The 1970s hosted a number of still-famous names in country music. Conway Twitty borrowed his first and last names from Conway, Ark., and Twitty, Texas. Before that, he was known as Harold Lloyd Jenkins. Still identified with the "Rocky Mountain High" of Colorado, John Denver wisely dropped his real name -- John Henry Deutschendorf. Johnny Paycheck once signed his name as Donald Eugene Lytle. Donna Fargo dropped Yvonne Vaughn, then became known as "The Happiest Girl in the U.S.A." When Virginia Wynette Pugh famously strolled into producer Billy Sherrill's office, she probably didn't know she was about to become Tammy Wynette. And Crystal Gayle changed her name from Brenda Gail Webb on the advice of her older sister, Loretta Lynn, noting that Brenda liked that Southern staple, Krystal hamburgers.
One of the biggest country stars of the 1980s kept his real first name but slightly adjusted his surname, transforming from Randy Traywick to Randy Travis. Back then, he shared the country charts with the intriguing mother-daughter duo, Diana and Christina Ciminella, a.k.a., the Judds. Naomi Judd smartly retrieved her maiden name for the famous moniker, while Wynonna eventually dropped it altogether.
The names of Patsy Cline and Hank Williams are etched into country music history. However, that's not their real names. Instead, Cline was born with the name Virginia Patterson Hensley. And despite the countless references to "Hank" in country music lyrics, his actual name is Hiram King Williams.