Music Artists That Altered Their Name After Becoming Famous

Prince: Due to a dispute with his former record label, Prince began releasing albums under a new "name". He changed his name to just a symbol and since there was no pronunciation for it, he became referred to as "The Artist Formally Known As Prince". Later he wisely changed his name back to Prince.

Grand Funk: Originally calling themselves Grand Funk Railroad, They dropped "Railroad" from their name after a legal dispute with an ex manager.

Chicago: The band released their first album under the name "The Chicago Transit Authority" but shortened their name to just Chicago after being sued by the actual Chicago transit authority.

Jefferson Airplane: They went from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship to just Starship, then the original members reunited and began calling themselves Jefferson Airplane Again. Why not, it wasn't being used.

Matchbox Twenty: Originally called Matchbox 20, but changed name to Matchbox Twenty because they felt there were too many bands with numbers in their names (i.e. Blink 182, Sum 41...)

John Mellencamp: Released albums under the names Johnny Cougar and John Cougar because his management felt Mellencamp would be too hard to sell. Became John Cougar Mellencamp on 1983's "Uh-Huh" and finally just John Mellencamp on 1991's "Whenever We Want".

Sean Combs: Changes his name every other week it seems; has been known as Puff Daddy, Puffy, Puff, P. Diddy, Diddy and even "Swag?"

Rock Bands Named After A Place

New York Dolls: Formed during the glam rock era of the early seventies. Considered one of the originators of punk music.

Boston: This band from Boston formed by guitarist Tom Scholz (who was born in Toledo, Ohio) had the biggest selling debut album in history.

Chicago: The second biggest charting American band of all time (only the Beach Boys are bigger).

Europe: Named after the entire continent, but actually from Sweden. They had two top ten hits in the U.S. during the late 80's.

Asia: A super group formed in 1981, made up of former members of the Bungles, Yes and Emerson Lake And Palmer. None of the members are actually from Asia.

Toronto: A Canadian group whose female lead singer is named Holly Woods. This band wrote and recorded "What About Love", a song that would later become a top ten hit for rock group Heart.

Kansas: Biggest hits were "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind".

Great Songs About Summer

Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran (1958): Co written and produced by Eddie Cochran himself, this single went to #8 on the Billboard singles chart in July of 1958. The Who released a version on their Live At Leeds album (1970).

Wipe Out - The Surfaris (1962): A number two hit for the Safaris, later remade by the Fat Boys & the Beach Boys.


Surfer Girl - The Beach Boys (1963): This single, written and produced by Brian Wilson, along with B-side Little Deuce Coupe went to #7 during the summer of 1963. The song was inspired by the Disney tune When You Wish Upon A Star.

Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful (1966): Written by John Sebastian's brother Mark, this was The Lovin' Spoonful's only number one hit. John Sebastian would later write the theme to the TV sitcom Welcome Back Carter.

Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles (1966): Written and sung primarily by Paul McCartney, this song was released on the album Revolver.

Summertime - Big Brother And The Holding Co. (1968): This song was written in 1935 by George Gershwin for the musical Porgy And Bess. The Big Brother version, featuring Janis Joplin on vocals, can be found on the album Cheap Thrills.

School's Out - Alice Copper (1972): Alice's ode to the end of school went to #7 on the Billboard singles chart. This song is also a big hit in pop culture and has been featured many times in movies, TV shows and video games.

Saturday In The Park - Chicago (1972): One of the biggest hits Chicago had during the 70's and was inspired by a walk through New York's Central Park.

Summer Breeze - Seals & Croft (1972): Breakthrough hit for the duo Seals & Croft.

Boys Of Summer - Don Henley (1984): The biggest hit off Don Henley's Building The Perfect Beast album. This song was co written by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell.

Summer Of 69 - Bryan Adams (1984): Written by Bryan Adams and his song writing partner Jim Vallance (Aerosmith, Heart). The title was inspired by the movie Summer of 42.