‘Welcome to the age of love’
Steve Granitz / WireImage Sean “Diddy” combs
Sean “Diddy” combs officially has a new name!
The 51-year-old rapper announced Monday that he had changed his middle name from “John†to “Love,†posting a photo of his new driver’s license on Instagram.
“Look at what I just got in the mail today… 🖤💫✨⚡ï¸â€ he captioned the picture of the Florida ID card. “IT’S OFFICIAL !!! WELCOME TO THE AGE OF LOVE.”
Along with the photo in the ID, Combs also added a snapshot of himself writing “Love” inside a heart, with various iterations of his signature above it.
RELATED: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Legally Changes His Middle Name – and He Teased the Nickname in 2017
Combs first filed a petition in Los Angeles in 2019 to change his middle name to “Love”.
Almost two years before filing a petition, Combs teased the change to “Love,†although he later said he I was joking about the new nickname and encouraged people to call him by one of the names he’s gone by over the years.
“I decided to change my name again! My new name is LOVE aka Brother Love. #TakeDat” he said on twitter in November 2017.
“Hey, what’s up? I’ve got some very, very serious news,” he said in a beach video accompanying the tweet. “I prayed about it, and decided – I know it’s risky, it might sound corny to some people, like you – I decided to change my name again,” he said with a shrug of the shoulders.
RELATED VIDEO: The Greatest Moments in Reality History: The ‘Making Da Band’ Cheesecake Challenge
“I’m just not what I used to be. I’m something different. So my new name is Love, AKA Brother Love. I won’t respond to Puffy, Diddy, Puff Daddy or any of my others. nicknames but Love or Brother Love, okay? It’s my birthday, I feel good. God is the greatest, I give all the glory, and I thank my mum and dad, “he concluded giving a kiss to the camera.
But two days after sharing this video, the rapper revealed that he had been I’m joking, and urged people to call him one of his various names.
Never miss a story – sign up for PEOPLEthe free daily newsletter of to stay up to date on the best that PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
“Due to the overwhelming response to the media and simply not wanting there to be confusion, I was only joking. I didn’t change my name,†he said in a statement. Instagram video. “It was just part of one of my alter egos, and one of my alter egos is Love.”
He added: “To set the record straight, because I have a lot of pressure to do in the next few weeks, you can call me by any of my old names, but if you still want me to call Love, you can call me Love, baby. But I was just playing. “