▲In 1967, The Beatles didn't just release one of their best albums, they did it under a different name. They wore psychedelic costumes, and Paul McCartney even introduced himself to Ringo as "Billy Shears."

▲At the end of the '90s, Garth Brooks was a successful country singer, and wanted to branch out into other musical genres. He created an alter ego for rock album, 'Garth Brooks in... the Life of Chris Gaines.'

▲He may be known as Marilyn Manson, but this was actually an alter ego created a long time ago by Brian Warner, an American musical journalist.

▲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.

▲When My Chemical Romance released their album 'The Black Parade,' they wore black outfits and crafted new personas.

▲Snoop Dogg released his 10th album '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.

▲David Bowie had many alter egos, but his most famous may be Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous character that Bowie used for a few albums.

▲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.

▲In 1986, Prince recorded a short record called 'Camille,' which was also the name of an alter ego. He sung in a high voice on the record, in order to sound more feminine.

▲Jo Calderone was the alter ego created by Lady Gaga to promote the fourth single from her album, 'Born This Way.'

▲In 2006, Tyrese released 'Alter Ego,' a double album with two narrators. Tyrese took the first half, while Black-Ty stepped in for the second.

▲In 1999, Mariah played Bianca, her "evil" alter ego, in the music video for 'Heartbreaker.' In 2006, she released 'The Emancipation of Mimi,' revealing another side of herself named Mimi.

▲In 2003, Green Day released 'Money Money 2020,' an album credited to new wave side project, The Network.

▲The Kings of Leon front man created an alter ego called Rooster in the band's early days.

▲T.I.'s fifth album featured a "fight" with his alter ego, T.I.P. It was called 'T.I. vs. T.I.P.,' but there wasn't much difference between the two personas, which confused his fans.

▲For 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.

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Kevin Barnes, front man of Of Montreal, created Georgie Fruit.

▲David Johansen decided to create a musical persona named Buster Poindexter in the '80s. Buster is a lounge singer who released four albums and made frequent appearances on 'Saturday Night Live.'

▲Jhené Aiko created an alter ego named J Henny, who tends to rap instead of singing.

▲In 2019, Madonna made up Madame X for a new album of the same name. On it, she sings in Spanish and Portuguese.

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Tyler, the Creator recently released 'Igor,' which reached number one on the Billboard album chart. He created a heartbroken alter ego for the hit record, which beat DJ Khaled's record to go number one.

You can also read all about the music industry's dark side.

▲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.

▲In 2008, Love blogged that she had a radical alter ego called Cherry Kookoo.

▲In 2002, Aguilera invented Xtina for her 'Stripped' album, which went down quite well with her fans.

▲Shakira released her album 'She Wolf' in 2009, taking on a more passionate and "animalistic" version of herself.

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Sasha Fierce was the alter ego used by Beyoncé for her 2008 album, 'I Am...Sasha Fierce.' The album credits were split between Beyoncé and Sasha.

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Slim Shady explores Eminem's funny side. Whenever the rapper appears with platinum blonde hair, he's probably playing the mischievous Shady.

▲At the beginning of the '70s, Lennon produced one of Harry Nilsson's songs. They were good friends, but John was never mentioned in the credits, instead Dr. Winston O'Boogie was listed.

▲Nicki Minaj plays various characters when she raps. Roman Zolanski is perhaps her most popular, a zany rambler with a bad British accent.

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During their 'Zoo TV' tour, U2 frontman 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.

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Tupac Shakur's last album was recorded before he was murdered in 1996. On it, he used the name Makaveli.

▲Sometimes stars just don't feel like themselves. Musicians like Madonna create alter egos to explore different sides of their personality. This is more than a stage name like Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga: we're talking fully-fledged personalities. Take The Beatles, who revolutionized themselves with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bored of their band image, and bursting with creative energy, the boys draped themselves in technicolor clothes and formed new personalities. In other cases, artists changed things up for a chance at commercial stardom. In 2002, Christina Aguilera created "Xtina," introduced for her 'Stripped' album. It was a success, with fans and critics falling in love with Aguilera's racy new role.

Creating an alter ego is nothing new, and has been around for centuries. Robert Louis Stevenson popularized the concept with 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Artists and musicians have continued to embrace this idea, often creating a "good" and "bad" side of their personality. Beyoncé broke records with 'I Am... Sasha Fierce,' a double album which introduced Sasha Fierce, who taught 'Single Ladies' how to act like a 'Diva.' Around the same time, Miley Cyrus was winning over the world with Hannah Montana. Cyrus plays a high school student, while Hannah Montana is the teen pop sensation.

Then again, this is all after Eminem shocked the world with Slim Shady. The rapper wrote lyrics so shocking we can't even quote it, but got away with it by blaming it on his blonde doppelgänger. After ditching the alter ego, Eminem brought it back for 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' in 2013. The rapper was back to bleaching his hair and making a mockery on live TV. Rest assured—his fans were delighted, and critics were quite impressed too.

In 2019, Madonna returned to the fray with a new record. The icon released 'Madame X', creating an alter ego of the same name. The new album featured Madonna singing in English, Spanish, and Portuguese too. But it was not the first time Madonna's created a new identity. Click through this gallery to explore her history with alter egos, as well as the most interesting alternative identities in show business.

The most famous musical alter egos

Artists and musicians have continued to embrace this idea

31/07/24 por StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Music

Sometimes stars just don't feel like themselves. Musicians like Madonna create alter egos to explore different sides of their personality. This is more than a stage name like Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga: we're talking fully-fledged personalities. Take The Beatles, who revolutionized themselves with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bored of their band image, and bursting with creative energy, the boys draped themselves in technicolor clothes and formed new personalities. In other cases, artists changed things up for a chance at commercial stardom. In 2002, Christina Aguilera created "Xtina," introduced for her 'Stripped' album. It was a success, with fans and critics falling in love with Aguilera's racy new role.

Creating an alter ego is nothing new, and has been around for centuries. Robert Louis Stevenson popularized the concept with 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Artists and musicians have continued to embrace this idea, often creating a "good" and "bad" side of their personality. Beyoncé broke records with 'I Am... Sasha Fierce,' a double album which introduced Sasha Fierce, who taught 'Single Ladies' how to act like a 'Diva.' Around the same time, Miley Cyrus was winning over the world with Hannah Montana. Cyrus plays a high school student, while Hannah Montana is the teen pop sensation.

Then again, this is all after Eminem shocked the world with Slim Shady. The rapper wrote lyrics so shocking we can't even quote it, but got away with it by blaming it on his blonde doppelgänger. After ditching the alter ego, Eminem brought it back for 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' in 2013. The rapper was back to bleaching his hair and making a mockery on live TV. Rest assured—his fans were delighted, and critics were quite impressed too.

In 2019, Madonna returned to the fray with a new record. The icon released 'Madame X', creating an alter ego of the same name. The new album featured Madonna singing in English, Spanish, and Portuguese too. But it was not the first time Madonna's created a new identity. Click through this gallery to explore her history with alter egos, as well as the most interesting alternative identities in show business.