History Main / TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician [[Music/{{Prince}} Prince Rogers Nelson] from recording under his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a mix of the symbols for male and female.[[note]]"O(+>" is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol. "Ƭ̵̬̊" is another approximation out there, but it's far more difficult to type out[[/note]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. His contract with that recording company expired three years later, but it wouldn't be until 2001 that he went back to being known by his given name. Once he did, it effectively made him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician Music/{{Prince}} Rogers Nelson from recording under his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a mix of the symbols for male and female. [[labelnote:O(+>]] is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol.[[/labelnote]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. Seven years later, his contract with that recording company expired and he went back to being known as simply Prince, making him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

* [[Music/Level80EliteTaurenChieftain Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain]] was called "[=TAFKAL80ETC=]" ("The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain") during the ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. During this time, they used a symbol that resembled Prince's glyph. For ''Mists of Pandaria'', they returned to their previous naming scheme (which included the maximum possible player level in WoW).

[[quoteright:252:[[Music/{{Prince}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lovesymbol2.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:252:[[LuckyCharmsTitle The one and only.]] [[note]] [[RuleOfSeven For seven years.]] [[/note]]]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

->''"As you know, the entertainer once known as Music/{{Prince}} has decided to be known only by this symbol, which combines the symbol of man and woman. I guess he's just as confused as we are."''

A type of StockShoutOut and parody of an event from the 90s.

!!Examples

* Used in the ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' strip "A Character With No Name" where Dave refuses to name his new character, and eventually ends up creating an unpronounceable symbol to designate the character. B.A. eventually tires of the whole thing and has the character smote by the gods.
-->"Will 'The Character Formerly Known as the Man With No Name' and now associated with this symbol please be advised that he has inexplicably attracted the unbridled wrath of the Gawds and has just been turned into a newt!!"
* Also used in ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'', though it might have been topical when it was printed. Galford, a member of the Quirky Miniboss Squad, after getting some augmentations, changes his name to "大死". His boss's reaction:

** Averted -- his new name, ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyfast Daishi]]'', stuck once it was actually pronounced/written in Roman characters!
* The Superbuddies - Formerly Known As [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League America]].

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* One ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' fanfic featured several Princes. One was called "The Prince Formerly Known as Artist", probably referencing the theatre adaptation mentioned below.

[[folder:Film]]

-->'''[=McBunny=]:''' Well, obviously, that feline is not Prince, you idiots!
-->'''Preston:''' He's not even a cat formerly known as Prince.

* In ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'', a slowly-melting glacier park is referred to as 'The Park Formerly Known as Glacier.'

-->'''Head Knight''': We are now... no longer The Knights Who Say Ni.
-->'''Random Knight''': Ni!
-->'''Head Knight''': Shh. We are now The Knights Who Say... Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-pi''kang''-zoom-Boing-z'nourrrwringmm.
-->'''Random Knight''': Ni!
-->'''Head Knight''':Therefore, we must give you a test.
-->'''King Arthur''':What is this test, O Knights Of - Knights Who Till Recently Said Ni?
* From ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'':
-->'''Kari''': (narrating) ...And Matt's trying to make it as a rock star! His stage name is the Digidestined Formerly Known As Matt.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' during the ''Far Far Away Idol'' bonus film, Prince Charming sings "I'm Too Sexy" which is a performance so bad the group of judges ejects him off stage leading to a remark from Simon.
-->'''Simon''': That was The Artist Formerly Known as Prince ''Charming''!

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''{{Series/Roundhouse}}''

** He used that same gag at least once on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''.
** Speaking of ''Whose Line'', Colin Mochrie used this gag as the "top story" on Weird Newscasters.
--> '''Colin:''' Rock star Prince has changed his name once again. After changing long-distance carriers, Prince, [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], will now be the artist who formerly phoned with Sprint.

* Naturally the joke was played with on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', in the Russo-Finnish movie ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E17TheSwordAndTheDragon The Sword And The Dragon]]'':
-->'''Subject''': Oh radiant prince!\\
'''Servo''': That's 'The Artist Formerly Known as Radiant Prince'.

--->(A question mark floats toward the audience at the end of the short.)\\

* ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' parodied this along with ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' in a sketch called, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin appropriately enough]], "The Artist Formerly Known as The Prince of Egypt".

-->'''Tom Bergeron:''' First he was Prince, then he was The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, then he was just The Artist. What is he known as now?\\

* ''[[Music/Level80EliteTaurenChieftain Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain]]'' was called "[=TAFKAL80ETC=]" ("The Artists Formerly Known As Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain") during the ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. During this time, they used a symbol that resembled Prince's glyph. For ''Mists of Pandaria'', they returned to their previous naming scheme (which included the maximum possible player level in WoW).
* ''CafeTacuba'' released a record called "The Object Formerly Known as Record[[note]]Original in Spanish: El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco[[/note]]".

