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Musical Artists Known by One Name

Can you guess the mononymous singers and rappers who recorded these songs?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 20, 2024
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First submittedJanuary 25, 2011
Times taken118,540
Average score65.0%
Rating3.93
5:00
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Song(s)
Artist
Like a Virgin | Vogue
Madonna
The Real Slim Shady | Rap God
Eminem
Hotline Bling | God's Plan
Drake
Umbrella | We Found Love
Rihanna
Cheap Thrills | Titanium
Sia
Hello | Easy on Me
Adele
If I Could Turn Back Time | Believe
Cher
Purple Rain | Raspberry Beret
Prince
Hips Don't Lie | Chantaje
Shakira
Yeah! | My Boo
Usher
Song(s)
Artist
If I Were a Boy | Irreplaceable
Beyoncé
Dusk Till Dawn | Pillowtalk
Zayn
Royals
Lorde
Kiss from a Rose
Seal
So What | Just Give Me a Reason
P!nk
Truth Hurts | Juice
Lizzo
London Bridge | Big Girls Don't Cry
Fergie
It Wasn't Me | Angel
Shaggy
Loser | Devil's Haircut
Beck
Young Dumb & Broke | Better
Khalid
68 Comments
+3
Level 20
Jan 20, 2014
wow people saying they have never heard of these songs where have they been they are all awesome songs
+6
Level 64
Mar 3, 2014
it depends on the type of music you listen to, i do not consider any of these songs much past the 80s songs to be awesome. not everyone listens to hip-hip/pop/rap/easy listening.
+5
Level 41
Sep 23, 2017
im into rock and heavy music and I got all but 3 of them
+10
Level 71
Jan 21, 2022
That's discounting 30 - 40 years of music. You should make more of an effort to find music you might enjoy from the more modern era. Modern music is not exemplified by pop music. And that's true of any era in music. Abba wasn't the be-all-end-all of music of their time. No one would claim that. There's plenty of really excellent musicians out there if you look for them, no matter what genres you enjoy.
+1
Level 73
Mar 30, 2025
Why should they? Aren't they allowed to listen to the music they (already) like? Why forcing them to find stuff.

Are you a bad person if you don't like stuff from a certain decade? There is no reason to HAVE to find songs from a certain decade. That effort could be better spend on other things. (things that could improve their own happiness or that of others, clearly they already like the songs they listen to and it is not harming anyone else)

+1
Level 45
Jun 6, 2020
We have been listening to real music from the 50's and 60's. By the way, I did not see Dion's name.
+2
Level 95
Mar 3, 2014
I expected Bono to be on this list. Ah well
+2
Level 82
May 30, 2014
Has he ever put anything out as a solo artist?
+2
Level 88
Jun 12, 2014
I think his name is Bono Vox technically.
+3
Level 68
Sep 15, 2015
Well, it's *technically* Paul Hewson.
+1
Level 88
Apr 18, 2016
Touche
+1
Level 91
Apr 15, 2019
And technically most of these people use some form of last name sometimes. But they almost exclusively go by one.
+2
Level 75
Jun 4, 2014
"What It's Like" - Everlast
+2
Level 73
Jun 17, 2019
Is that a musician or a band? the number of bands with just one name are numerous
+3
Level 87
Oct 20, 2024
Everlast is a solo artist, although he (real name: Erik Francis Schrody) was once the front man for the hip hop group House of Pain.
+1
Level 73
Mar 30, 2025
Ok, good to know :) I had vaguely heard of the name so I didn't know for sure, if I had to guess to I would have assumed it was ta band name
+1
Level 42
Jun 23, 2019
Who
+5
Level 75
Jan 14, 2015
Kesha
+1
Level 51
Feb 1, 2016
gotye?
+2
Level 42
Jun 23, 2019
One hit wonder
+2
Level 44
Feb 2, 2016
I'm surprised how many people thought this was difficult. I'm not even a fan of most of the songs here but I knew them all straight away.
+2
Level 86
Feb 8, 2016
I was thinking Aqua for "If I Could Turn Back Time".
+1
Level 68
Jun 16, 2016
Me too! I couldn't get it out of my head, even though I know the Cher song as well.
+1
Level 58
Nov 4, 2016
Sorry. Teenager in the 60s. Don't listen to current music altho I've heard of a lot of these songs. I should have just thrown out more one-names and hoped for the best. Still, I got 11 right.
+2
Level 55
Jun 30, 2017
A one name musical acts quiz with no 'Elvis'?
+2
Level 50
Aug 30, 2017
But he didn't just go by Elvis.
+1
Level 21
Aug 30, 2017
isn't it pink floyd?
+4
Level 76
Aug 12, 2020
Isn't what Pink Floyd?
+8
Level 85
Oct 21, 2024
P!nk ≠ Pink Floyd
+1
Level 45
Aug 8, 2018
left out Dion, Fabian, Keith, to name a few.
+5
Level 42
Jun 23, 2019
Who
+2
Level 43
Sep 25, 2018
What about "Zayn"? I know a lot of people know his last name but as a musical artist he goes by just Zayn now
+1
Level ∞
Oct 20, 2024
Added Zayn.
+6
Level 90
Nov 7, 2018
There are literally hundreds that could qualify but there are some notable omissions...Beyonce, Lulu, Bjork, Aaliyah, Kesha, Bono, Dion, Enya, Liberace, Gotye, Yanni, Vangelis, etc etc.
+1
Level 71
Dec 27, 2018
Moby, Cartola, K'naan, Poe, etc

