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4[[quoteright:350:[[Music/{{Stovokor}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stovokorlive12.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:Today is a good day to ROCK!]]
6
7->''Pink isn't well, he's stayed back at the hotel''
8->''And they sent us along as a surrogate band''
9->''We're gonna find out where you fans ''really'' stand!''
10-->-- '''"In the Flesh"''', ''Music/TheWall''
11
12The band is real, but the singer is a more or less fictional character. Same may go for the rest of the band.
13
14There are two categories of examples: "Real Life Music" for bands that exist in real life, and "other media" for bands that are a ShowWithinTheShow.
15
16Just like with wrestlers, a Kayfabe singer's real identity may be an open secret. That is, not secret at all but not polite to talk about in context. The fans are likely to be outraged if the singer goes out of character during an interview.
17
18Compare "{{Kayfabe}}" from ProfessionalWrestling. One subtrope is RobotOrSpacemanAlterEgo. Contrast AnonymousBand, where the musicians simply hide their identities, and FakeBand, where the band itself is fictional. May not always have a "ConceptAlbum", but you can sometimes expect the band's lore and backstory to be told through concept albums if they do have one.
19
20----
21!!Examples, Real Life Music
22
23* Music/AbneyPark is a group of SteamPunk {{Sky Pirate}}s.
24* Music/AliceCooper was originally the name of the band as a whole, but frontman Vincent Damon Furnier eventually turned it into a fictional, psychopathic character. Behind the scenes, Furnier is, at least in modern times, mild, straight-laced and conservative.
25* Music/TheAquabats are a ska band made up of super heroes. Their mythos is expanded upon in [[Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow their TV show]].
26* In Music/{{Blutengel}} the singers are vampires.
27* {{Death|Metal}}{{grind|Core}} band Brujeria is ostensibly made up of Mexican drug lords who always perform in masks to hide their identities from the FBI. On top of that, a large chunk of their members over the years actually are either from Mexico or of Hispanic descent. However, most of their members past and present are already well-known from other acts.
28* Music/{{Buckethead}} is the persona of Brian Patrick Carroll, who is so socially awkward that he invented the character to hide his face and distance himself from his audience. People who know him, however, say that his behavior "in character" is basically just him being himself.
29** Cornbugs was a Buckethead side project that also featured actor Creator/BillMoseley, who performed in-character as Chop Top, the deranged murderer he played in ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre2''. Possibly for copyright reasons, Bill is officially credited as Bill "Choptop" Moseley on all their recordings.
30* Members of the German band Coppelius usually play their XIX-century aristocratic personas in public.
31* The County Medical Examiners are two Music/{{Carcass}}-loving physicians joined by a much older, avant-garde physician who play DeathMetal based on what they see in their field. After years of mystery, it was implied in 2012 that the whole band was simply a side-project of musician Matt Widener (ex-Exhumed/Cretin).
32* Music/{{Devo}} has gone through a few permutations of this; it's essentially them, except with sci-fi bases, an idiot manager that doesn't understand them, a giant baby (Booji), and their...uh...leader, General Boy. They always did claim to be a corporation, which got a lot funnier in the mid-90's when they reformed as a soundtrack company. And then there's bass player Jerry Casale's side-album as Jihad Jerry, essentially Creator/StephenColbert as a Muslim blues musician.
33* Music/DirEnGrey's vocalist, Music/{{Kyo}}, presents a facade of being the personification of InsaneEqualsViolent onstage, even self-injuring for ''real'' on a level equivalent to Music/{{Mayhem}}'s Dead. In RealLife, however, he is reported to be shy, intelligent, and ''most definitely not'' suffering from extreme mental illness or violent.
34* Singer Music/EmilieAutumn seems to always be in character as Emily-with-a-Y from her book to some extent.
