No doubt, the hellish day will come when the world is so littered with single-name artists that a few will have to have to double up on the same pretentious moniker out of sheer necessity. But, mercifully, that day has not yet arrived.
So it took some cheek for violinist Nigel Kennedy to emerge from his recent self-imposed exile sans first name. This newly truncated version of his nom de stage has put him in real peril of being mistaken for a right-wing former MTV veejay who also insists on being called Kennedy – especially since the violinist hasn’t toured the U.S. in five years.
We’d like to remind all ticketholders for Wednesday’s Symphony Center show that the person you’ve paid to see is not the irritating Nine Inch Nails fan with the funky glasses who disappeared from MTV two years ago. Instead, expect an eccentric fiddler from England. And use this handy list to avoid future confusion:
Age
He: 41
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She: 26
Current activities
He: Playing violin on concert tour
She: Speaking about global activism with Woody Harrelson, Jello Biafra and others on “Spitfire” lecture tour
Latest work
He: Hendrix Concerto in Suite Form
She: Autobiography “Hey Ladies” (Double Day) due out in March
Latest hairstyle
He: Spiky on top, shaved on sides, bleached
She: Big, red and curly
Former nicknames
He: Nige
She: Kennedy the Virgin
Political stance
He: Labour
She: Republican
Surprise musical tastes
He: Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa
She: Clinton supporters R.E.M.
Outrageous acts
He: Trashing a hotel room in Berlin
She: Simulating oral sex on a microphone while interviewing Rudy Giuliani
Biggest slam
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He: “A Liberace for the ’90s,” BBC Radio 3
She: “The worst veejay on MTV,” Rolling Stone 1993 Readers Poll