12 Famous Artists Who Published Their Works Pseudonymously

For many artists, recognition is one of the most important rewards they can receive. However, on some occasions, whether because of their gender, to protect their privacy, or simply to differentiate another facet of their work, some are forced to use a different name than the one everyone knows.

O awesome.club wants to share with you 12 stories about how pseudonyms are a very important part of the creative stage of some artists.

After the success of the Harry Potter saga, J.K. Rowling found herself in search of a new project. She has always enjoyed crime fiction as a reader and was ready to embark on a new adventure of working within this genre. She chose the name Robert Galbraith so that her work would not be judged against the precedent of her success with Harry Potter, but would have a story of its own that readers would recognize as an independent work. The Cuckoo’s Call (2013), Vocation to Evil (2015) and Lethal White (2018) are some of the titles that the Scottish writer has published in the genre and, today, she continues to use the pseudonym.

Before the publication of Fury, in 1977, Stephen King had to choose a pseudonym to sign it. Then, looking at his desk, he saw a novel by Richard Stark (which, in turn, is a pseudonym) while listening to a record of Bachman-Turner Overdrive🇧🇷 He quickly made a combination between the two names, creating Richard Bachman. The reason for using a pseudonym was that at that time, publishing one book a year was considered to be more than enough for readers of the same author, and he wanted to release more novels in less time.

In 1856, Charles published his first work, a poem called solitude, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. This one was created from the Latinization and inversion of his real name with his first surname, resulting in Ludovicus Carolus. Finally, he switched to the English language and came to Lewis Carroll. He is the author of the famous fantasy novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandand, in addition to literature, dedicated his life to the study of mathematics and photography.

Mary Ann Evans was a British writer of novels such as Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe🇧🇷 Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life and The Mill by the River🇧🇷 She didn’t want to be considered a simple romantic writer because she is a woman, but that her works be taken seriously and that they speak for themselves, regardless of the author’s gender. Furthermore, she was in a relationship with journalist George H. Lewes, who had been married before, and this fact could have somehow affected her career.

The Brontë sisters, along with their brother Patrick, wrote with such passion and energy that their works did not go unnoticed. However, it was not very well regarded for a pastor’s daughters to develop any intellectual activity, which was something exclusive to men. That’s how they decided to adopt pseudonyms. Years later, after the death of all her siblings, Charlotte continued writing and revealed the true identity of the authors of works such as Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall🇧🇷

In 1976, singer Kiki Dee’s career was not at its best. It was then that pianist and singer Elton John decided to make a song together with his inseparable friend, Bernie Taupin, and record it as a duet with her. Thus was born one of the biggest successes in their careers, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart🇧🇷 Elton and Bernie decided to sign the songwriting as Ann Orson and Carte Blanche, respectively, although no official source has revealed the artists’ real reason for changing their names on this song.

Harry, a former member of the band One Directionwas discovered when, at an Alex & Sierra concert, it was mentioned that the song I Love You was co-written with a friend named Mick Greenberg. At that time, fans became suspicious, as some of the lyrics could be seen as references to Taylor Swift, who had been the singer-songwriter’s partner. It was finally discovered that this and more songs are registered under her real name.

Scottish producer Calvin Harris composed a song that was recorded by Rihanna in 2016, This is What You Came For🇧🇷 This release, which has had both good and bad reviews, was written by Calvin and Nils Sjöberg. However, the fans were very surprised to discover that this composition with influences from Casa, Lar was actually co-written with Taylor Swift, who performed under another name to protect the privacy of her relationship with the producer. Furthermore, she participated in the production of the song.

Peter and Gordon was an English duet from the 1970s, which achieved international fame at the beginning of the decade thanks to its single A World Without Love, song written by Paul McCartney on the Lennon-McCartney label. Two years later, writing womanPaul decided to record it under the pseudonym Bernard E. Webb to make sure that the success the song would achieve would be due to its quality, and not thanks to the famous label.

Prince was not just a talented artist, he was also multidisciplinary, and his career had distinct facets in which he used different names. Behind bands like vanity 6 was producer Jamie Starr. Alexander Nevermind was one of his best-known aliases, used for songs he wrote for bands outside of Minneapolis such as Sheena Eastonfor whom he composed Sugar Walls. On the other hand, Joey Coco was used for country songs that Prince wrote for stars like Kenny Rogers.

In 1972, Freddie Mercury had two major side projects. While on the verge of debuting with Queen, he worked under the direction of Robin Geoffrey Cable on a separate musical project for which he decided to adopt the name Larry Lurex in order to avoid confusion with the band he had previously formed. The pseudonym was a pun on Gary Glitter’s name and a type of fabric.

If you had to use a pseudonym, which one would you choose? Do you know more artists who have used other names to promote their work? Tell us in the comments.