Editing Stage name (section)

== Musical use ==
[[File:Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 1977.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 1977.jpg|Singer [[Freddie Mercury]] legally changed his name from Farrokh Bulsara.]]
Some types of music are more associated with stage names than others. For example, [[hip hop]] and [[Electronic dance music|EDM]] artists almost always use stage names, whereas "classical" composers and performers rarely do. Classical violinist [[Amadéus Leopold]] (born in South Korea as Yoo Hanbin) and opera singers [[Beverly Sills]] (born Belle Miriam Silverman), [[Nellie Melba]] (born Helen Porter Mitchell) and [[Jennifer Toye]] (born Jennifer Gay Bishop) are exceptions.

Some Algerian raï musicians use the prefix [[Cheb (disambiguation)|Cheb]] (for men) or Chaba (Chebba) for women. Both [[Arabic]] words mean "young" (e.g. as in [[Khaled (musician)|Cheb Khaled]], or "Young Khaled"). 

[[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] of Led Zeppelin was born John Baldwin. This is still his legal name, John Paul Jones being his professional name.

Some performers take a series of different stage names. The British pop singer who was successful in the 1970s as [[Alvin Stardust]] previously went by the stage name of ''Shane Fenton'' in the 1960s. He had been born ''Bernard William Jewry''. Some performers will use different names in different settings. Charles Thompson, singer-songwriter for the alternative band the [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], was known in that band as ''[[Black Francis]]''. He was called ''Frank Black'' as a solo performer and again called ''Black Francis'' in a reunited Pixies.

Unlike Hollywood stage names, many musical artists' stage names are obviously not personal names, but they may still end up universally used to refer to the performer, such as [[Lady Gaga]]. At times the line may be blurred between the name of an act and the stage name of the lead.

Many performers refer to their stage name as their "professional name". For instance David Jones became [[David Bowie]] in order to avoid confusion with [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy Jones]] of [[the Monkees]] but retained Jones as his legal name.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cossar |first1=Neil |title=David Bowie: I Was There |date=2017}}</ref> In some cases, performers subsequently adopt their stage name as their legal name. For instance, the former Robert Allen Zimmerman's legal name has been Robert Dylan ([[Bob Dylan]]) since he changed it in [[New York City]] [[New York Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] in August 1962.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} [[Elton John]] was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight but changed his name by [[deed poll]], making Elton Hercules John his real name. When he was [[knighting|knighted]], he became Sir Elton Hercules John rather than Sir Reginald Kenneth Dwight. Similarly, [[Freddie Mercury]] was born Farrokh Bulsara, but legally changed his name concurrently with the formation of [[Queen (band)|Queen]].<ref name=Sutcliffe>{{citation|last1=Sutcliffe|first1=Phil|last2=Hince|first2=Peter|last3=Mack|first3=Reinhold|year=2009|title=Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock|place=London|isbn=978-0-7603-3719-6|publisher=Voyageur Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adNONbUWLjgC&pg=PT22|page=22}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Elvis Costello]] (born Declan MacManus), who had adopted his professional name as a legal name, changed it back to his birth name in 1986. Another example is Marvin Lee Aday, known by his stage name [[Meat Loaf]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} In a similar way, actress and singer [[Miley Cyrus]] was born Destiny Hope Cyrus but found "Miley" more comfortable, making it her legal name.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Entire musical groups have been known to adopt a common stage [[surname]], the most notable arguably being the [[Ramones]]. Recent examples include [[The Donnas]], [[Those Darlins]], [[Los Campesinos!]] and [[Ween]].