Who doesn’t love a good strange alter ego? Plenty of musicians through the years have decided to get experimental with their musical identities. Quite a few rock stars, in particular, have enjoyed creating some bizarre (but interesting) alter egos at some point in their careers. Let’s check out four fascinating examples of rock stars with unique alter egos!
1. David Bowie
This wouldn’t be a list of rock stars with bizarre alter egos without at least mentioning David Bowie. This legendary rock star has debuted a few different alter egos through the years, namely Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, and Aladdin Sane.
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Ziggy Stardust was the beloved alien glam rocker from 1972. Aladdin Sane was Bowie’s take on the dark degeneracy of American culture. Lastly, the Thin White Duke was an aristocratic madman who looked similar to Bowie’s character in the film The Man Who Fell To Earth.
2. David Johansen
After the New York Dolls broke up, David Johansen decided to transition from punk-rock makeup and gender-bendery to something a little more masculine, though still very campy. David Johansen’s alter ego Buster Poindexter was a pompadour-touting singer who covered “Hot Hot Hot” by Arrow.
The cover ended up being very successful, and Johansen had a lot of success under the name. However, he did get a bit sick of it and eventually retired the character to make music under his own name and focus on a reunion with the New York Dolls.
3. Paul McCartney
If you’re not a Beatles megafan, you probably didn’t know that Paul McCartney once had a very interesting alter ego. McCartney released Ram back in 1971, and he decided to revamp the album with a whole band and improved production in 1977. However, this release came from Percy Thrillington; not Paul McCartney.
Thrillington was McCartney’s alter ego that he wrote with the help of his wife at the time, Linda. He even penned advertisements in the UK under the moniker that explored the character’s backstory and current activities. He didn’t reveal Thrillington’s true identity until 1989.
4. Will Oldham
Will Oldham has made a lot of music through the years, and he’s enjoyed the use of pseudonyms for many of his releases. He’s recorded under a number of slightly-tweaked names, from Palace Brothers to Palace Music to Bonnie “Prince” Billy. The latter was created in 1999 and was inspired by the historical figure Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives
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