# Fan nicknames for music performers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106 "2002-12-20T20:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/1 "2002-12-20T20:55:16Z")
I want to test a theory. The all time great musicians and singers have bynames bestowed upon them by fans. For instance. Frank Sinatra “Old Blue Eyes”, “The Chairman(of the Board)” Elvis Presley = “The King” Jerry Lee Lewis = “The Killer” The Beatles = “The Fab Four” Eric Clapton = “Slowhand” Bruce Springsteen = “The Boss” I am reasonably sure those names were given by fans, and not just invented by some A&R type. Well, I suspect “The King” was originally put forth by the ‘Colonel’, but amongst Elvis fans and later the world at large, it stuck. As a counter example, I know no one who calls Michael Jackson the “King of Pop”, in spite of his public efforts to be named so. Does any other performer have this distinction? Surely a few other bands were big enough to inspire something like this. I am not refering to nicknames that probably were originated by the performer himself, or are the nicknames the performer actually goes by on record (such as “Eminem” or “Prince”). Also I am not sure if something like ‘J-Lo’ would count since a contraction of her full name. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/2 "2002-12-20T21:05:00Z")
Michael Jackson = “Wacko Jacko” (in England, any way) Mel Torme = “The Velvet Fog” ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/3 "2002-12-20T21:06:54Z")
Billy Joel: The Piano Man ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/4 "2002-12-20T21:30:56Z")
Well, most of the great jazz musicians had nicknames. But they were bestowed on them by other musicians, not necessarily by fans. Lester Young called Billie Holliday “Lady Day,” for example, and she called him “Prez.” Everyone else picked up on it. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/5 "2002-12-20T21:56:41Z")
**Aerosmith** ’s Tyler and Perry: The Toxic Twins ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/6 "2002-12-20T21:57:30Z")
Johnny Cash is “The Man In Black.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/7 "2002-12-20T23:23:01Z")
I think some of the names you mentioned (e.g., “The Fab Four,” “Wacko Jacko”) were bestowed upon them by their publicists or the press rather than fans. The Rolling Stones – “The World’s Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band.” ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/8 "2002-12-21T01:19:14Z")
George Jones is the Possum and No-Show Jones. I’m fairly sure No-Show was fan-bestowed, not sure about Possum. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/9 "2002-12-21T02:57:51Z")
Where did “Bocephus” for Hank Williams, Jr. come from? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/10 "2002-12-21T05:08:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Where did “Bocephus” for Hank Williams, Jr. come from? \*\* IIRC, that was the nickname that Hank Sr. had for him when he was a baby. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/11 "2002-12-21T12:27:34Z")
The Jebs, the Spoon and the Chair. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/12 "2002-12-23T19:27:49Z")
Got no idea why, but I’ve seen multiple people on bulletin boards call the lead singer of Bad Company (Paul Rodgers) Slinky. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-nicknames-for-music-performers/144106/13 "2002-12-23T19:39:30Z")
Louis Armstrong - Satchmo Don’t know the origin, though.