Actually Prince changed his name to "The Artist" and symbol over a contract dispute with his record label. I am too lazy to look up what the dispute was but that is why he changed his name from Prince.What Prince did was bold.
He stood up to his record label bosses, who trademarked his birth name and wanted to limit how frequently he released albums, and fought for not only artistic control but personal freedom.
"The Artist Formerly Known As Prince," often shortened to "The Artist" was a reference to how Prince and other performers were known on their record label contracts.