35* Music/{{Eminem}} has a triune of personas he uses in his music - '''Eminem''', a cocky rapper and eternal student of hip-hop who tends to act as the narrator for the other personas; '''Marshall''', a loving father and screwup with a DarkAndTroubledPast who expresses the real thoughts and emotions of the rapper; and '''Slim Shady''', a HeroicComedicSociopath AntiRoleModel SerialKiller who survived a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, will kill you for no reason, and [[MediumAwareness knows he is fictional]]. As Eminem puts it, his songs come from Marshall's mind, are written and performed by Eminem, and star Slim Shady. Unlike many of these examples, these personas tend to have a very blurry line between them, and he'll often switch between them within a song, have them argue between themselves as separate characters, or allow one persona to falsely represent himself as one of the other ones.
36** While Eminem was still an underground rapper, Slim Shady was treated as [[AlterEgoActing a more separate person]]. Em would play Slim clutching a bottle of vodka on stage, which he would constantly swig from as the show went on, and would maintain Slim's CreepyHighPitchedVoice and exaggerated Detroit projects accent while talking to the crowd between songs. He toned this down once he got famous.
37** In ''Relapse'', the concept is that Eminem has relapsed, taking up drugs again after trying to get clean, [[JekyllAndHyde transforming him into the murderous Slim Shady]]. In reality, he had been clean for a year at the time he made the album. Some songs on the album gently play with this discrepancy, particularly "Must Be The Ganja", in which Slim claims the reason he's high and murderous has to be the weed or the drink... only to eventually admit he's clean, so he has no excuse.
38* Faxed Head supposedly met as teenagers in Coalinga, California, had a BungledSuicide pact that left them [[BodyHorror deformed in various bizarre ways]], then decided to form a death metal band together. Thus they'd typically perform wearing strange masks and costumes, under stage names like Neck Head and Jigsaw Puzzle Head. In reality, their lineup included Music/MrBungle guitarist Trey Spruance and [[Creator/NeilHamburger Gregg Turkington]]. They would also sometimes open for themselves as their supposed "rival" group The Bon Larvis Band, removing the masks, dressing more like a typical bar band, and playing an OverlyLongGag-laden parody of blues-rock.
39* In a 2012 interview with Creator/OprahWinfrey, Music/FiftyCent says that his onstage "thug" persona is this. His real self, Curtis Jackson, is a family man.
40* [[Music/FrankZappa The Mothers of Invention]]'s album ''Music/CruisingWithRubenAndTheJets'' has them posing as the titular fake doo-wop band, Ruben and the Jets.
41* Swedish rock band [[Music/GhostBand Ghost]] consists of a rotating masked band and frontman Tobias Forge in costume as one of several characters, currently Papa Emeritus IV, formerly known as Cardinal Copia. The band has a fairly elaborate backstory which they continue to build upon to explain the progression from the various Papa Emeritus characters to Copia.
42* The thrash metal band Music/{{Ghoul}} perform as a group of mutant, cannibalistic ghouls from an over-the-top {{Uberwald}} land called Creepsylvania. They keep their identities a secret and always wear bags on their heads when performing live.
43* Jennifer Murphy sings as her superheroine persona, Go Girl.
44* Music/{{Gorillaz}} are a BandToon in the real world, which means that their members are a group of four cartoon characters.
45* [[Music/{{Gwar}} GWAR]] is known first and foremost for their elaborate sci-fi mythos, outrageous costumes, onstage antics and spraying their audience with buckets of fake blood.
46* ''Series/HannahMontana'' is a Disney Channel show about a girl named Miley Stewart who lives a double life as TeenIdol Hannah Montana, and Music/MileyCyrus has actually gone on tour as the Hannah Montana character.
47* Har Mar Superstar is Harold Martin Tillmann, the [[IntercourseWithYou frequently sex-obsessed]] soul-singer twin brother of indie pop singer-songwriter Sean Tillmann (aka Sean Na Na). Of course, Har Mar ''is'' Sean Tillmann, the stage name really stems from a shopping center in Minnesota called the Har Mar Mall, and he really only kept up the twin charade for a short period of his career. Tillmann continues to put out solo albums as both Sean Na Na and Har Mar Superstar, and he still takes on a somewhat more flamboyant persona when performing as the latter.
