The Real Names of 30 Famous Pop Stars

What’s in a name? A lot, if you ask these musicians, each of whom ditched their birth names and adopted an alias before hitting the big time. (And for good reason, in some cases — Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta just doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily as “Lady Gaga” does it?) Check out the gallery and find out the real names behind pop star pseudonyms. You’ll never look at Robyn Fenty, Shawn Corey Carter or Elizabeth Grant the same way.

STEFANI JOANNE ANGELINA GERMANOTTA (a.k.a. Lady Gaga)

SHAWN COREY CARTER (a.k.a. Jay-Z)

ONIKA MARAJ (a.k.a. Nicki Minaj)

ELLA MARIJA LANI YELICH-O’CONNOR (a.k.a. Lorde)

KATHERYN ELIZABETH HUDSON (a.k.a. Katy Perry)

ROBYN RIHANNA FENTY (a.k.a. Rihanna)

MARSHALL MATHERS (a.k.a. Eminem)

ALECIA MOORE (a.k.a. Pink)

STEFAN KENDAL GORDY and SKYLER AUSTEN GORDY (a.k.a. LMFAO’s RedFoo and SkyBlu)

CURTIS JAMES JACKSON III (a.k.a. 50 Cent)

DESTINY HOPE CYRUS (a.k.a. Miley Cyrus)

TIMOTHY ZACHERY MOSLEY (a.k.a. Timbaland)

AMETHYST AMELIA KELLY (a.k.a. Iggy Azalea)

ELIZABETH WOOLRIDGE GRANT (a.k.a. Lana Del Rey)

TIM BERGLING (a.k.a. Avicii)

SONNY JOHN MOORE (a.k.a. Skrillex)

ADAM RICHARD WILES (a.k.a. Calvin Harris)

WOUTER DE BACKER (a.k.a. Gotye)

GEORGIOS KYRIACOS PANAYIOTOU (a.k.a. George Michael)

PAUL HEWSON & DAVID EVANS (a.k.a. Bono & The Edge)

REGINALD KENNETH DWIGHT (a.k.a. Elton John)

STEVLAND HARDAWAY JUDKINS (a.k.a. Stevie Wonder)

ANNA MAE BULLOCK (a.k.a. Tina Turner)

STEVEN VICTOR TALLARICO (a.k.a. Steven Tyler)

BRIAN HUGH WARNER (a.k.a. Marilyn Manson)

JAMES NEWELL OSTERBERG, JR. (a.k.a. Iggy Pop)

FARROKH BULSARA (a.k.a. Freddie Mercury)

ROBERT ALLEN ZIMMERMAN (a.k.a. Bob Dylan)