Prince: Due to a dispute with his former record label, Prince began releasing albums under a new "name". He changed his name to just a symbol and since there was no pronunciation for it, he became referred to as " The Artist Formally Known As Prince". Later he wisely changed his name back to Prince.
Grand Funk: Originally calling themselves Grand Funk Railroad, They dropped "Railroad" from their name after a legal dispute with an ex manager.
Chicago: The band released their first album under the name "The Chicago Transit Authority" but shortened their name to just Chicago after being sued by the actual Chicago transit authority.
Jefferson Airplane: They went from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship to just Starship, then the original members reunited and began calling themselves Jefferson Airplane Again. Why not, it wasn't being used.
Matchbox Twenty: Originally called Matchbox 20, but changed name to Matchbox Twenty because they felt there were too many bands with numbers in their names (i.e. Blink 182, Sum 41...)
John Mellencamp: Released albums under the names Johnny Cougar and John Cougar because his management felt Mellencamp would be too hard to sell. Became John Cougar Mellencamp on 1983's "Uh-Huh" and finally just John Mellencamp on 1991's "Whenever We Want".
Sean Combs: Changes his name every other week it seems; has been known as Puff Daddy, Puffy, Puff, P. Diddy, Diddy and even "Swag?"
