The Untold Origin Stories Of These Rockstar Stage Names

The Untold Origin Stories Of These Rockstar Stage Names | Society Of Rock Videos

via Weird History/YouTube

Did You Know?

For most rockstars, the use of moniker helps them create their own identity as a musician. They can pretty much choose which one they fancy and that which suits them the best. The possibilities are endless. Take Freddie Mercury for example. His real name Farrokh Bulsara is quite a mouthful but Freddie Mercury doesn’t just roll off the tongue better, it actually sounds so much like his fabulous and flamboyant onstage persona.

Some of them came up with the stage names easily but for the following, there are some interesting backstories.

6. Slash

Born Saul Hudson, it was Academy Award nominated actor Seymour Cassel who called him Slash. According to Slash himself:

“My best friend’s dad is an actor named Seymour Cassel. We used to ditch school and hang out at his house and he used to call me Slash and it was just habitual with him.

“I was on tour in Europe and I happened to run into him and we went to dinner. He told me that he called me Slash, cause I had to ask him, and he says it was always because I was in a hurry, hustling whatever it was I was hustling at the time and never had time to sit and chat. I was always sort of in passing and he just started calling me Slash.”

5. Meat Loaf

Born Marvin Lee Aday, a lot of people think the Meat Loaf moniker only started in high school. But in an interview, he revealed:

“I got it when I was four days old ― not the ‘Loaf’ part, just the ‘Meat’. I was born bright red, so the doctor suggested that they should keep me in the hospital for a few days. My dad actually spoke like this… ’So, uh, I want you to name my son there ― because he looks like nine-and-a-half pounds of ground chuck ― I want you to put a name tag on the front of that plastic crib and it say ‘Meat’ on it.’”

It was his football coach who completed the name when he was in eighth grade.

“I stepped on a coach’s foot and he screamed, ‘Get off my foot, you hunk of meat loaf!’”

4. Sid Vicious

For all his tough, rebellious persona, Sid Vicious’ name came from the most unlikely uhm, creature. John Simon Ritchie just didn’t sound punk enough. It was Johnny Rotten who gave him his moniker after Rotten’s pet hamster bit Vicious and the latter said, “Sid is really vicious!”

3. Iggy Pop

Somehow, James Newell Osterberg Jr. and the rocker who likes to self-mutilate and do other wild antics on stage just doesn’t sound like the same person. He had a high school band called The Iguanas – which is where he got Iggy. Pop came from his friend’s name Jimmy Pop who inspired him to shave off his eyebrows as he was living with the Stooges in Michigan.

2. Alice Cooper

He went from Vincent Damon Furnier to Alice Cooper. How? They were originally called Nazz but quickly learned that another has that very same name. At the meeting, they had two choices – “Husky Baby Sandwich” or “Alice Cooper”. They went for Alice Cooper because it sounded wholesome which was a dark contrast to their music and image. Also, Cooper wrote that the moniker “conjured up an image of a little girl with a lollipop in one hand, and a butcher knife in another.”

1. Marilyn Manson

Brian Hugh Warner simply combined the names of two popular figures – Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe and controversial cult leader Charles Manson. He also claimed that he already trademarked the name, “I trademarked the name ‘Marilyn Manson’ the same way as Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. It’s not a stage name. It’s not my legal name … Marilyn Manson is owned by Brian Warner, my real name.”

Don’t Miss Out! Sign up for the Latest Updates

Premium Partners

Society of Rock partner World War Wings
Society of Rock partner Daily Rock Box
Society of Rock partner Country Music Nation
Society of Rock partner Country Rebel
Society of Rock partner I Love Classic Rock
Society of Rock partner Rock Pasta

Interested in becoming a partner?

Contact us for more info.