Idiosyncratic appeal of stars’ unusual names tickles viewers’ frisky fancy

The Weeknd

Star performer The Weeknd’s romantic dalliances with Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez have been so well-published that he’s become the show biz galaxy’s stellar hunk du jour.

The avid attention he’s been getting has also underscored the idiosyncratic appeal of his unusual performing monicker. How in the world did he come up with that wicky-wacky name?

It turns out that Abel Makkonen Tesfaye got it from the fact that his new group left home “one weekend” to try their luck in show biz, and he liked the phrase so much that, when he was asked by a prospective producer for his group’s name, he opted to go the “enigmatic” route and came up with “The Weeknd.”

Actually, at the start, it had the usual “The Weekend” spelling, but they shortened it, due to copyright issues (there was already a Canadian band with that performing monicker).

In any case, the new star rapper’s success has reminded music and rap buffs that there are many performers out there who have similarly opted to go the catchily unusual route and have thus changed their boringly ordinary names to tickle fans’ frisky fancy.

Take Prince Rogers Nelson, who savvily abridged his performing name to the more forthrightly “royalized” Prince.

The plot thickened even more when, in 1993, he got into a contractual dispute with Warner Bros. and changed his stage name to an unpronounceable “love symbol”—and thus was referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.” (Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when, in 2000, he began referring to himself as “Prince” again!)

For his part, John Combs has attained multihyphenated fame and fortune as a rapper, singer, actor, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur and all-around “brand name,” who’s gone by a variety of names in the course of his now decades-long career.

If memory serves, he’s been sequentially known as Puff Daddy, Puffy, Puff, P. Diddy and Diddy. Unlike many rap artists who stick to performing, he’s expanded his “brand name” status to include successful forays into music producing, fashion, fragrances, restaurants, liquors, TV-film production, beverages for athletes—and a veritable “umbrella” portfolio of other business ventures!

Most admirably of all, he’s become a philanthropist who’s helped fund educational initiatives, aid for disaster victims, etc.

Other artists with “ear-catching” performing monickers include Ludacris, Flo Rida, 50 Cent, The Notorious B.I.G., Timbaland, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Tyga, Ghostface Killah, Waka Flocka Flame, Macklemore, 2Pac Shakur, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, DMX, Busta Rhymes, Wiz Khalifa, Ice T, 2 Chainz, Lil’ Kim, Twista, The Game, Scarface, Da Brat, Slick Rick, Andre 3000, Jay-Z, Fatboy Slim, Joey Badass, Earl Sweatshirt, Lil Dicky, Young Thug—and then some!