From Beyoncé to Bowie: discover the most famous musical alter egos

From Beyoncé to Bowie: discover the most famous musical alter egos - You'll definitely have heard of Ziggy Stardust, the alter ego created by David Bowie, or Slim Shady, Eminem's more daring character. But did you know there are many, many more?

These personas are created by musicians so that they can interpret their songs in new ways. In the music industry, there are loads of examples of alter egos and many of them have become almost as famous as their creators! Will you recognize them all? Click on the gallery to find out!

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles - In 1967 The Beatles didn't just release one of their best albums of all time, they also did it under a different name. Taking on the roles of the members from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles wore psychedelic costumes, and Paul McCartney even introduced himself to Ringo as 'Billy Shears.' Little more is known about these characters that the Beatles members created, but what is sure is that the album became iconic in music history.

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Sasha Fierce - Beyoncé - Sasha Fierce was the alter ego used by Beyoncé for her 2008 album called 'I Am...Sasha Fierce.' The album credits were split between Beyoncé and Sasha, with the first part, 'I Am,' comprising the singer's sweeter and more sensitive side. The second half of the album, by contrast, was all Sasha Fierce, showing the artist's crazier and more charismatic side.

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MacPhisto - Bono - When the 1991 album 'Achtung Baby' was released, U2 reinvented their band's sound and gave it a more dance vibe. During their tour 'Zoo TV' from 1992 to 1993, Bono decided to dress as various characters, including The Fly, Mirror Ball Man, and the most memorable of all: MacPhisto, a demon familiar to and revered by fans of the band. The singer recently made one more brief appearance as the iconic character in 2016.

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Makaveli - Tupac Shakur - Tupac Shakur's latest album was recorded before the rapper was murdered in 1996. It was on this CD that Tupac 'acted' under the name of Makaveli. He had already used this alter ego once in the album 'All Eyez On Me,' but it was only in his last album that he sung completely in the role of this persona. The name was inspired by the 16th century historian Niccolò Machiavelli.

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Chris Gaines - Garth Brooks - At the end of the 90s Garth Brooks had already had a successful country music career, and wanted to branch out into other musical genres. This was when he created his alter ego, Chris Gaines. Chris was an alternative rock artist, however, his persona fooled no one and his album didn't end up being as successful as his previous releases. Eventually, he returned to being Garth Brooks.

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Xtina - Christina Aguilera - In 2002 it was Aguilera's turn to try out her alter ego style, when she invented Xtina. The persona was created for her 'Stripped' album and went down quite well with her fans. Today, Xtina is still one of Aguilera's most famous sides.

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Marilyn Manson - Brian Warner - He may be widely known as Marilyn Manson, but this was actually an alter ego created a long time ago by Brian Warner, an American musical journalist. Marilyn is perhaps one of the most controversial and challenging characters in the music industry, who managed to reinvent himself with the release of each new album.

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Mona Lisa - Britney Spears - Britney's alter ego is not one of the best known because she didn't use it for very long. In 2004, her song 'Mona Lisa' showed the singer's new identity. She used the name when she felt like being 'bad' and more radical on stage during her tour in the same year.

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The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance - The band continued to be My Chemical Romance, but when they released their album 'The Black Parade' they wore black outfits which were much more emo in style.

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Slim Shady - Eminem - Slim Shady is the funniest side of Eminem's character. Whenever the rapper appears with platinum blonde hair, we know that he is Shady, not Eminem. He is one of music's most famous alter egos, with just as much fame as the singer who created him.

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Dr. Winston O’Boogie - John Lennon - At the beginning of the 70s, Lennon produced one of Harry Nilsson's songs. They were good friends and seen often together, however, John was never mentioned in the credits of Harry's music. Instead of the former Beatle's name, 'Dr Winston O’Boogie' was written instead.

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Snoop Lion - Snoop Dogg - Snoop Dogg released his 10th album called 'Reincarnated' in 2013, where he took on the alter ego of Snoop Lion, a Rastafarian musician. Dogg was criticized for this persona, and the album was one of the least successful in his career. It still won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album though.

