Say Anything Blog

In the tradition of of Prince/The Artist Formerly Known As Prince/Odd Symbol/Prince Again and Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Puffy Combs, Madonna has officially changed her name as well. To Esther.

No, its not a joke (via CCCC).

ABC News - Assuming a newly modest public image, more in keeping with that of a nice Jewish girl, pop star Madonna says she has adopted the Hebrew name of Esther.

The Catholic-bred singer/actress said in a United States ABC News interview that her identification with the Biblical queen celebrated in the Jewish festival of Purim stems from her adherence to the study of Kabbalah.

The performer, born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, recalled that she was very young when her mother, for whom she was named, died of cancer.

The 45-year-old mother of two also insisted that despite her celebrated MTV awards kiss with Britney Spears, she has moved beyond the raunchy pop vixen image first cultivated two decades ago in such music video hits as Like a Virgin and Material Girl.

"I did spend, you know, at least a decade taking my clothes off and being photographed, saying bad words on TV," she said.

Acknowledging that her association with Kabbalah has drawn criticism in some quarters as a celebrity trend, Madonna said her practice of it is sincere.

"I'm a little bit irritated that people think that it's like some celebrity bandwagon that I've jumped on," she said.

"I'm very serious about it."

I'm not sure if, when she talks about "celebrity bandwagons" she's talking about name changes or her faith in Kabbalah. Both maybe, though I wasn't aware of a fad involving people converting over to Kabbalah.