48* {{Horrorcore}} rapper/singer The Jokerr raps from the perspective of a medieval court jester imprisoned in a dungeon for twenty years with a red costume patterned after a joker playing card to match, he has recorded a large amount of songs unrelated to his persona though.
49* Japanese rock band Kishidan, who model themselves after the 80s-era "yankee" punk look complete with pompadours, is fronted by vocalist Show Ayanocozey. Meanwhile, a similar looking man in a blonde afro is the flamboyant J-pop rapper DJ OZMA, who later "retired" to produce the Japanese-American trio Yazima Beauty Salon, one of whom is the "16-year-old" Naomi Yazima. The open secret that all three are the same person was a big joke when all three were technically recording music. During a television program, Naomi asked for another musician's autograph and to have it made out to "Naomi Show Ozma". The Show Ayanocozey and DJ OZMA personas were even made to have a faux-rivalry between them, and they had a shared concert where they even performed on stage together (with DJ OZMA played by a member of the OZMA entourage who was to "inherit" the band in another publicity stunt), and at a later time DJ OZMA performed with the other two members of Yazima Beauty Salon as OZMA rather than Naomi. He kept the ruse up until he appeared on a talk show in 2013 and admitted (as Show) that he and OZMA were "the same character".
50** Yazima Beauty Salon is just Show Ayanocozey/DJ OZMA and Japanese comic duo the Tunnels Noritake Kinashi and Takaaki Ishibashi in drag, with Kinashi as the matriarch Margaret Yazima, Ayanocozey/OZMA as the eldest daughter Naomi, and the six-foot tall Ishibashi portraying the 12-year-old Strawberry.
51* Music/LadyGaga went to her little sister's graduation in [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes full Gaga regalia]]. She later said that she considers her entire life to be part of her 'character'.
52* Music/{{Lordi}} are [[PeopleInRubberSuits monsters]]... who have sued to bury images of them out of costume.
53* Masked Intruder are four ski-mask-clad criminals who formed a pop-punk band while in jail together, only differentiated from each other by the colors of their masks and shoes [[note]]in an in-character interview, it was once pointed out that, if their outfits were really meant to help them evade authorities, they'd stand out less if they just all wore black - they claimed they needed the color theming to tell ''each other'' apart[[/note]] . Lead vocalist Intruder Blue apparently got in trouble with the law due to his StalkerWithACrush tendencies, so a lot of their material consists of {{obsession song}}s being played for humor.
54* Music/{{ManoWar}} consists of really manly men, fantasy heroes who are always ready to kill anyone. With STEEL, of course.
55* Markoolio plays this on [[MultilayerFacade two levels]]. His first persona is this cool playboy, gangster, warrior, expert soccer strategist, and so on. However, this facade breaks all the time, especially since his own chorus are disloyal to him and frequently rat him out to the audience - exposing him as the total failure and SmallNameBigEgo that he really is. Of course, this "real person, under the mask" is just as fabricated as the first level.
56* IndustrialMetal artist Music/{{Mortiis}}, for a long time, was never seen without his troll mask on, with its pointed nose and big ears. In 2005 for his album ''The Grudge'' his mask took on a more artificial appearance, looking like it had been stitched and stapled to his face. After that, however, he finally removed the mask. And then brought it back a few years later due to popular demand.
57* Music/MyssKeta: The identity of the actual singer behind the sunglasses and the mask is unknown. The only known thing is that she hails from Milan, since this is a collective project meant to represent the city's nightlife and excesses among other things.
58* Country singer Music/OrvillePeck is another example of this, as he always appears in public wearing a mask.
59* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and {{Lampshaded}} by Music/PinkFloyd in ''Music/TheWall'' in "In the Flesh". Ironically, it's a BookEnd to the song "In the Flesh?" where backup or guest musicians usually take the place of Pink Floyd wearing Pink Floyd masks.