List of one-word stage names

+1
Level 82
Apr 17, 2020
Melanie
+1
Level 65
Dec 27, 2018
Meatloaf!
+1
Level 75
Dec 27, 2018
Except that it's Meat Loaf.
+1
Level 79
Dec 27, 2018
I was hoping to see him on here as well.
+12
Level 73
Dec 27, 2018
Cue the "this music is crap" comments. Just because something isn't your cup of tea, doesn't make it bad.
+4
Level 85
Aug 11, 2019
Doesn't make it good either
+5
Level 75
Aug 12, 2020
Doesn't make it anything, if you don't like it, that's fine. If you like it, that's fine too
+1
Level 68
Oct 21, 2024
In this case it means exactly that.
+4
Level 77
Jan 13, 2019
I can't believe more people didn't get Loser by Beck. I was RAISED on that song.
+3
Level 42
Jun 23, 2019
Soy un perdedor
+2
Level 91
Apr 15, 2019
Who the hell is Sia?
+1
Level 74
Sep 5, 2019
Got 12, not too bad. Didn't realize So What was that old, wow. I remember listening to it all the time in 1st grade.
+1
Level 74
Jan 14, 2020
13.
+1
Level 52
Feb 11, 2020
Slash?
+1
Level 82
Apr 17, 2020
Lulu.......Melanie.......to name a couple from another generation.
+1
Level 57
Nov 3, 2020
Not many of these people are musicians,most just sing.
+3
Level 60
Oct 20, 2024
But singing is producing music???
+1
Level 72
Oct 21, 2024
quite a few also write their own music and lyrics
+3
Level 67
Oct 20, 2024
A list like this absolutely needs Björk
+3
Level 76
Oct 21, 2024
Wow, Khalid, Lizzo, Beck, but no Sting??? ;-)
+1
Level ∞
Oct 21, 2024
Sting did his best work with the Police. His solo career was kinda meh.
+2
Level 54
Oct 21, 2024
so why include beyonce?
+3
Level 67
Nov 7, 2024
Because her solo output is way more notable than her group output. Sting's is the opposite.
+1
Level 80
Nov 15, 2024
I object, but hey, it's your quiz.
+2
Level 80
Oct 21, 2024
Donovan would be great for a sequel. Amazing artist.
+1
Level 90
Oct 25, 2024
Agreed! I also think that Bjork, Aaliyah, Kesha, Moby, Enya, and Yanni would be good additions, as others have mentioned.
+5
Level 78
Oct 21, 2024
Way too many good one-name artists to include Zayn Malik. He's still very much known by both names. He may be performing as "Zayn" but of all the ones on this updated list, he's the one that sticks out like a sore thumb.
+2
Level 52
Oct 22, 2024
Yeah, I'd say Zayn is probably better known for his time in One Direction despite currently being the second most popular member of the group.

Also R.I.P Liam Payne

+1
Level 72
Nov 7, 2024
Why does Lorde only get one song?
+3
Level 70
Nov 7, 2024
bjork, sting, donovan, dion, moby, bono, slash, flea, santana, taco, meatloaf, buckethead, jewel, fabian, morrissey, etc etc
+2
Level 41
Nov 8, 2024
Beyonce (Knowles) is not really a one-name artist. That's just her first name... Same for Adele (Adkins). Like that, you could also include Britney or Kylie.
+1
Level 58
Feb 5, 2025
Spotify seems to side with the quizmaker.
+1
Level 71
Nov 8, 2024
I should have gotten Beck... i knew that one