Not everyone ends up with a nickname, but those that do often have an interesting story behind it.

And in rock music, there’s certainly no shortage of stories to be had. For some, a moniker was bestowed upon them by a bandmate or other friend. Take Bon Scott of AC/DC for example — he was once referred to by his housemates as Road-Test Ronnie on account of his reputation for being willing to experiment with just about any drug that came through the doors.

Sometimes musicians accidentally give themselves a nickname. Once, at a concert in 1975, Robert Plant referred to himself as Golden God and the title stuck for decades after that. There’s also Bruce Springsteen, who started calling himself the Boss early in his career as a joke — there definitely was nothing corporate about his approach to his work or life in general — but somehow it caught on and he’s been called that ever since. Or in an even simpler case: Billy Joel automatically became the Piano Man himself after his own song and album title.

In some cases, the nickname has become so popular and regularly used that the person’s given name is hardly heard, like Ron McKernan of the Grateful Dead. If that name sounds unfamiliar to you it’s because he was almost exclusively referred to by his nickname, Pigpen, especially by his bandmates.

We’re having a look at 56 Rock Musician Nicknames in the below gallery.