10 Pop Stars Who Released Music Under a Fake Name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkOKpmCczbE&list=PLOc4nVSCzMenQMptfFK-gG81Cl7S3VgC4 After the breakup of The Beatles, Paul McCartney wanted to prove that his musical arrangements could survive even without his fame. In 1977 the album *Thrillington* was released, an instrumental big band version of his earlier album Ram. McCartney invented the identity of Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington. He went far in his attempt to deceive the public, even taking out newspaper advertisements to promote concerts by the imaginary Percy. Although the music press quickly became suspicious, McCartney kept the joke going. The general public ignored the p

In 1984, Prince wrote the song Manic Monday. Instead of releasing it himself, he anonymously passed the track on to the pop group The Bangles under the assumed name Alexander Nevermind. Prince specifically wanted to see if the song could storm the charts purely on its own merits, without the influence of his star status. The experiment was a brilliant success. The single became a huge hit worldwide.

In 2016, Taylor Swift wrote the dance track This Is What You Came For with Calvin Harris. To avoid all the media attention surrounding her person, she used the name Nils Sjöberg. Rihanna sang the song and the single immediately became one of the biggest summer hits of that year. Hardly anyone in the music industry noticed that the American pop queen was behind the melody. After a few months, her real identity was leaked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3doI5Yx3Eus&list=RDEMpiVoDcVgxo35rtktOhZACA&start_radio=1 Just before Green Day released their comeback album American Idiot in 2004, an obscure new wave band called The Network emerged. The band members wore masks, spoke with a fake accent and spoke extremely negatively about Green Day itself in interviews. However, fans recognized frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's voice almost immediately. Although the band kept up the hoax for years, they later publicly confessed to the disguise.

In 1999, Garth Brooks was the king of American country music. He decided to start a side project and transformed himself through wigs and makeup into the fictional Australian rock musician Chris Gaines. He even released an entire pop-rock album under this alternate identity. Brooks wanted to prove that he could also be taken seriously as a pop artist outside the country world. The experiment ended in failure. The public found the visual metamorphosis laughable and the sales figures were very disappointing, causing Gaines to quickly disappear again.

Dr. Winston O'Boogie is probably the nicest pseudonym John Lennon ever used. He emerged into this role in the mid-1970s, right during his infamous 'Lost Weekend'. The name was a nod to his legal birth name (John Winston Ono Lennon) combined with his love for swinging rhythm and blues. Under this alter ego he sang and played on Elton John's cover of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. On his own records he also cheerfully varied with names such as Dr. Winston O'Reggae. Even guitarist Earl Slick later released a song in tribute to this musical doctor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPfyOkmLqTE&list=PLE9685680DABAB18F Between 1993 and 2008, several experimental, electronic ambient albums suddenly appeared from an act called The Fireman. Paul McCartney was behind this project, who collaborated with producer Youth. The records were deliberately released without any marketing around McCartney's name. McCartney wanted the freedom to fail and experiment with soundscapes, without critics immediately drawing comparisons with Yesterday.

Just before David Bowie broke through worldwide with his alien alter ego Ziggy Stardust, he founded the band Arnold Corns in 1971. He released an early version of the classic Moonage Daydream under this name. Bowie avoided his own name on the cover to purely gauge the audience's reactions to this new, theatrical glam rock sound. The band served as a secret dress rehearsal for the legendary album that would follow a year later. Although the project did little commercially at the time, it is historically the moment when Bowie laid the blueprint for his greatest success.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke regularly disappears unannounced into the underground dance scene. Together with the mysterious producer Burial, he released tracks on so-called 'white labels': blank vinyl records without an artist name or cover design, which were supplied exclusively to obscure record stores. Yorke wanted the music to be judged purely on the dance floor, regardless of his status as a rock icon. The records created a huge run among DJs who had no idea they were playing one of the biggest rock stars in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctRxe7nwsoc&list=PL93s87qzN7yMMX7P0_A-ia0vAhv2aNQaW Neil Young has been using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey since the 1970s when he wants to publish projects outside his regular songwriter straitjacket. Although the name mainly appears in connection with his raw film and directorial work, he also uses this second identity to consciously separate cult projects from his legendary folk rock image. For Young, the pseudonym works as a creative shield. Under the banner of Bernard Shakey, he can be a whimsical, experimental artist. This way he doesn't have to answer to the record company or fa