Machine Gun Kelly Changes His Stage Name After Over A Decade
Machine Gun Kelly attends the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Jon Platt at The Beverly Hilton on February 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Machine Gun Kelly is no more. The “Bloody Valentine” singer, whose birth name is Colson Baker, changed his moniker after more than a decade. As of Thursday (February 29), his artist profiles on all streaming platforms and YouTube have been changed to “mgk.” On social media, his name on X (formerly known as Twitter) has switched to the initials mgk, though his @machinegunkelly handle remained the same. Meanwhile, on Instagram, his handle is the same.
Comedian duo Chad and JT petitioned to have “machine gun” from the musician’s alias as to not “glorify machine guns.” As seen in a September 2022 YouTube video, the duo asked MGK to make the switch at a concert using a large sign, prompting him to ask the audience, “What do you think?” However, separate fan footage showed the genre-hopping musician clearly blowing off their request at the time. The crowd also is heard chanting, “MGK!”
The 33-year-old rapper and rocker also shares his nickname with famed Prohibition-era gangster George Kelly Barnes. While attending the 2023 GQ Men of the Year event with his fiancée Megan Fox, MGK asked attendees to call him by a new name. “I have a question,” he told photographers on the red carpet, as seen in video circulating on social media, “instead of ‘Machine Gun,’ can you just hit me with the ‘Machine’ from now on?”
He also posted a screenshot of the interaction on X, writing alongside a talking head emoji: “‘machine.'” However, a name change isn’t the only major transformation MGK has undergone recently. Earlier this month, he revealed his new, all-blacked-out upper body tattoo and a new song about his fiance Megan Fox’s miscarriage with their baby. In the new track titled “Don’t Let Me Go,” he references his new ink and raps, “Had a breakdown and tatted my entire body except one line.” The geometrically blocked-out blackwork took 44 needles to achieve, he said on Instagram, adding that the change was for “spiritual purposes only.”
These Celebrities Don't Go By Their Real Names
In the entertainment industry, every aspect needs to be marketable. Some celebrities have really catchy names, while others have had to get their creative juices flowing to come up with a unique name to be known for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, there are some cases where there are other successful people in media who have the same name, and someone’s got to change their name to follow SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) rules. This guild that represents actors stipulates that no two members can have identical working names. An actor whose name has already been taken must choose a new name. SAG-AFTRA allows any new member to keep their legal name as their stage name, even if another member has the same stage name already, as long as they sign a waiver.
Why Use a Stage Name?
Furthermore, a middle name may be adopted in preference to changing a name to avoid confusion. In some cases, attaching a generational suffix is sufficient for guild rules. A person hoping to become successful as an entertainer who has a name identical to a name already familiar to the public (in any field of endeavor) may change their name to avoid having their name evoke the other person with the same name. When it comes to musicians spanning all genres, artists have come up with some pretty unique stage names. Some artists, like Sean Combs, use several aliases (P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Diddy, Puffy). Other reasons a performer will take a stage name is because their real name is considered unattractive, dull, hard to pronounce or spell, or even to retain anonymity. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, started releasing his music anonymously on YouTube in 2009.
See which celebrities don’t go by their real name in the entertainment industry.
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
