Stage name "h" from his original name, Stumph. It was still pronounced "stump," but the change ensured his audience wouldn't think to pronounce it "stumf." Singer Jason Derulo uses the phonetic spelling of his given name, Jason Desrouleaux. Andy Warhol dropped an "a" from his original name, Warhola, while couturier Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent dropped the first of his two surnames. Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi adopted the stage name Rudolph Valentino in part because American casting directors found his original surname difficult to pronounce. Singer George Michael (the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur in North London) was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.
Panayiotou v Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd on 30 October 1992, and Justice Jonathan Parker issued a ruling on 1 June 1994. The plaintiff's claims were wholly rejected. Parker held that Michael's contracts were reasonable and fair, especially in consideration of his access to expert legal advice, several renegotiations, and terms comparable to the industry standard for an artist of his commercial success. There were five prongs to the justice's dismissal: In July 1995, Sony sold the contract to rival record companies Virgin Records and DreamWorks Records. Panayiotou v Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd Panayiotou and others v Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd. ([1994] ChD 142) was