Why use an alter ego as a rock musician? So many personal, artistic, or other reasons there, and quite a few rock critics and academic scholars (yes, quite a few of those around) consider the use of alter egos in rock music as one of its cornerstones.
Among some of the reasons rock musicians and bands take on another guise, the first that comes to mind is the possibility to expand their creative reach, or to simplify things, and try something new. The other may be quite personal - you want to build a barrier between your real self and what becoming famous carries along with it.
Or, you just have different personality traits within. Another may lie in the fact that you want to make a comment on the society, music industry, or anything else that you haven’t done under your own (or band’s name.
Alter egos of rock gods that were part of making great music
Of course, there are artists that start using a different name, alter ego or moniker right from the start - one Don Van Vliet immediately started out as Captain Beefheart (using his real name only for his visual art), and one Charles Thomson started his musical career (as co-founder of the Pixies as Black Francis, only to with to Frank Black when he went solo.
Yet, in most cases, a musician (or a band) started under their own name (solo, or in a band) to use an alter ego along the way to try something else, for whatever reason, and created some great music along the way. The bellow nine certainly did that.
David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane/Thin White Duke
Of course, David Bowie is probably the rock’s best-known ego switcher, creating incredible music under his own name, or any of the (at least) three listed here, with Ziggy Stardust being his best known. All his alter-egos were not simply that - along with trying new musical concepts, Bowie created complete personas and image/theatrical propositions that stood on their own.
Neil Young as Bernard Shakey
Young’s music was so strong and specific that creating something else musically under a different name might not have worked. He actually created the Shakey persona to try his hand at film directing. The three films he made as Shakey were all music-based and distinctive - Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), and Human Highway (1982).
Paul McCartney as Percy Thrillington/The Fireman
When Paul McCartney released his Ram album in 1971, it was lambasted by quite a few critics. That might have been the reason he decided to re-record that album as a big band version (Thrillington, 1977) under the name of Percy ‘Thrills' Thrillington. He only disclosed that it was him back in 1989.
A year later, he also decided to try his hand at electronic/ambient music, collaborating with producer Youth under the alter-ego of the Fireman. Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest and Rushes were all loops, textures, and experimental soundscapes.
Prince as Jamie Starr and Camille
Well, Roger Nelson did start his rock career as Prince, but as someone who, like Bowie, felt the need to switch musical directions, was quite keen to use other alter-egos too. He did that with the music he did for himself, as well as for quite a few other artists.
He made a complete personal makeover as Camille, and although no music was officially released under this alter ego, a number of tracks he originally created under the persona, where he sped up his vocals, were included on Sign o’ the Times (1987), one of his masterpieces. At the same time, he used Jamie Starr to produce and guide the music for the soul/R&B greats, the Time.
Paul Westerberg as Grandpaboy
When the Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg decided to ditch the band (the last Replacements album was all him anyway), he started a dual solo recording career. Under his own name, he continued the musical thread he started with the latter version of the Replacements, while as Grandpaboy, he decided to come up with something a bit more raw, loud, and bluesy, if you will.
XTC as The Dukes of Stratosphear
By their English Settlement (1982) album, XTC became what some rock critics dubbed serious, sophisticated pop/rock band focused on melody. Yet when in the mid-1980s they decided to create two full-spectrum psych rock-only albums, including a temporary complete image change, they made equally brilliant music that served as a complete psychedelic retrospective, even outselling their ‘official' albums.
Todd Rundgren as Nazz / Runt / Utopia
Rundgren is another master of reinvention, never standing still musically. As Nazz, he was one of the initial creators of power pop, as Runt, he became a studio master using what was available to him to embellish his music, while under the Utopia guise, he covered the vast prog rock territory. As himself, he did all that, adding a few kitchen sinks, like his With A Twist bossa nova album from 1997.
David Johansen as Buster Poindexter
Many bands from the glam rock era were better known for their image than for their music, but the New York Dolls had it both. When the band broke apart, the band’s lead singer, David Johansen, didn’t want much to do with either the raw rock sound or the image of the band.
He decided to become a crooner, so he took on the Buster Poindexter persona as his trademark, and did quite well, until he got bored with it and went back to his own name.
Will Oldham as Bonnie “Prince” Billy
When Joseph Will Oldham started his musical career in the nineties, he started out with a series of Palace monikers - Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and simply Palace. Formally, all were bands, but were actually all Oldham using some help from other musicians.
Then, he recorded one album under his own name (Joya, 1997), to revert, more or less permanently, to the persona he is best known for, Bonnie “Prince” Billy. His quirky voice, unusual lyrics, and quirky songwriting that went everywhere, from alt country to psych rock (quite a few collaborations there) and even electronics (with Bitchin’ Bajas), remained throughout.