60* The band [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k9UveuX1Po Rolandz]] has developed a quite solid discography and even been on tour. Its singer, Roland, is a character from a comedy movie. The real singer is the same actor who played Roland in that movie.
61* The DeathMetal band Music/{{Portal}} (no relation to the video game) have never performed in public without their costumes, and three of the band members' real names [[AnonymousBand aren't even known to the public]] (two of them are known to be Brad Loong and Kevin Kevinson from Impetuous Ritual and Grave Upheaval though).
62* The ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' ''Colorful Live'' - 1st Link - concert has projections of the games original cast of characters and Virtual Singers (formerly called Vocaloids) performing in front of a real band.
63* Japanese VisualKei band Music/PsychoLeCemu is basically a {{Cosplay}} band that plays as if they were an anime/video game/tokusatsu FiveManBand ripped directly from the source into live-action version, as seen in their many music videos and in some of their concerts, where even they make live-action {{RPG}}.
64* Music/TheResidents are never seen in public without their trademark eyeball masks. There's a general assumption that the four "managers" that appear with them and speak on their behalf are at least partially composed of the actual members of the band.
65* The Japanese metal band Music/SeikimaII performs as a group of Akuma (demons) from the futuristic hyper-evolved dimension Makai that preach a demonic religion and aim to take over the world through their music. They were destined to disband at the end of the century (''seikimatsu'', another way to say the band's name, means "century's end", as any ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' fan knows), but they've reunited several times since, once in response to the Touhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster.
66* The Website/YouTube channel Music/SiIvaGunner has this to a certain extent. It's a wholesale impersonation of another [=YouTuber=] that uploaded GameMusic, so no credit is given and the channel is dolled up to look like it's just some guy archiving their favorite soundtracks for fun, while in reality it's a large amount of people working behind the scenes to make remixes of those songs. However, it is downplayed: every video's description [[ReadTheFreakingManual asks the viewer to "please read the channel description"]], with said description having a disclaimer in regards to this AnonymousBand aspect (though it comes just shy of mentioning that it's a BaitAndSwitch channel). Completely averted on the Bandcamp however, where all songs are credited to the correct artist. Strangely enough, this applies InUniverse too: the channel initially had a faux-AuthorAvatar character named [=SiIvaGunner=], but he was supplanted via HostileShowTakeover by The Voice. The effect of this to the channel's mannerisms? On the "bait" side of things, pretty much nothing--the "read the channel description" part was rephrased to better fit The Voice, but that's it. The Voice was later supplanted himself by Haltmann, who again acted mostly the same with only the one line being switched. Haltmann eventually {{invoked}} kayfabe by setting up an AI to act like the original [=SiIvaGunner=]. (Also, the proper artist credits on the Bandcamp are said to be unreadable corrupted data to all characters except the one FourthWallObserver.)
67* Creator/TomGreen's album ''Not The Green Tom Show'' was recorded under an alter-ego, the ill-tempered rapper MC Face. Tom Green himself is supposedly just MC Face's producer, and it's a running gag throughout the album that MC Face will include lyrical jabs towards Tom Green and his friends in songs, insult him in between-song skits, or antagonize him in staged StudioChatter. By the end of the album, Tom Green finally has enough and walks out, leaving MC Face to do the last song completely acapella.
68* Music/UnknownHinson is just the onstage persona of Stuart D. Baker, but is presented as if he's a real individual.
69* Music/UnknownP the [[PissTakeRap posh]] [[DrillMusic drill rapper]] is a character created by British comedian Munya Chawawa for a series of sketches, who happened to become popular enough for Munya to launch a comedy music career as Unknown P.
70* In Music/{{Versailles}}, the band members were vampiric immortal aristocrats from the Romantic era.
71* At the live ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' concerts, the band is real enough, but the lead "singer" is a projected image (and not really a singer at all).
