# Artists that shortened their name to just their first name mid-career

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 18, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668 "2019-06-18T02:48:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668/21 "2019-06-19T00:48:38Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I can’t tell if this is facetious or not, but her Wikipedia page is under just her first name and, honestly, I had almost forgotten her last names is Knowles, as she always referred to as Beyoncé. (Actually, it appears it’s Knowles-Carter now, which I did not know at all. Looks like Jay-Z’s last name is Carter.)

Sorry no malice intended. I no expert on her career I was just wondering if she recorded a couple songs as Beyoncé Knowles but they weren’t hits and she just went with Beyoncé or if she was a big star off the bat.  
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668/22 "2019-06-19T00:58:40Z")

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> [@russian\_heel](#):
>
> I like this but I guess I’m looking for artists that reached a point in their careers they thought the fans would know who they were just by their first names. Unless you still think she qualifies?

Yeah, she qualifies and is exactly what you describe there.

> [@BobBitchin](#):
>
> Slash  
> Izzy  
> Axl  
> Duff

Really? I call Axl Rose by the full name and did the rest go by longer names in the past?

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668/23 "2019-06-19T01:11:32Z")

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> [@russian\_heel](#):
>
> Sorry no malice intended. I no expert on her career I was just wondering if she recorded a couple songs as Beyoncé Knowles but they weren’t hits and she just went with Beyoncé or if she was a big star off the bat.

She was in a group called Destiny’s Child, using her full name, and I think this is how it went, when she went solo she gradually (but rapidly) became known just as Beyonce by her fans, which she rolled with and adopted, possibly unofficially.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-that-shortened-their-name-to-just-their-first-name-mid-career/835668/24 "2019-06-19T01:14:56Z")

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> [@russian\_heel](#):
>
> Sorry no malice intended.

Oh, no malice inferred! I just wasn’t sure if I was being whooshed. But, yeah, she’s pretty much one of the best examples, I think, for the subject of your thread.

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