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Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie - Bowie had many alter egos, but it all began with Ziggy Stardust. Ziggy was an androgynous and bisexual fictional character that Bowie used for five albums before starting his career under his own name. 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' catapulted this alter ego to stardom.

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Roman Zolanski - Nicki Minaj - Nicki plays various characters when she raps. Roman Zolanski is her most famous: a gay British man who first appeared in a song by Trey Songz called 'Bottoms Up.'

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Esther - Madonna - 2004 was a strange year for Madonna. The singer began to promote her 'new' religion Cabala and adopted an alter ego called Esther, in tribute to a Jewish Queen from the Bible. However, the character did not last long.

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Camille - Prince - In 1986, Prince recorded an eight-song-album called 'Camille,' an alter ego created by the artist. The album comprised songs sung in a high voice to sound more feminine. The release of the album was cancelled, but some of the music was released later on.

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Jo Calderone - Lady Gaga - Jo Calderone was the alter ego created by Lady Gaga to promote the fourth single from her album 'Born This Way.' Jo appeared in the song's music video and also at the opening of the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011.

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Black-Ty - Tyrese - As we have already seen, several artists have chosen alter egos for their albums, but Tyrese was the only one to call his album by that name: 'Alter Ego.' The album, released in 2006, had two CD's, an R&B one by Tyrese, and another rap one by his character 'Black-Ty.'

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Two alter egos - Mariah Carey - In 1999, Mariah played Bianca, her 'evil' alter ego, in the music video for 'Heartbreaker.' Later on, in 2006, she released the album 'The Emancipation Of Mimi,' revealing another side of herself which had never been seen before. Mimi was supposedly the 'true' and 'free' version of the singer.

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Cherry Kookoo - Courtney Love - In 2008, Courtney revealed on her blog that she had a more radical alter ego called Cherry Kookoo. The character has never been used in her music, however.

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The Network - Green Day - Occasionally the three members of Green Day get together to make music which has nothing to do with their band. In 2003 an album called 'Money Money 2020' was released by the band, who adopted the name of 'The Network.' Another album was released in 2008, this time under the name of 'Foxboro Hot Tubs.'

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She-Wolf - Shakira - Shakira released her album 'She Wolf' in 2009, for which she took a more passionate and 'animalistic' version of herself.

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Rooster - Caleb Followill - The guitarist and singer of the Kings of Leon had an alter ego called Rooster in the early days of the band. His persona was more rebellious, annoying, and drunk.

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T.I.P. - T.I. - T.I.'s real name is Clifford Harris. The rapper started off his career calling himself T.I.P., but changed it to T.I. after signing with the record label Arista Records, who already had an artist called Q-Tip. However, T.I.'s fifth album was a 'fight' with his alter ego. It was called 'T.I. vs. T.I.P.,' but there wasn't much difference between the two personas, which confused his fans.

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Brook Lynn - Mary J. Blige - Mary J. Blige's alter ego made her first appearance in Busta Rhymes's music video 'Touch It.' She used Brook Lynn to display her more aggressive and outgoing side.

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Five alter egos - Tori Amos - In her album 'American Doll Posse,' singer Tori Amos created five different personalities: Isabel, Clyde, Pip, Santa, and Tori, who were all based on archetypes from Greek mythology. Tori even created five different blogs for each of these five personas.

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Georgie Fruit - Kevin Barnes - The singer from the band Of Montreal took on the persona of Georgie Fruit, a 40-year-old black man who had undergone various sex changes and had a funk-rock band in the 70s. The second half of Of Montreal's album 'Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?' was completely dedicated to this alter ego.

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Buster Poindexter - David Johansen - The frontman of the New York Dolls decided to create a musical persona called Buster Poindexter in the 80s. Buster is a lounge singer who released four albums and made frequent appearances on 'Saturday Night Live.' David Johansen ended up getting sick of the character and eventually rejoined the New York Dolls.

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J Henny - Jhené Aiko - Like many R&B artists, Jhené Aiko raps in some of her songs. She created an alter ego when rapping called J Henny, who made a first appearance in the song 'Stay Ready (What a Life).'

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