I always thought that the ONLY reason Terence Trent D'arby became Sananda Maiteya was because Prince had become .

Am I right?

[Edited 9/9/11 10:38am]

apparently it came to him in a dream.

What made me change my name to Sananda was that the name that
most of my aquintances were calling me, encreasingly began to sound foreign to me.

And I had had a series of dreams in which the inhabitance of my dream-dimension were calling me Sananda, and it took me about 3 dreams before I realized that they were speaking to me, directing their energy at me.

Although immediately, what was very puzzling to me in dream-scenarios was the fact that, the name sounded very, very familiar.

My understanding is that Sananda is an energy-vibration that is closer to who I am outside of this space and time experience, this one performance,
this one life experience as Terence.

I just felt more comfortable with it after a while and wanted to give myself a chance to be familiarized with that vibration and what it means.

I have no idea why he changed his name.... So, yes he probably copied P.

Sananda fans would probably not want to think that he was copying Prince. I might guess that he had similar reasons for doing it, at least

Prince once said "who is Nell's son?" questioning the connection of himself to his name. And he figured was closer to who he was. Strangely, though, Prince really is a perfect name for him!! But maybe Terence felt the same, like his name was arbitrary.

I think there is also a sense of shedding the past for both of them. A new name might have been an attempt to shed expectations and associations, disappointments and bad memories.

No, it was because of Cassius Clay.

No

It has nothing to do with Prince, Terence is in Terence world as Prince is in.. Prince world. He said it came ot him in a dream as another orger was saying. It's a shame cause he has really gone into the dark sense then.

I know TTD never SAID it was because of , and if it is he would never admit it anyway, I just think that it's the case but, as I might b wroong, I'd like 2 have pple's opinion.

[Edited the last time ur mother had an orgasm]

[Edited 9/10/11 9:03am]

So what if it "came to him in a dream"? He still most likely got the idea from Prince. Dreams aren't some sort of an "alternate reality" and they don't really consist of messages from "beyond". Dreams for the most part consist of the very same thoughts and ideas that fascinate us when we are awake - they just tend to appear in somewhat modified forms.

That's also one of the dangers when using ideas from your dreams in your art. You might be copying some piece that you've just been exposed to recently and not even realize it.

btw, he's been "Sananda" for a longer period of time than he was "Terence Trent D'Arby" (he was born "Darby"). Prince was "" only for about 7 years.

emilio319 said:

He has mentioned/praised Muhammad Ali (fka Cassius Clay) and Yusuf Islam (fka Cat Stevens) as well as Prince in his writings. They are all influences for him as well as many others. There are many artist and people who have changed their name so to just say that he's copying Prince is off base in my opinion. I think he got sick of all the baggage and labels/stereotypes that came with being TTD and he wanted desperately to be free of all that nonsense. Looking at what being famous means nowadays, I think it was a very brave and very wise move.

Prince mentioned Muhammad Ali first in reference to his name change!!!!

I posted some footage of George Michael talking about him in another thread and he said that Sony ruined his career because they kept him signed to the label, but they failed to promote his albums. If that's actually true, then TTD's proclamation that Sony "killed" him is right on the money. Then again, you don't start off your career by releasing a big hit album with loads of pop hits and then follow it up with another album that's much more experimental, most artists would wait little a while before then.

For those who don't know, the name "Sananda" has many meanings, one of which is the Buddhist word for Christ. When he first adopted the name, he said he had no idea what it meant, however, he later revealed in an interview that he really did know what it meant, he just didn't care because he needed a new name/identity and when the interviewer asked him if it was really all that bad being TTD, his response was: "Yes. It was like.... dead."

anc282 said:

I posted some footage of George Michael talking about him in another thread and he said that Sony ruined his career because they kept him signed to the label, but they failed to promote his albums. If that's actually true, then TTD's proclamation that Sony "killed" him is right on the money. Then again, you don't start off your career by releasing a big hit album with loads of pop hits and then follow it up with another album that's much more experimental, most artists would wait little a while before then.

For those who don't know, the name "Sananda" has many meanings, one of which is the Buddhist word for Christ. When he first adopted the name, he said he had no idea what it meant, however, he later revealed in an interview that he really did know what it meant, he just didn't care because he needed a new name/identity and when the interviewer asked him if it was really all that bad being TTD, his response was: "Yes. It was like.... dead."

There's a great quote that he gave in an interview about the name change... He said something to the effect of that he was in a really dark place in his life and had taken the TTD thing as far as it could go and was in desperate need of new life... In the interview he gave a great quote about how many people name their kids "Jesus," or "Mohammed," or "Christian", etc. So why can't he go by Sananda? I think it's obvious that he is a happy and free man in control of his creative, professional, and personal life so much respect to him for sticking to his decision despite the difficulties that he knew it would bring.

emilio319 said:

He has mentioned/praised Muhammad Ali (fka Cassius Clay) and Yusuf Islam (fka Cat Stevens) as well as Prince in his writings. They are all influences for him as well as many others. There are many artist and people who have changed their name so to just say that he's copying Prince is off base in my opinion. I think he got sick of all the baggage and labels/stereotypes that came with being TTD and he wanted desperately to be free of all that nonsense. Looking at what being famous means nowadays, I think it was a very brave and very wise move.

