a newfound respect for the real

I recently ran across a website that lists the real names of music artists, and was shocked. Although it is fairly obvious that certain artists (like Prince) have devised monikers, I was surprised to see many of the names on the list. It also makes me wonder why certain artists decided only to change their last name. There are artists like Lou Reed (whose real name is Louis Firbank?) who I am guessing changed their names to make it easier to remember or spell. If he played clarinet or sax, I could understand the "reed" reference. But then there are artists like Gene Simmons whose real name is supposedly Chaim Klein Witz. Talk about bizarre. But how do they come up with these alter ego's? Names that sound "hip" like Nikki Sixx are expected, but how does "Gene Simmons" sound any more hip than his real name? I guess it sounds more American, and perhaps that is what he was going for.

One surprise from the list was Taco - his first name actually is Taco. Check it out - it's fun for a laugh: Music Stars Real Names