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/NonSequitur'' has referenced "[[PrinceCharmless the Prince formerly known as Charming]]."

[[folder:Other]]
* A stand-up comic once joked that if Prince could change his name to an unpronounceable symbol, then ''he'' could change his name to a scent, so that if people wanted to talk about him they'd have to carry around perfume bottles to spray on each other.
* In a promotional spot for ''Film/GoodBurger'', Keenan and Kel talked about how they're becoming big stars and that they'd like to known as "The artists formerly known as Keenan And Kel". Kel then shows their symbol: a white card with a black circle on it. Keenan takes a look and says "It's upside down." They then try to correct it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/{{WCW}}, near the end, had The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukaea, which was former island boy Prince Iaukea now doing a parody Music/{{Prince}} gimmick. An angle that was dropped once the ''real'' Prince dropped the unpronounceable symbol shortly after the gimmick started. This led to a mock press conference to announce that "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukaea" was changing his name to "The Artist." For the record, no one really cared about Iaukea, real name Mike Haynor and no relation to Wrestling/KingCurtisIaukea, during either gimmick.
* Meanwhile, after Wrestling/{{Goldust}}'s HeelFaceTurn didn't go so well, Wrestling/{{WW|E}}F had him [[FaceHeelTurn turn back heel]], trade his black and gold for a red, black, and green outfit, and dub himself The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust.
[[/folder]]

-->The artist formerly known as Prince,
-->On stage he would posture and mince,
-->Then just for a giggle,
-->He changed his name to a squiggle,
-->And nobody's heard of him since.
* At the time when Prince was 'the Artist Formerly Known as Prince', Tony Martin and Mick Molloy did a bit on the ''MartinMolloy'' radio show about how his close friends get to call him 'Formerly'. It was later included on one of their albums.

* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', when Marzipan is dressed as Prince for Halloween:
-->'''Homestar Runner:''' Hey, the girlfriend formerly known as Marzipan. I think you missed a little bit when you were shaving. Right there, about the sideburns area.\\
'''Marzipan:''' More like [[NoAccountingForTaste the former girlfriend]] known as Marzipan.\\
'''Homestar Runner:''' Sounds like a plan!
* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries '': "[[IHaveManyNames I have had many names.]] Once I was known as Pharaoh. Then I was the artist formerly known as Pharaoh."
* An episode of ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' has the titular critic wonder why King Koopa from ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' isn't simply called "Bowser," or at least "The Artist Formerly Known as Bowser", cutting to a Koopa-fied Prince symbol.

* ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfterFairyTalesForEveryChild''

** From a certain perspective, Prince's decision to rename himself makes perfect sense: "Prince" was a trademarked identity that was actually owned by his record company of the time. By legally changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol, he was able to release material, and tour, when said record company did not approve - until their ownership of the "Prince" name lapsed and he was able to reclaim it.
** After Prince's death in 2016, some twisted individuals on the web began referring to him as "[[TooSoon The Artist Formerly Known As Alive]]. Or The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as Prince. " Others considered him as "The Artist Forever Known As Prince".
* Since UsefulNotes/{{Microsoft|Windows}} was blocked from using the name "Metro" for its Windows 8 UI system, some now call it [[http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/08/11/0051250/you-cant-bypass-the-ui-formerly-known-as-metro-on-windows-8 the UI Formerly Known As Metro]].
** [[http://www.theregister.co.uk Or]] TIFKAM, "The Interface Formerly Known As Metro".

** After Prince's death in 2016, some twisted individuals on the web began referring to him as "[[TooSoon The Artist Formerly Known As Alive]]. Or The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as Prince. "

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Close Rick Counters Of The Rick Kind", during the rundown of the unprecedented 'rick-icidal epidemic,' Rick questions the Rick known as "The scientist formally known as Rick."

--> --'''Julene Renee''', ''Series/{{Roundhouse}}''

* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' during the ''Far Far Away Idol'' bonus film, Prince Charming sings "I'm Too Sexy" which is a performance so bad the group of judges ejects him off stage leading to a remark from Shrek.
-->'''Shrek''': That was The Artist Formerly Known as Prince ''Charming''!

-->'''Shrek''': That was The Artist Formally Known as Prince ''Charming''!

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' episode "Battle of the Bands" the group is nearly separated by a series of disagreements. At one point Carl begins to speak with a British accent and tells Jimmy and Sheen to refer to him as "The Artist Formally Known as Carl".

