In 1993, the musician Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol as part of a Take That to Warner Bros. legally preventing him from recording under the name "Prince", which is his legal given name. The phrase "the artist formerly known as Prince" was coined by a public that had no idea what else to call him. Seven years later, his contract with that recording company expired and he went back to being known as simply Prince, making him the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince, if you're being technical. Not to be confused with Renamed Tropes.