72* Music/TheWhiteStripes' Jack and Meg maintained that they were brother and sister long after it was public knowledge that they were actually AmicableExes. Jack said it originally started so that people wouldn't constantly focus on their relationship over the music, and presumably they just maintained it as part of the band's identity.
73* The electro-industrial project Zombie Girl has singer Renee Cooper as the eponymous zombie, always appearing in corpse make-up and claiming to be undead in her lyrics.
74
75!!Examples, other media:
76
77[[foldercontrol]]
78
79[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
80* Since 2015 or so, this has become a veritable genre, and one of the most popular in Japan. Between hologram concerts (like Vocaloid), voice actor live events, and 2.5D stage plays, IdolSinger anime have found ways to make 2D groups feel fully real. Series include
81** ''VisualNovel/UtaNoPrinceSama'', which released a full-length anime concert film in 2022
82** ''Music/{{Tsukipro}}'', with over 30 2.5D stage productions featuring a Dance Live in each
83** ''Music/HypnosisMic'', which increased interactivity through its single releases.
84** ''Franchise/LoveLive'', one of the most successful franchises.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Comic Strips]]
88* In ''ComicStrip/{{Pondus}}'', Pondus believes that a certain rock band truly lives the creed of "Drugs, Sex & Rock'n'Roll". In one strip, the band is shown working out and eating healthy food. Suddenly their manager come in and yell at them that the journalists will be there any minute. And thus, they quickly trash themselves down to look as if they have been partying and boozing up all night. Then the scene switches to Pondus and his wife watching the television. A journalist is (or probably rather is pretending to be) surprised that the band members manage to stay healthy with this lifestyle. The singer explains this with "It's rock'n'roll, baby. It becomes a lifestyle." and Pondus tries to get his wife to accept this message as gospel.
89* Discussed in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''. Calvin's mom explains the kayfabe by stating that heavy metal death bands are just creating characters to sell records.
90--> "Calvin, the fact that these bands haven't killed themselves in ritual self-sacrifice shows that they're just in it for the money like everyone else."
91[[/folder]]
92
93[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
94* In ''Film/TropicThunder'', Alpa Chino is a rapper [[spoiler:who is overly heterosexual in his music and videos, but is secretly gay. He eventually comes out of the closet, and is seen at the Oscars where Tug Speedman wins one with his boyfriend Lance Bass.]]
95* ''Film/KISSMeetsThePhantomOfThePark'': What if Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter's stage personas of the Demon, the Starchild, the Space-Ace and the Cat-Man were real superheroes? Well, that's the premise. (The idea was taken even further in the Marvel comics starring the boys; they aren't a band at all there, just pure superheroes!)
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' used this twice. Two big scary musicians, suspected of horrible crimes.
100** One is a black "gangster" rapper suspected of the rape/murder of a white woman. However, he is actually quite naive and has no experience in real crime, his gangster persona being nothing more than a kayfabe persona. [[spoiler:The woman was one of his friends, and he ends up getting killed by a ''real'' gangster (who just happens to be white) as he's trying to help the detectives catch the real villain.]]
101** The other is a "vampire" who is afraid of getting HIV from real blood.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Webcomics]]
105* The very first story in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' had the mercenaries under contract as bodyguards for the BoyBand "New Sync Boys". It turned out the band members were all holograms controlled by a single AI, who was so disgusted by the whole thing that he ran away by stowing away in their ship's computer and later joining officially under the name 'Ennesby'. A young woman who joins the crew years later is ''very'' upset when she meets him and learns the truth, having been emotionally devastated when the publisher covered it up by claiming they all died in a shuttle accident.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Western Animation]]
109* Lead-singer Jem from ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms'' is a holographic projection protecting the identity of Jerrica, the company owner.
110* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', the band ''Binky'' is made of up {{Hologram}} musicians and synthesized sounds. Apparently an open secret, as the episode on the band has them materialize from nowhere during a live performance.
111[[/folder]]

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