I was watching an old B movie, Untamed Youth, on YouTube the other day. Interestingly, one of the actors was named Keith Richards.
No, not that Keith Richards. The Rolling Stone would have been 13 at the time, toiling away at Dartford Technical High School for Boys (two years before getting expelled).
That got me thinking … Surely, there are other doppelnamers (yup, my own creation) out there as well.
So, let’s see what we can find … There were quite a few, mind, so I’m going to start with musicians (and probably do actors next time).
#25 – Jim Morrison
Musician – Lead singer of The Doors
Baseball player – Infielder, played 12 years with 4 teams
Worst uniforms ever?
#24 – Dennis Wilson
Musician – drummer for the Beach Boys
Other musician – British composer of TV music, including the theme song for Fawlty Towers
#23 – Chris Brown
Musician – R&B singer, beat up Rihanna
Baseball player – 1-time All-Star infielder, played for 3 teams over 6 years; worked on 18-wheelers for Haliburton in Iraq; died in a mysterious house fire
#22 – Joe Walsh
Musician – guitarist & keyboard player for the Eagles
Politician – 1-term Republican congressman from Illinois, ran for president in 2020
#21 – Michael Jackson
Musician – the “King of Pop”
Scientist – New Zealand anthropologist, currently teaching at Harvard
#20 – James Taylor / James Brown
Musicians – “Sweet Baby James” / “The Godfather of Soul”
Historical figures – Alamo casualties
#19 – Mike Love
Musician – Beach Boys singer and lyricist
Athlete – Currently on the roster for the Buffalo Bills as a defensive end
#18 – Brian Wilson
Musician – singer & songwriter for the Beach Boys, crazy person
Professional poker player – World Series of Poker bracelet winner
#17 – Brian Jones
Musician – original member of the Rolling Stones; member of the 27 club
Athlete – XFL QB, playing for 8 teams over 8 years
Including these guys
#16 – David Gilmour
Musician – singer & guitarist for Pink Floyd
Canadian businessman – founder of Fiji Water
#15 – David Byrne
Musician – songwriter & lead singer for the Talking Heads
Criminal – Irish gang member, killed at the weigh-in for a boxing match
#14 – George Harrison
Musician – lead guitarist for the Beatles
Businessman – director of marketing for Pepsi & Nintendo
#13 – Keith Richards
Musician – songwriter, singer & guitarist for the Rolling Stones
Actor – has 194 credits, mostly TV & plenty of Westerns
#12 – Paul Simon
Musician – half of Simon & Garfunkel
Politician – congressman & senator from Illinois, ran for president in 1988
With Al Franken, who mocked him on Saturday Night Live, but who would later become a senator himself
#11 – Paul Stanley
Musician – singer and guitarist for KISS (he’s the one with the star)
Composer – of the immortal “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay”
#10 – Jennifer Lopez
Musician – “pop icon” & “triple-threat entertainer [song, dance & acting]” [Wikipedia]
Meteorologist – for the Weather Channel
#9 – Adam Levine
Musician – lead vocalist of Maroon 5, known for lots of tatoos
Political appointee – deputy press secretary for George W Bush
#8 – Peter Buck
Musician – lead guitarist of REM
Restaurateur – co-founder of Subway, physicist
#7 – Glenn Frey
Musician – singer/songwriter for the Eagles
Athlete – QB & running back for the Philadelphia Eagles for 1 season
#6 – James Brown (again)
Musician – the “Godfather of Soul”
Actor – has almost 100 credits, including Going My Way, Starsky & Hutch, and the Rin Tin Tin series
#5 – Phil Collins
Musician – drummer & lead singer of Genesis
Politician – presidential candidate for the Prohibition Party in the 2020 election
#4 – Bob Marley
Musician – reggae pioneer
Comedian – set a Guinness World Record for longest continuous stand-up routine; material focuses on his home state of Maine
#3 – Steve Perry
Musician – lead singer & songwriter for Journey
Actor – pseudonym of porn star Ben Dover (which is a pseudonym for Simon James Honey)
#2 – Robert Smith
Musician – singer, songwriter & front man for The Cure
Peer – Lord Smith of Kelvin, member of the House of Lords
#1 – Tony Bennett
Musician – crooner, famous for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
Coach – basketball coach at UVA, where he won the title in 2019
The coach as a woman
One thing I did note in this effort was this might be becoming a thing of the past. There are an awful lot of singers out there these days who go with single names – Kesha, Nelly, Pink, Usher, Rihanna. And that’s not to even touch all the rap and hip-hop nicknames – Snoop Dog, 50 Cent, Dr Dre, Doja Cat …
