Proof Machine Gun Kelly Is Changing His Stage Name After Over a Decade

Yes, Machine Gun Kelly has changed his stage name. Three months after asked photographers to call him "Machine," the singer—born Colson Baker—debuted a new moniker.

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.'"

 

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.

The brothers all changed their name name from Mignogna to Lawrence, Joey's middle name, for their stage names. Joey was the first to do so after a talent agent criticized their last name and made the suggestion when he was trying to build his entertainment career.

Kat Dennings adopted a stage name at age 9, years before she made her official onstage acting debut on a 2000 episode of Sex and the City.

The 2 Broke Girls alum told Kylie Kelce on the March 13, 2025 episode of her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she didn't think her real name name should "be displayed on a poster."

The actress drew inspiration for her stage name from Christina Ricci's character Kat in the film Casper as well as the surname of Janine Denni, the French wife of late The Black Cauldron author Lloyd Alexander, a writer she said was her mother's best friend.

For more than three decades, Cher was made to believe that her legal first name was Cherilyn. It wasn't until the late '70s, when she obtained her birth certificate in order to change her full name to just Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered as "Cheryl."

In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the pop icon recalled her mom Georgia Holt's reaction to this discovery.

She said her mother, who gave birth to her at age 19, responded, "Let me look at that!" and then, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break."

The outlaw country star adopt Shaboozey as his nickname and later used it as his official alias as a music artist after his Virginia high school misspelled his surname that way.

Congratulations to Post Malone, who incorporated his surname into his stage name. However, the rapper does prefer his close friends to call him by his real name.

During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him as "Austin" when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet "Fortnight."

Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry—inspired by her mom's maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe. 

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.

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

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."

The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona—Chappell Roan—has always been a “drag project,” allowing her to set boundaries and separate her personal life from the industry.

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. 

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

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

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.

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

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. 

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.'

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

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

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."

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

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

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

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

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