The best secrets in music aren't about who is behind the mask—they're about who is using a different name to break every rule they set for themselves.
How else can you explain why the world's biggest pop star would reinvent herself as Jo Calderone—a chain-smoking, male mechanic from Sicily—to star in her own music video and perform at the MTV VMAs? This bizarre 2011 gender-swap proved that even global superstars yearn to shed their image.
From pop titans trying out metal to country legends embracing alt-rock, music history is littered with alter-egos, from Aladdin Sane to The Cranes, being the name The Cure would use at times to perform secret shows.
We lift the veil on 15 artists who performed, recorded, and sometimes offended, all while hiding behind a different name - and in some cases, leading to rumours who they “really” were...
5. Goat Punishment
This is a classic "local gig" alias. Goat Punishment was the name used by the arena-filling band Weezer when they wanted to play small, intimate clubs without the crushing expectation of performing their hits. As Goat Punishment, they would primarily play covers of artists like Nirvana, Oasis, and others, satisfying the band's desire to simply play raw music without the pressures of their own fame. It did lead to rumours akin to "Rivers is Kurt" though... | Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images)
6. Dr. Octagon
This persona is a foundational example of abstract and conceptual hip-hop. The highly experimental rapper Kool Keith (of Ultramagnetic MCs) created the alias Dr. Octagon, a time-travelling, rhyming gynecologist and surgeon from the planet Jupiter. The 1996 album, Dr. Octagonecologyst, was released under this name and is considered a landmark of underground hip-hop, allowing Keith to explore wildly psychedelic, surreal, and conceptual themes completely removed from his prior work. | John Horsley/Avalon/Getty Images
7. Cokie The Clown
A highly controversial Fat Mike persona: as Cokie, passed out tequila shots to around 40 unsuspecting audience members in the front row from a bottle of Patrón tequila. After playing his set of dark songs, he showed a video on a screen behind him. The video showed Fat Mike in an alleyway, urinating into that exact bottle of Patrón before bringing it onto the stage. Fat Mike later explained his aim was "to do the exact opposite of what everyone expected" and be "brutally honest and sincere," seeing it as a piece of performance art. | Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
8. Chris Gaines
This persona remains one of the most bizarre and highly publicised career moves in music history. Chris Gaines was the fictional, brooding alt-rock star created by country titan Garth Brooks to promote a movie that was never made. Brooks committed fully, releasing the 1999 album In The Life of Chris Gaines—complete with a soul patch and jet-black wig—and performing as Gaines in an attempt to launch the character into global rock stardom. | Provided