Doppelnamers – Music Edition

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 …