Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About Us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist
  • Guitar Techniques
  • Total Guitar
  • Bass Player
More
  • Take our survey to win a £300/$350 Ticketmaster gift card
  • Type beats
  • 86000+ free music samples
  • How to make an AI cover song
  • Three-chord trick

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. News

10 guitar hero stage names

By Total Guitar
published 28 August 2013

Dave just doesn't cut it sometimes

Howlin' Wolf
Bark significantly worse than bite
(Image credit: Corbis)

Howlin' Wolf

The Wolf was a barrel-chested six-footer who prowled the stages of '50s Chicago – in the words of biographer Mark Hoffman – like a “feral beast”.

Admittedly, though, that image was compromised somewhat by the revelation that Chester Arthur Burnett got his nom de plume after being terrified by bedtime stories about a wolf that gobbled up naughty children. Aw, diddums.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Captain Sensible
Everybody loves Raymond
(Image credit: Alison S. Braun/CORBIS)

Captain Sensible

Raymond Ian Burns was an ordinary boy-next- door – until he adopted milk bottle sunglasses, a crimson beret and a comedy pseudo-hero alias.

“I have to admit that Captain Sensible is a fairly daft name,” reflects the Damned guitarist. “But it has opened certain doors for me over the years.”

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Synyster Gates
Life of Brian
(Image credit: Corbis)

Synyster Gates

Brian Elwin Haner Jr ditched his clunky birthname when inspiration struck during a drunken joyride.

The AX7 guitarist supposedly leaned out of a car window and screamed: “My name is Synyster Gates – and I am awesome!” Maybe so, but we bet his mum still calls him Brian.

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
The Edge
The magnificent Dave
(Image credit: Michael Mulvey/Dallas Morning News/Corbis)

The Edge

When you’re pushing the sonic envelope, you can’t be rocking the kind of name you’d find on the badge of an MFI branch manager.

Plain old Dave Evans was shelved for the U2 man’s futuristic moniker.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
Noodles
Chopsticks not required
(Image credit: EPA/SANDER KONING)

Noodles

When early Offspring producer Thom Wilson pointed out how much time Kevin Wasserman spent pointlessly dicking about on his fretboard, the nickname stuck.

“It just came from noodling on the guitar,” recalls the badger-haired guitarist, “and I kept the name ever since...”

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Mick Mars
He's from another planet
(Image credit: Corbis)

Mick Mars

Previously, Bob Deal had touted his services in the LA classifieds as Zorky Charlemagne (“extraterrestrial guitarist available for any other aliens that want to conquer the earth...”).

Hooking up with Mötley Crüe in 1981, he reinvented himself as Mick Mars (although Tommy Lee bestowed a less flattering nickname on him – Cousin Itt).

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Joe Strummer
What's my name?
(Image credit: Denis O'Regan/CORBIS)

Joe Strummer

The punk icon was born John Graham Mellor, switched to Woody in homage to Woody Guthrie, then settled on his enduring pseudonym for The Clash.

As a watertight rhythm man – but a donkey at lead – it was both ice-cool and pretty apt.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Seasick Steve
Ferry fan
(Image credit: Corbis)

Seasick Steve

At least Steven Wold got something out of a stomach-churning Scandinavian ferry crossing.

“Man, I was sick,” Steve recalls. “I threw up from 12 to seven in the morning. I got off, and they were like, ‘It’s Seasick Steve’. It’s stuck on me like stink!”

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Head and Munky
Children of the Korn
(Image credit: Mudrats Alexandra/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis)

Head and Munky

Korn’s James Shaffer’s ability to splay his toes saw him christened Munky, while fellow axeman Brian Welch’s outsized cranium earned his own bonce- based sobriquet.

“Guys said my head looked like it was too big for my body,” the guitarist explained, “and so they started calling me Head.”

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Slash
Always hustlin'
(Image credit: Gonzales Photo/Demotix/Corbis)

Slash

Before the release of his autobiography, speculation over the origins of Saul Hudson’s stage name was rife.

Did ‘Slash’ refer to a taste for horror films, a fetish for punctuation marks – or a weak bladder? As it turns out, it was coined by the dad of a childhood friend: “He says it was because I was always in a hurry, hustling whatever it was I was hustling. He just started calling me Slash...”

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Social Links Navigation

Total Guitar is Europe's best-selling guitar magazine.

Every month we feature interviews with the biggest names and hottest new acts in guitar land, plus Guest Lessons from the stars.

Finally, our Rocked & Rated section is the place to go for reviews, round-ups and help setting up your guitars and gear.

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/totalguitar

More about guitars
Third Man Hardware x Coppersound Triplegraph Digital Octave pedal

Jack White’s Third Man Hardware and CopperSound team up for a special anniversary edition of the Triplegraph Digital Octave pedal

Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola suffers heart attack onstage – guitar maestro in stable condition and plans return to the stage in 2024

Latest
Gibson Certified Vintage

Gibson expands Certified Vintage programme, adding lifetime warranty – and is the Victory set to return?

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Best Christmas gifts for piano players 2023: the ultimate festive gift guide for pianists

By Daryl Robertson28 September 2023

Moog Music breaks its silence on rumours of layoffs at its US headquarters: “We are looking forward to getting past this painful phase with renewed energy and enthusiasm”

By Ben Rogerson28 September 2023

Bored at work? This Max for Live device will turn your spreadsheets into music

By Matt Mullen28 September 2023

IK Multimedia puts a piano on Mars (sort of), as it announces that its new Pianoverse plugin was created with the help of a “sampling robot” that has an almost human finger

By Ben Rogerson28 September 2023

AIAIAI launches 'first ever' wireless pro studio monitors (the 'first' being ultra-low latency)

By Andy Jones28 September 2023

Neural is going to bring its first Quad Cortex-compatible plugin out soon with Archetype: Plini X

By Rob Laing28 September 2023

We tested 5 of the best stem separation software tools (and the best one was free)

By Matt Mullen28 September 2023

Gaia 2: Roland revives its 2010 synth with a new hybrid wavetable and virtual analogue sound engine

By Ben Rogerson28 September 2023

The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?

By Ben Rogerson27 September 2023

Best guitar tuner apps 2023: keep in tune for free with our top picks

By Connor Godfrey27 September 2023

Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio face legal action from customers seeking compensation after all four companies were found to have engaged in price fixing in the UK

By Ben Rogerson27 September 2023

  1. DAWproject
    1
    Bitwig and PreSonus’s new open file format enables you to save projects in one DAW and open them in another, but will other developers support it?
  2. 2
    7 effects pedals that synth players need to try
  3. 3
    The missing piece for your ultimate pedalboard rig? Universal Audio announces the OX Stomp Dynamic Speaker Emulator pedal
  4. 4
    Harley Benton Fusion-T 25th review
  5. 5
    The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?
  1. hologram microcosm pedal
    1
    7 effects pedals that synth players need to try
  2. 2
    Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio face legal action from customers seeking compensation after all four companies were found to have engaged in price fixing in the UK
  3. 3
    Harley Benton Fusion-T 25th review
  4. 4
    The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?
  5. 5
    “For pianists, it's a magical feature”: StaffPad can now generate sheet music just by ‘listening’ to your acoustic piano playing, which sounds like an AI-powered tool we could get on board with

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.