* In ''Film/Shrek2'' during the ''Far Far Away Idol'' bonus film, Prince Charming sings "I'm Too Sexy" which is a performance so bad the group of judges ejects him off stage leading to a remark from Shrek.

** After Prince's death in 2016, some twisted individuals on the web began referring to him as "[[TooSoon The Artist Formerly Known As Alive]]."

* On the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron'' episode "Battle of the Bands" the group is nearly separated by a series of disagreements. At one point Carl begins to speak with a British accent and tells Jimmy and Sheen to refer to him as "The Artist Formally Known as Carl".

* On the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfJimmyNeutron'' episode "Battle of the Bands" the group is nearly separated by a series of disagreements. At one point Carl begins to speak with a British accent and tells Jimmy and Sheen to refer to him as "The Artist Formally Known as Carl".

* On the ''WesternAnimation/AdvbenturesOfJimmyNeutron'' episode "Battle of the Bands" the group is nearly separated by a series of disagreements. At one point Carl begins to speak with a British accent and tells Jimmy and Sheen to refer to him as "The Artist Formally Known as Carl".

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician Music/{{Prince}} Rogers Nelson from recording under his legal first name "[[OneNameOnly Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a mix of the symbols for male and female. [[labelnote:O(+>]] is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol.[[/labelnote]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. Seven years later, his contract with that recording company expired and he went back to being known as simply Prince, making him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

* The Superbuddies - Formerly Known As [[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League America]].

* ''{{Series/Roundhouse}}'' had a ''Cinderella'' parody with TAFKAP as the Prince Charming. His name was announced as holding a cardboard sign with the symbol up and the sound effect of the first electronic riff plus 'uhn' in Prince's "Kiss". They started off calling him "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince And Now Represented By This Symbol" (holds sign up with riff playing) but skipped straight to holding up the sign with the riff.

* ''Series/MADTv'' parodied this along with ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' in a sketch called, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin appropriately enough]], "The Artist Formerly Known as The Prince of Egypt".

* Wrestling/{{WCW}}, near the end, had The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukaea, which was former island boy Prince Iaukea now doing a parody Music/{{Prince}} gimmick.
** An angle that was dropped once the ''real'' Prince dropped the unpronounceable symbol shortly after the gimmick started. This led to a mock press conference to announce that "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukaea" was changing his name to "The Artist." For the record, no one really cared about Iaukea, real name Mike Haynor and no relation to Wrestling/KingCurtisIaukea, during either gimmick.

* In ''MitchBenn's Crimes Against Music'', a song about people refused entrance to the US refers to Yusuf Islam as "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens".

* Used twice by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''; one of the puppies in the ''101 Dalmatians'' parody is called "The Puppy Formerly Known as Prince", while "Lisa's Wedding" shows a list of arrested celebrities that includes "The Artist formerly known as [[http://z.about.com/d/altreligion/1/0/h/S/2/stafkap.jpg *unpronounceable symbol*]]" and "The Artist formerly known as Creator/BuddyHackett." One of the flashback episodes (possibly "Lisa's First Word") is set during a time when "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince was currently known as Prince."
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck tries to become a celebrity and changes his name to the "Duck Formerly Known as Donald."
** And Mickey ended the episode by calling himself "The Mouse Currently Known As Mickey".
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfterFairyTalesForEveryChild'', Mother Goose's decision to fly the coop leaves all the nursery rhyme characters in a muddle, and Humpty Dumpty starts referring to himself as "the egg formerly known as Dumpty."

* "The Artist Formerly Known as Spot" from ''[[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 101 Dalmatians: The Series]]''.

* The artist formerly known as "The Artist Formerly Known as Music/{{Prince}}" is obviously the TropeNamer.

* Since Creator/{{Microsoft}} was blocked from using the name "Metro" for its Windows 8 UI system, some now call it [[http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/08/11/0051250/you-cant-bypass-the-ui-formerly-known-as-metro-on-windows-8 the UI Formerly Known As Metro]].

** Speaking of ''Whose Line'', Colin Mochrie used this gag as the "top story" on Weird Newscasters, where Prince changed his name ''again'' after changing long-distance providers.
--> '''Colin:''' Therefore Prince, [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], will now be the artist who formerly phoned with Sprint.

* In ''AnInconvenientTruth'', a slowly-melting glacier park is referred to as 'The Park Formerly Known as Glacier.'

* In a promotional spot for ''GoodBurger'', Keenan and Kel talked about how they're becoming big stars and that they'd like to known as "The artists formerly known as Keenan And Kel". Kel then shows their symbol: a white card with a black circle on it. Keenan takes a look and says "It's upside down." They then try to correct it.