Proof Machine Gun Kelly Is Changing His Stage Name

Machine Gun Kelly Covers His Upper Body With Blackout Tattoo

Machine Gun Kelly is kiss, kissing his stage name goodbye.

The “Bloody Valentine” singer, whose birth name is Colson Baker, changed his professional moniker to mgk more than a decade after his musical debut.

As of Feb. 29, his artist profiles on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube read mgk to reflect the change. Likewise, his name on X—formerly known as Twitter—was switched to the initials MGK, though his @machinegunkelly handle remained the same.

The name change comes more than a year after comedy act 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?”

Though separate fan footage showed MGK—who shares the Machine Gun Kelly nickname with famed Prohibition era gangster George Kelly Barnes—shrugging off the request at the time, the 33-year-old seemingly changed his tune last November. 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.'”

Romain Maurice/Getty Images

However, a name change isn’t the only transformation MGK has undergone in recent months. Earlier in February, the rapper revealed that he had covered up most of his tattoos with black ink, debuting the final results in a shirtless photo.

Explaining how the design—large, black geometric blocks that covered most of his arms and chest—took 44 needles to achieve, MGK wrote on Instagram Story that the change is “for spiritual purposes only.”

He later hinted at the reasoning behind the cover-up on his track “Don’t Let Me Go,” rapping, “Just like I wish they would understand me one time / I had a breakdown and tatted my entire body except one line.”

But he isn’t the only celeb to perform under a stage name. Keep reading to find out the real names of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

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Belcalis Almanzar

Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.

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Rachel Meghan Markle

Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel. 

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Eilleen Regina Edwards

Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio: “In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother’s name, because I’m named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother’s name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born.”

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Jelena Noura Hadid

Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her “gigi” as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck. 

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Mark Vincent

If you’re looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead?

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Destiny Hope Cyrus

Miley Cyrus’ bright smile is what inspired her childhood nickname, Smiley. Eventually the name was shortened to Miley and it stuck. 

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Peter Gene Hernandez

Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars.

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Stefani Germanotta

Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York.

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Daniel Sudeikis

Jason Sudeikis confirmed on Today that he was named Daniel after his father, but following some confusion, his mom started using his middle name Jason to avoid confusion. 

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Emily Stone

Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname. 

Jim Smeal/REX/Shutterstock

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon

Turns out Reese isn’t even Reese Witherspoon’s middle name. The actress chose the moniker in honor of her mother, whose maiden name is Reese.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant

Every artist has an alter ego, and Lana Del Rey just happens to be the persona of choice for the singer. 

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Christopher Edwin Breaux

In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? 

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

Elizabeth Stamatina Fey

A little known fact about 30 Rock’s Tina Fey is that she is actually named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not so subtle tribute to her birth name by naming her character Liz Lemon.

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Calvin Broadus

This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg.

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Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor

Turns out the “Royals” singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde, but with a feminine ‘e.’

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Enrique Morales

Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name.

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Amethyst Kelly

It’s hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly!

Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock

Adam Richard Wiles

Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more “racially ambiguous.”

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Jennifer Anastassakis

Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to.

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Alicia Augello Cook

Alicia Keys didn’t always have such a musical name.

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Thomas Mapother IV

Before he became arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise went by this name.

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Natalie Hershlag

Back when she was born in 1980, this was how the future bigtime actress Natalie Portman greeted the world.

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Amanda Lee Rogers

Before she became a big-time TV star and married Ellen DeGeneres, this was the name Portia de Rossi answered to.

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Reginald Dwight

Guess music superstar Elton John didn’t think his original name would be a hit with audiences.

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Nicole Camilla Escovedo

Check former Paris Hilton BFF Nicole Richie’s birth certificate and this is the name you’ll see.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Paul Hewson

All it took was a nickname from some high school friends, and U2 frontman Bono’s famous moniker was born.

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Tara Patrick

We agree. Carmen Electra is much more effective when it comes to selling a sexy Baywatch persona.

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Eric Bishop

True, Jamie Foxx just seems more fitting for an Oscar-winning Hollywood party guy.

Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images

Demetria Gene Guynes

Before she’d starred in dozens of huge Hollywood movies and married two Tinseltown A-listers, this was the name Demi Moore went by.

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