# Is there anyone popular whose real ID isn't known? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565 "2010-04-18T22:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/21 "2010-04-19T04:05:18Z")
Did we ever find out who sang Milli-Vanilli? And yes, they WERE popular, and you liked ‘em too, quit lyin’! ! ! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/22 "2010-04-19T04:15:45Z")
Yes, it’s well known who did the singing for Milli Vanilli: > **[Milli Vanilli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli)** > > Milli Vanilli was a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, All or Nothing in Europe, reconfigured as Girl You Know It's True in the United States, achieved international success and brought them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990. > They became one of the most popular pop acts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with millions of records sold. However, their success turned... ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/23 "2010-04-19T05:10:09Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > There is a guitar player named Buckethead (he plays with a KFC bucket over his head, with eye slits cut out of it) who is active in the jamband and heavy metal scenes (two musical genres that usually dont overlap much) who’s real identity is in question. > > At one point he was supposedly Trey Anastasio’s (the guitarist of Phish) brother or even his alter-ego, (depending on who you talked to and how high they were) but I think that at one point they actually jammed onstage together at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, so that particular rumor faded away… > > I don’t know if anyone has conclusively claimed to know what exactly the story is with this guy, but by only playing live with his face covered, he has garnered more attention that his mediocre (IMHO) music would otherwise merit. So Kurt Loder is just [making stuff up](http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1458813/20021121/guns_n_roses.jhtml)? His name is Brian Carroll. He does interviews with the media out of character. No real mystery at all. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/24 "2010-04-19T07:13:22Z")
[This guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Adams) seems pretty elusive. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/25 "2010-04-19T09:21:13Z")
The identity of [Thomas Pynchon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon) has often been discussed. I don’t know whether the debate has settled or not. Nonetheless almost nothing is known about the man. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/26 "2010-04-19T12:19:20Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I thought it was common knowledge that there are, in fact, several “Stigs” (or rather, drivers who portray The Stig)? Apart from where there are clearly other drivers (e.g. “American Stig”), whether there are many people playing the part of the Stig is just one theory. Whether true or not, it still fits the OP. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/27 "2010-04-19T12:34:52Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > The identity of [Thomas Pynchon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon) has often been discussed. I don’t know whether the debate has settled or not. Nonetheless almost nothing is known about the man. It’s pretty well settled that there is a Thomas Pynchon, and his early life had been documented (i.e., high school, college, that he worked at Boeing for a time, etc.). However, very little is known about him since he became a full-time writer. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/28 "2010-04-19T13:40:14Z")
Mark Felt is a really good example. He managed to be anonymous for decades with a great deal of interest in his real ID. The Stig is known. I’ve even thought of having a t-shirt made with the Stig helmet and the words, “I am Ben Collins.” Wiki spends a paragraph on the TISM page detailing who the members really are. B. Traven is slightly in doubt, but it seems there is at least a strong possibility that his origin has been discovered. The Zodiac killer is an excellent example. Jandek I just don’t understand. His checks come back endorsed with the same normal name every time, and his record label has the same phone number as Sterling Smith Corporation, which uses the same name. I’m talking about people who are really, really, actually unknown to people they don’t associate with. There is also the subset of people who are famous for one moment, and either might not even know they’re “famous”, like Katrina Beer Guy, or haven’t had to maintain a public persona after the fact, like Tank Guy. The ones like Banksy, etc. are more interesting. Are there more examples of those? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/29 "2010-04-19T13:42:55Z")
I dunno if this counts… but there have been questions raised for the past couple centuries about the identity of the guy who wrote Shakespeare’s plays. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/30 "2010-04-19T13:53:50Z")
Jockey [Robyn Smith-Astaire](http://theraceisnottotheswift.blogspot.com/2008/11/robyn-smith-astaire-flying-under-radar.html), Fred’s widow ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/31 "2010-04-19T14:16:11Z")
Here Come the Mummies, a funk band from Nashville that dresses up in makeup and white bandages to hide their identities. From what I can recall, they’re a bunch of guys who wanted to play together but couldn’t do so officially because they all belong to different labels. Supposedly some of them (and the lineup changes pretty frequently due to everyone’s official obligations to other bands) are Grammy winners. A buddy of mine here is a sound technician/videographer who has worked with them a couple of times and he says they guard their identities pretty closely when they arrive at their venue. They have some really great videos on Youtube of their performances on the Bob & Tom show, I highly recommend them. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/32 "2010-04-19T14:30:49Z")
There’s a Canadian musician called “Nash the Slash” whose face is always wrapped up like “The Invisible Man”. I don’t think he’s been identified yet. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565/33 "2010-04-19T15:38:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Jockey [Robyn Smith-Astaire](http://theraceisnottotheswift.blogspot.com/2008/11/robyn-smith-astaire-flying-under-radar.html), Fred’s widow Huh? She was [pretty well known](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1018926/index.htm) in her own right as a jockey: top US jockey (even called the best female jockey in the world), the first woman jockey to win a stakes race, appearing on the cover of _Sports Illustrated_, etc. She retired when she married Astaire, but was a celebrity in the world of horse racing at that point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-popular-whose-real-id-isnt-known/536565.md?page=1)