Why Do Artists Change Their Names?

Sometimes an artist changes their name even after people already know them.

Why start over? Sometimes the old name no longer represents the music.

Sometimes there are legal issues, sometimes they want to separate themselves from an earlier part of their career and sometimes the original name simply doesn't work anymore.

A name can become a brand, changing it can be risky because the audience has to learn who you are again but artists also change and sometimes the name needs to change with them.