Jamie Foxx
His fans got surprised to hear that he had changed his name. Yes! Jamie Foxx isn’t his original name. Previously his name was Eric Marlon Bishop. He told about this on ‘The Late Show’. His name change was a big career move in his life. Jamie Foxx featured in ‘Django Unchained’. He decided to change his name, according to a report by Texas Monthly. Then he performed at local comedy clubs. Then he got a role in ‘In Living Colour’, a comedy series. He was separated from his parents in early childhood and he lived with his maternal grandparents. They raised him. Jamie did not know his parents. He gives credit of his success to his grandmother. He grew up poor. But he dreamed of a successful life. He has worked hard to achieve what he got in his life. On ‘The late show’, he opened up that he had a hard time getting on to the stage and performing. He started using androgynous stage names. But at last he chose the name Jamie Foxx, which is a gender neutral name. He is happy to say that he got success by this name and this changing of name has been a milestone in his life.
Michael Caine
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When the Caine Mutiny was being shown at the Odeon Cinema in 1954, he decided to change his name to “Michael Caine”. His real name is Maurice Micklewhite. He adopted the stage name Michael Scott, but changed it to Michael Caine. According to a report by Guardian, he was inspired by the Caine Mutiny. The airport security guard would always say, “Hi Michael Caine” (when he had not changed his name) and then he would hand him a passport with a different name. To avoid this, he changed his name to Michael Caine. Michael Cain is his second stage name after Michael Scott. Now since he has changed his name he would not have to stand in airport security lines for an hour. Now it will be quick. To beat airport check, he changed his name. Now he is Sir Michael Caine. He said that he changed his name and all that started with ISIS and all the stuff. In this way, we can say he was forced to change his name to “Michael Caine”. As there used to be a lot of confusion with his name, it was a right decision to change his name.
Elton John
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He changed his name to Elton Hercules John on 7 January, 1972. His original name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He was born on March 25, 1947. He started disliking his name as it was because of this name that there were bad memories in his life. In a 1987 interview, he revealed that changing his name has given him a new life. He got the inspiration to change his name to Elton John from the 2 members of Bluesology: Elton Dean and Long John Baldry. Elton John saw a photo of John Lennon in his musical publisher’s office and then he decided to change his name. He started playing in local musical bands when he got attracted to music. He said that he particularly did not like being Reg Dwight as this name had too many bad memories associated with it. Rocketman, called the movie depicting the life of Elton, doesn’t reveal all the truths. There are many things hidden about his life. Elton John did have something common with John Lennon as both share same musical publisher, Dick James, who has been associated with the Beatles since 1963. Elton changed his name to give tribute to Beatles with whom he had a close connection.
Idris Elba
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He was born on 6 September, 1972. He is well known for his role of Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long walk to freedom. He has been nominated 5 times for a primetime Emmy award. His real name is Idrissa Akuna Elba. According to a report by Guardian, he told that a child used to laugh over his name Idrissa and hence he changed it. The name change was a boon for the actor. Basically, he shortened his name to Idris. Ultimately, things seemed to work out for him, and these days, he is one of the biggest celebs. Elba has been married 3 times. Elba has clearly stated that he is spiritual and not religious. He shortened his name to Idris in school at canning town, where he started acting. He worked in nightclubs with the DJ name “Big Driis” during adolescence. In 1995, he did his first significant role in a series called Bramwell.
Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan’s original name is Robert Allen Zimmerman. He changed his name to Bob Dylan on 2 Aug. 1962. This marked a significant action in the history of music. This was not the first time when he was changing his name. He had previously been called himself Elston Gunn and Robert Allen. But the name that made him settle was certainly Bob Dylan. So that means that while he was playing on stage he could take a new form into a brand new character that he created. It also gave him an escape from himself which was though transitory, but effective. The first time when he was asked his name was in the Twin Cities. He instinctively and without any further ado said ‘Bob Dylan’. This instinctive decision came out to be one of the best decisions of the life of Bob. Some people believe that Dylan has its origins in the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. But he had denied this himself.
