10 Fascinating Stories Behind Rock Music Star Stage Names
1. Knife To See You - David Bowie
It's amazing to think that one of the most interesting and dynamic musicians to ever have lived was born with the thunderingly dull name of David Robert Jones.
His first single, 1964's Liza Jane, was credited to Davie Jones with the King-Bees and it was a total flop. Jones was then picked up by publicist Tony Hatch, which helped put him on the right track.
Another thing that aided him massively was the decision to ditch his birth name. Aside from being really boring, Davie Jones was also close to Davy Jones, the lead singer of The Monkees. David Robert wanted to avoid confusion, and so looked to the world of weaponry for his new title.
He settled on Bowie after the American folk hero James Bowie, who lent his name to the popular Bowie knife. Bowie was a frontiersman and slave smuggler who fought and died in the Battle of the Alamo, and the English singer admired him as a historical figure.
Weirdly, the American Bowie pronounced his name as "BOO-EEE", whilst the English one pronounced it "BOH-EEE". Or was it "BOW-EEE"?
Oh God, this is going to start an argument, isn't it.