Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Hey, how come most rock stars don't use their real names? I mean, Slash, Duff, Izzy, Axl, Buckethead, Brain, Ozzy (and a ton of others)... Is it because their real names are not "Fame and Fortune" material? Or does it have something to do with rock scene in general? OR is it some voodoo/satanic initiation shit?

We never get to choose our names, our parents do. Maybe you feel like yourself when you chose your name or somebody gives you one because it is you or has something to do with you.

Why did you pick Genesis ? Why did I pick son of a preacher ?

Axl is Axl's real name

William Axl Rose is his current legal name.

Close, but not quite...

W. Axl Rose is his current legal name.

Rock stars probably make up their own name cause it make them feel more rebellionish. lol. Axl had a good reason. He hated his step father and didnt want to have the same last name as him anymore so he took his fathers last name. Axl Rose suits him. Slash and Duff are just their nicknames. It isnt their legal name.

slash and duff were each called by those names when they were younger; they didn't just make them up.

And what does the W stand for? That's right children!

What?

Hey, that starts with a W, too!  Anyway, I think that rock stars changing their names was something that was far more prevalent in the 80s than in any other decade.  I mean, rock stars these days are pretty happy just using thier normal names.  But back in the 80s (and the 70s, if you count Ozzy in  Black Sabbath and certain members of Kiss), it was just the stylish thing to do.  A guy with big hair, leather, and a loud guitar or a screeching voice is larger than life, it's almost a disappointment if his name is Bill Bailey, Frank Ferranna, Bob Deal, Saul Hudson, Jeff Isbell, Richard Ream, or Saul Hudson.  That's why instead we have Axl Rose, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Rikki Rockett, and motherfuckin' Slash!  Very cool.  :smoking:

Axl is Axl's real name

William Axl Rose is his current legal name.

Exactly it's his CURRENT legal name. But the whole point of the thread was why do they change them which Axl did. EVen after finding out about his birth father being named rose that would make him William Bruce Rose, not Axl.
Slash and Duff got theirs as kids I always heard and Ozzy was always called Ozzy by people in school in stuff as an abbreviation for Osbourne. Having gone to school with Tony Iommi that's just how he was referred to and it stuck because it stands out and is uncommon. Izzy is close to the same I think with his lst name being isabell but I think he changed his more so because he wanted it to sound cooler.