Celebrities often choose a stage name to go by during their career, but it's not as common for them to change their name halfway through an already established career. One beloved child star is doing just that, however. While Drake Bell was known as such when he was capturing hearts as a beloved Nickelodeon child star, he's now going by the name Drake Campana. Read on to find out what led to this actor-turned-musician's name change, and for news on burgeoning child stars, Here's How Chip and Joanna Gaines' Kids Really Feel About Being on TV.
The Nickelodeon star, who rose to fame through shows like Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show, has paved his way into a music career since the early 2000s, when he was still acting. But it seems as if the star has been making a full transition to musician, as his last major acting gigs were in 2018.
He was born as Jared Drake Bell in 1986, but "Campana," which translates to "bell" in Spanish, is the last name currently featured on all of the celebrity's verified social media accounts, alongside the Mexican flag—which also may be where he lives now. In Nov. 2019, he posted a photo of a Mexican voter identification card on his Instagram which shows his name as "Drake Campana," and a Mexican address he might reside at.
And on Twitter around the same time last year, he tweeted, "Mis redes sociales ahora solo estarán en español, no más inglés." This roughly translates to, "My social networks will now only be in Spanish, no more English."
So, the former child star seems to have reinvented himself as a Spanish-speaking musician. His last English album, Ready Steady Go!, came out in 2014—but it wasn't a huge success in the U.S., peaking at 182 on the Billboard Charts. However, his song "Bull," which is on the album, was apparently a huge hit in Mexico—spending significant time on Mexican radio's Top 10, according to the album's record label Surfdog.
And the musician has been releasing Spanish music since 2018. On Spotify, he has what appears to be an acoustic Spanish performance album called Sesiones En Casa. The album features some of the artist's earlier English hits, but also some notable Spanish songs, including "Fuego Lento," "Diosa," "La Camisa Negra," and "Cielito Lindo." He even performed at the Mexican Telehit Awards in 2019, which is similar to MTV's Video Music Awards.
While it's rare, this former child star isn't the only celeb to make a name change after their careers had already begun. For more celebrities who changed their names on the later side, keep reading, and for more A-lister names you may not know about, check out these Secret Celebrity Nicknames Only Their Friends Use.
1 | Sean Combs
ShutterstockPuff Daddy? Diddy? P. Diddy? It's hard to keep track. The rapper, who was born Sean Combs in 1969, might have had the most name changes in his career. When he first broke into music on Notorious B.I.G's album Ready to Die, he was known as Puffy, according to Complex. However, he was also going by Puff Daddy at the same time. He changed to P. Diddy in the early 2000s, which was soon shortened to Diddy. But between multiple name changes since then, it seems the rapper is currently going by Diddy on his social media, at least. And for more on some of your favorites, find out which Hits Popular Musicians Hate Playing Live.
2 | Drake
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockRapper Drake started his career as an actor on Degrassi, using his real name, Aubrey Graham. But when the star pivoted to a music career in 2009, he decided to use his middle name "Drake" as a new stage name. And for more young stars all grown up, here are The Biggest Child Actors Ever, Then and Now.
3 | Katy Perry
ShutterstockThis singer actually started her music career in 2001 as a Christian music singer, going by her given name Katy Hudson. But when she signed a deal with Capitol Records in 2007, she changed her name to Katy Perry, using her mom's maiden name, according to Mic. And for more celebrity content delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
4 | Emma Stone
ShutterstockEmma Stone was actually born Emily Stone and wanted to use her real name as an actor. But according to Marie Claire, the name Emily Stone was already being used by a working actor when Stone entered the industry, so she decided to use the name Riley Stone. While working on Malcolm in the Middle, people would call Stone "Riley" and she would forget to answer, not recognizing the name as her own. The actor then realized she couldn't be Riley and changed her stage name to something more similar to her real name: Emma. And for more stars who got their start on reality television, revisit The 30 Most Successful Reality TV Personalities of the Last 30 Years.
