Diddy Says David Bowie Inspired His Name Changes

Diddy has been known to change his name from time to time throughout his career. Now he's explaining the reasoning behind it. He has gone from Diddy to Puff Daddy, to Puff Daddy and to P. Diddy but more recently he has legally changed his middle name from John to "Love." In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the musician shared that his most recent name change is inspired by the great, David Bowie for the idea.

"I was always a fan of his, and he was always able to give you different artistic personas. But for me, my real life is my art, and so there’s been different eras," he explained. "So there’s been the ‘Puff Daddy’ era, the ‘P. Diddy’ era, but I dropped the P. Then it was the ‘Diddy’ era and now, this is the ultimate goal. I have become Love.”

Norton then asked if he should call Diddy “Love,” but even Diddy said that it can get confusing.

“Y’all call me Diddy. Call me Diddy, but when I’m being ‘Love,’ and I’m in that mood because I have to always remind myself that we live in a toxic world and it’s love vs. hate. That’s what’s going on right now. And I choose love,” he clarified. “That’s my new name, and love wins."

The name change also inspired his new EP The Love Album: Off the Grid. The project, which was released in September, marked Diddy's first solo album since 2006's Press Play.