, his new manager.
B.B. King – Born as Riley King, he became known as the “Beale Street Blues Boy” – through the years this becomes shortened to B.B.
T-Bone Walker – Aaron Thibeaux Walker earned the name “T-Bone” as childhood nickname taken from his middle name.
Buckethead – Brian Patrick Carroll decided to wear a KFC bucket and a white mask on his head, and perform as “buckethead”. These days he just wears a plain white bucket.
K.K. Downing – Judas Priest guitarist Kenneth Downing Jr. earned the far catchier stage name “K.K.” in Denmark, where he met a girl who couldn’t pronounce his real first name.
C. C. DeVille – Poison guitarist Bruce Anthony Johannesson took the name C.C. DeVille from a car, the Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
Joan Jett – Joan Marie Larkin joined The Runaways and gave herself the alliterative surname to end all alliterative surnames.
Vinnie Vincent – Vincent John Cusano replaced Ace Frehley in Kiss, and was promptly instructed that his new name was now Vinnie Vincent. He obviously liked it enough to name his next band the Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
Ace Frehley – Paul Daniel Frehley became Ace when he joined Kiss, though many of us really think of him as “the spaceman”.
Paul Stanley – Born as Stanley Harvey Eisen, he sought something catchier and with fewer syllables.
Euroboy – Knut Schreiner is probably not such an undistinctive or difficult-to-remember name. But with bandmates such as Hank Von Helvete and Pol Pot Pamparius, he needed something a little extra to cut through as the lead guitarist in Turbonegro
Leadbelly – Huddie William Ledbetter is best known as “Leadbelly”, although he preferred it as “Lead Belly”
Nick Royale – Nicke Andersson took the name Nick Royale after quitting as the drummer for Death N Roll band Entombed to become the singer/guitarist for scandinavian hard rock legends The Hellacopters.
Dimebag Darrell – Darrell Lance Abbott was originally known as Diamond Darrell in the early incarnations of Pantera, but took the name “dimebag” when they departed from their glam metal roots. Dimebag is reputedly a reference to the snaplock bags used by shopkeepers to keep coins in to deposit at the bank – also commonly used in the sale of illegal drugs.
Ross The Boss – Australian-born Ross Friedman originally earned his nickname “Ross the Boss” as a child playing baseball in New York City, but too the name with him in punk pioneers The Dictators and seminal heavy metal band Manowar.
Prince – Believe it or not, but Prince Rogers Nelson was actually born as Prince Rogers Nelson. But he
gets cited here for deciding that Prince was just not showbiz enough, and taking a symbol as his name, causing him to be referred to everywhere as “the artist formerly known as Prince”
Cobalt Stargazer – Geoff Bird probably could have rocked out as Geoff Bird in almost any band, but when joining the Love Reaction with Mr. Zodiac Mindwarp he needed something a little more outlandish. His choice of stage name was nearly trumped by a later Love Reaction guitarist, Trash D Garbage.
Blackie Lawless – Steven Edward Duren was in a New York street gang with Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley when he grew up. By the time he had become famous as the singer/bass guitarist and later singer/guitarist for WASP he was known the the world as Blackie.
Johnny Thunders – John Anthony Genzales Jr. took the name Johnny Thunders when he joined the New York Dolls and kept it ’til the end of his days.
Zakk Wylde – Jeff Wielandt threw caution to the wind when he joined John Michael “Ozzy” Osborne’s band.. and grew and enormous beard and enormous muscles shortly after. Coincidence? I think not.
Yngwie Malmsteen – The swedish shredder decided that Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback was way too hard to pronounce or remember, so he chose the much easier.. Yngwie Malmsteen?
