Being a musician is more than just creating music. To be a truly successful artist, you have to think about every aspect of your persona. From stage costumes to stage names, many artists have opted to be deeply imaginative when it comes to presenting themselves. Take the four timeless artists and their fake personas below for example.
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Lady Gaga
Few musicians are more worthy of the “artist” descriptor than Lady Gaga. She has never been one to shy away from taking a risk, putting her albums on a wide spectrum of musicality. Moreover, the way she chooses to present herself on stage is on a wide spectrum. Take the performance below for example…Gaga dons a suit and calls herself Jo Calderone.
This wasn’t purely for entertainment value. No, Gaga used her new, manly appearance to shed light on the nasty behavior of some men in the industry. She spewed out a few comments that likely made the audience feel a tad bit uncomfortable. The genius of it all? They were modeled after things she heard her male counterparts saying. If they can say it, why can’t Gaga? This is the question posed by the provocative performance below.
It’s been a long time since I came around
Been a long time, but I’m back in town
This time I’m not leaving without you
You taste like whiskey when you kiss me, oh
I’d give anything again to be your baby doll
This time I’m not leaving without you
Eminem
Speaking of provocative, it doesn’t get much more so than Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady.” The rapper has never been one to bite his tongue, but that affinity is rampant here. From berating fellow public figures to commenting on the sexualization of our culture, few artists have said as much as Eminem does in this track. While everything he said was under the banner of “Slim Shady,” Eminem wasn’t so much hiding behind that moniker but reveling in his “bad” reputation.
May I have your attention, please?
May I have your attention, please?
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
We’re gonna have a problem here
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney dreamed up The Fireman in order to bolster his creativity in the ’00s. Collaborating with producer Youth, McCartney leaned into a more electronic sound than his myriad careers had allotted him. McCartney has been involved in more projects than many of his peers combined, but this is perhaps his most off-the-wall.
Like the sun playing in the morning
Feel the quiet, feel the thunder
Oh, every ladder leads to heaven
Colored pencil draw the picture
David Bowie
Perhaps one of the most well-known musical personas is David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. He fashioned an entire album around this fictitious rock-god/alien. Largely, this name has become synyonmous with Bowie and his efforts. At any rate, it sums up his penchant for the weird and outlandish succinctly.
Now Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly
And the Spiders From Mars
He played it left hand, but made it too far
Became the special man, then we were Ziggy’s band
(Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns)
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