Using a pseudonym is common practice for many stars, but their backstories may surprise you. Stage Name or Real Name?
Whether we’re talking about rappers, Hollywood starlets or even authors, chances are pretty high that they may not go by what appears on their birth certificates. As Toni Morrison revealed in a recent magazine story, names don’t necessarily tell the whole truth. For that reason, The Root has looked at several celebrities whose real names may raise more than a few eyebrows.
Rick James
As a young Naval Reserve officer, James Ambrose Johnson Jr. went AWOL in 1964, fleeing to Toronto to avoid active duty. There he formed the Sailorboys (later the Motown act the Mynah Birds) with rising musicians Garth Hudson and Levon Helm and used the alias Ricky Matthews. By the time his first Motown solo single “You and I” dropped in 1978, he went simply by Rick James.
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, aka Snoop Dogg, was named after his adoptive stepfather, Cordozar Calvin Broadus Sr. And like father, like son: The 40-something multimillionaire rapper loves the Cordozar part of his birth name so much he bestowed variations of it on his two sons, Corde and Cordell, and daughter Cori.
Ginuwine
Named after Elgin Baylor, the former Los Angeles Laker great and Washington, D.C.-born basketball icon, a youngElgin Baylor Lumpkin started his music career in various bands and hip-hop groups in the late ’80s, often going by the name Tornado. By 1996, he was discovered by a Jodeci member and changed it to Ginuwine to reflect his “down-to-earth” personality.
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