Musical alter egos: from Sgt. Pepper to Slim Shady to Sasha Fierce

Is that you, Beyoncé? Or is it...Sasha Fierce?!

Some musicians perform under stage names, like Pink, Bono and Slash. Some play characters right from the start, such as KISS, Alice Cooper and Slipknot. But the truly dedicated, or just truly weird, drop the guise that made them famous in the first place and “become” another person—an alter ego. The latest high-profile personality to go this route is Beyoncé, who announced that half of her new album, “I Am…Sasha Fierce,” will be more “aggressive” and “wild” than her usual material and attributed to the singer’s Sasha Fierce alter ego.

It may seem like a pointless stunt to release music through an alter ego, but Beyoncé is actually in good company. Here are some of our other favorite musical Jekyll and Hydes. – Keith N. Dusenberry, Special to Metromix