Charlie Sheen
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Charlie decided to become an actor. He took up the name Charlie Sheen. The surname Sheen has its origins in the archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Charlie Sheen is an American actor. He has played roles in various films like The 3 Musketeers, Wall Street etc. He was born on 3 Sept. 1965. He had alcohol and drug abuse and marital problems. There have been allegations of domestic violence against him. Sheen’s film career started in 1983. Now the latest reports say that he has dropped his stage name and started calling himself by his birth name Carlos Estevez. This is a career move. Now why he wants to change his name is still unknown. He is credited as Charlie Sheen on IMBD. Through Machete Kills, it is the first time in his career that he would be shown by his birth name.
Joaquin Phoenix
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Joaquin Phoenix is an actor, and producer. He is well-known for playing dark and unconventional characters in films. He has received various awards and accolades. In early 1980s, two boys were singing and dancing on the streets of Hollywood to get money. Nobody knew that they would become the next singing sensation. Those kids were Phoenix brothers: River and Joaquin. They had to struggle a lot to get what they achieved in life. But later in life, they got a lot of fame and popularity. River died in 1993 because of overdose. Joaquin had three other siblings, Rain, Liberty and Summer. After summer’s birth, their family changed the surname to Phoenix. Joaquin also changed his name to Leaf because everybody was having difficulty in pronouncing his name. Thus, he finally became Leaf. Leaf was not as good-looking as his brother so it took a lot for Leaf to achieve big. But he was hard-working and hence achieved big things in his life. The awards that he won in his life was Academy award, British academy award, Grammy award and golden globe award.
John Legend
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One of the friends of John, started calling him “The Legend”, because he thought that he was like their old school legend. And this name became very popular and everybody started calling him John Legend. John is a singer. He has a beautiful voice and thus he is a legend undoubtedly. The original name of John Legend is quite ordinary. It is John Roger Stephens. He was born on Dec 28, 1978, in Ohio. He started learning piano in his childhood. He also sang in the church choir. In his college, he met another legend, Kanye West. They built a partnership and then, John Legend became his nickname as well as stage name. In his early days, he collaborated with Kanye West and then everybody started calling him John Legend and he became a legend. The first person to call him John Legend was J.Ivy. He is an artist from Chicago. He met him through West. It was because of Kanye that he changed his name to John Legend. The rest is history. His career in singing, awards and his personal life is a celebrity life.
Bruno Mars
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He started his career by doing shows in Hawaii. He got his stage name from the nickname that his father gave him. Mars was affixed at the end because the girls used to say that he is out of this world, so he said I am from Mars. Mars came out to be really funny. Some music producers assumed that he wanted to make huge records and thus he decided to add this surname Mars. In 1987, Bruce Ellis made an album “The Return of Bruno”. 20 years later, Bruno came up with his own album for the first time. Mars’ album was appreciated. This put Willis’ to shame. Bruno Mars is less confusing name and a stage name. The original name of Bruno Mars is Pete Gene Fernandez. He said that his father was calling him Bruno as a nickname since childhood. His father thought that he looked a bit like Bruno Sammartino. He was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and then moved to Los Angeles after school to become a star. Nevertheless, Mars became a star and rest is history.
Nicolas Cage
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Cage’s original name was Nicolas Kim Coppola. He was born on January 7, 1964 in California. He made a change in his name because he didn’t want it to be confused with the name of his famous uncle. He is an actor and filmmaker. He has received a lot of awards and accolades. In his life, he invented a new style of acting called “Noveau Shamanic”. He took inspiration from a book in which read about the similarities between shamans and thespians. He later described his acting style as German expressionism or western kabuki. Cage decided to change his name in 80s. He was using this stage name only. But earlier, he starred by the name of Nicolas Coppola.
He revealed that his family was a hindrance in his life. It was because the people in the industry kept asking about his uncle Francis. They thought that he didn’t need a break because of nepotism. So, Cage decided to change his name. People used to joke about his name of Coppola. Cage is weird-looking. His eyes are very weird.
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