He was seeking solution to his current rut the same way as Prince was at the time. It's not off base to say that his decision was mostly influenced by what Prince did, because it's just way too transparent and Prince was the artist he was most often compared to anyway. He was speaking at the time about "killing off TTD" and "being a different person" - all the same stuff. The difference is just that I think Prince was ultimately motivated to go back being "Prince" mainly for commercial reasons - it really had a positive influence on his career if you look back at those times. Sananda, on the other hand, didn't cave in. It would be too late for him to do that now though.

I have a lot of respect for him due to him wanting to get out of the mainstream music industry. Of course, like many people that got into his stuff during the TTD days I haven't been very impressed by his post-Wildcard work.

I was kinda sisappointed by the post-Wildcard stuff as well, but I deeply share the respect: it was indeed insane to release such an experimental thing as Neither Fish Nor Flesh as a second album, but it was brave and daring, and Symphony Or Damn and Vibrator were absolutely mind-blowing as well. This dude was (is) a genius and un4tunately neither the mainstream audiences nor Sony were ready 4 his talent

No I don't think so. Maybe Prince was one of the inspirations to do so, but I am pretty sure he would have changed his name too if Prince never existed. The situation is very different. Prince changed his name back, while Sananda legally changed his name to Sananda and seems to be very happy about that and everybody in his private life calls him by this name now.

I was originally going to agree with the person saying that they weren't too fussed with what he's doing now but I don't really feel like spreading any negative energy, so.... let's just listen to the man do what he does best.

For those of you with dutty, graffilthy minds..... the full title of this song is "Tension Inside The Sweetness/Frankie And Johnnie."

It has nothing to do with a woman's chest area.

Just listen to him sing the out of: "Frankie and Johnnie were lovers all right."

How many artists/actors/actresses/athletes/celebrities of all kinds have changed their names? Its a staggeringly large number. Why would it have anything to do with Prince?

Some people want to try to make everything about Prince around here. I guess now he invented name changing?

BlaqueKnight said:

Some people want to try to make everything about Prince around here. I guess now he invented name changing?

Of course he did along with singing, dancing and guitar playing .

Serious said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Some people want to try to make everything about Prince around here. I guess now he invented name changing?

Of course he did along with singing, dancing and guitar playing .

When he was promoting the "Vibrator" album in 1995, he was asked whether or not he would've "killed off" Terence for a symbol and he went "Pfft.. yeah!" Next thing you know, 1998 rolls around, he sets up a new site and announces that in 1995 he adopted a brand new name: "Sananda." Indeed, this is one of those things that make you go hmmmm.....

You can read that interview here:

http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/interviews/ttd_sans_ego.html

Also I found another interview where he explains the name change, you can download the MP3 version:

http://blog.m80radio.com/que-fue-de/2009/12/sananda-maitreya.html

anc282 said:

For those of you with dutty, graffilthy minds..... the full title of this song is "Tension Inside The Sweetness/Frankie And Johnnie."

It has nothing to do with a woman's chest area.

sure it doesn't!!! that's why he called it TITS

Even if he did get the idea from Prince, I don't think that is such a bad thing since, as mentioned, so many people have done it before. Even Prince mentioned Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali, so he got the idea from somewhere too.

Now, if TTD had changed his name to a symbol, that would be a bit much, but he didn't.

Not to mention, I doubt Prince is why he changed his name. Terence might have thought it was a great idea (as did I) but he must have had his own reasons for wanting to do it that had nothing to do with why Prince did it.

Serious said:

No I don't think so. Maybe Prince was one of the inspirations to do so, but I am pretty sure he would have changed his name too if Prince never existed. The situation is very different. Prince changed his name back, while Sananda legally changed his name to Sananda and seems to be very happy about that and everybody in his private life calls him by this name now.

Thanks for contributing, I was hoping you'd let us know what you thought about it

I think u said hi on Skype or something the other day, didn't u? I was doin' something and couldn't answer so I do it know, hope u're fine

databank said:

Serious said:

No I don't think so. Maybe Prince was one of the inspirations to do so, but I am pretty sure he would have changed his name too if Prince never existed. The situation is very different. Prince changed his name back, while Sananda legally changed his name to Sananda and seems to be very happy about that and everybody in his private life calls him by this name now.

Thanks for contributing, I was hoping you'd let us know what you thought about it

I think u said hi on Skype or something the other day, didn't u? I was doin' something and couldn't answer so I do it know, hope u're fine

After a talk I once had with him about the name change I am very sure that for him it was much more than just changing his stage name and problems with the record company like for Prince. For him it was a complete new life he started.

Yes I said Hi there .

I don't know him personally, but what I found interesting was that after all the paperwork was complete and he officially changed his name, he would always make comments in interviews like: "Thanks for indulging in the whole Sananda thing," or "I only feel about 90% Sananda these days." Obviously 90% is a lot, but it seems like he still wasn't used to calling himself that. Of course now it's a totally different story. I could be wrong, but I can't see him going back to calling himself Terence Trent D'Arby.... even though I'll always file his music under that name.

I have an enormous of respect for trent/sananda as an artist. That being said, there is a tremendous amount of prince's influence in his work and career.

In fact it is in reality, imposible for trent/sananda to be in the working in the genre that he does of rock & soul & funk & pop, and NOT be influenced by prince!

That is just the truth.

Taking in that in consideration, his name change is without a doubt inspired by prince.

There are also many other aspects of prince that trent/sananda has been inspired by. Such as the angle to being a multi-instrumentalist, and also in his early vocal riffs,...like prince's trademark, yaaaaaaa-wooooooh!

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Prince is a unique talent, but both prince and trent/sananda would not even exist without James Brown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!