The singer, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, says he’s frustrated by social media users who wonder if his parents actually named him Role Model
Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty; Katherine Bomboy/NBC via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Role Model, born Tucker Pillsbury, said repeated online jokes about his stage name being mistaken for his real name get old
- “I just really have a gut feeling that it’s too late,” for a change, he joked
- He released his third album Chuck Timely & the Hourglass on Aug. 7, 2026, and begins touring in September
Role Model is getting a little tired of explaining that Role Model is, in fact, a stage name.
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, has spent years performing under the Role Model moniker, but he’s now wondering whether it’s time to leave the stage name behind. During an Aug. 9 interview with Rolling Stone, Pillsbury joked about the possibility of returning to his real name — even if he worries he may have waited too long.
“I would love to,” the “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” singer admitted. “I just really have a gut feeling that it’s too late.”
Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty
One reason he has considered making the switch was the reaction he regularly sees from social media users who take his stage name a little too literally.
“I think what bothers me the most is no matter what, whenever my comes up on anything on Twitter, every comment is like, ‘What parents name their kid Role Model?’” he said sarcastically.
Pillsbury then wondered whether other artists with unconventional stage names get the same treatment.
“Does Post Malone go through that? Or does Lil Wayne?” Role Model asked. “Like, who names their kid Lil? Just use your brain. Think for a second.”
Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty
The comparison refers to the stage names of Post Malone, 31, and Lil Wayne, 43. Neither artist performs under the name they were given at birth: Post Malone was born Austin Richard Post, while Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.
For Pillsbury, the issue seems to be less about disliking the name itself and more about seeing the same joke repeated online. After a decade of performing as Role Model, he now appears to be wondering whether it might be time to put his real name on his music.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Pillsbury also opened up about feeling like he’s entering a new stage of life and thinking about the things he might have done differently.
“I’m hitting that age now where a lot of people are getting married around me, and everybody’s moving ahead in their lives and starting families or falling in love or moving away, and I always kind of felt stagnant,” he said. “So there’s a lot lyrically about that — wanting to go back in time and change other things in my life.”
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When asked whether that could include changing his stage name in his Rolling Stone interview, he didn’t rule it out.
“Yes, I’ll probably change my name,” he deadpanned. “There you go.”
For now, though, Role Model remains Role Model. The singer hasn’t officially announced a formal name change.
Role Model released his third studio album, Chuck Timely & the Hourglass, on Aug. 7, 2026. He’ll kick off his Chuck On Tour on Sept. 9 at Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon. The North American leg runs through October before the tour heads to Europe in 2027.
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