Prince Rogers Nelson was a songwriter, singer, record producer, multi instrumentalist and actor from America. He was popular for his flashy stage presence, stylish androgynous appeal, eclectic bunch of musical talents that included playing the electric guitar, writing songs that broke records, and of course, his inimitable wide vocal range.
Prince was widely known as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound. His music assimilates a wide range of styles such as rock, R&B, funk, pop, soul and psychedelia. He is popular for mega-hits like Purple Rain and When Doves Cry that still have a cult following on YouTube.
Prince sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the top 25 best selling music artists of all time.
Early life and background
Prince was born on June 7 in the year 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of John L. Nelson, a pianist and a lyricist, and Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer. He had been extremely fascinated with music since the days of his childhood.
His parents got separated during the time of his youth. He ran away from home due to his problematic relationship with his stepfather. A family, known as the Andersons, adopted Prince.
Along with Andre Anderson, the offspring of the Andersons, and Charles Smith, Prince joined a band named Grand Central. Prince used to play guitar and piano for the band. During this time, he was attending Minneapolis’s Central High School.
Prince – Career Rise
In the year 1975, Prince joined a band called 94 East which was created by Pepe Willie, the husband of his cousin, Shauntel. Willie formed the band along with Kristie Lazenberry and Marcy Ingvoldstad. He hired Prince to record several tracks.
Prince generated a demo tape with Chris Moon, the producer of the Moon’s Minneapolis studio. Moon showed the tape to a famous entrepreneur of Minneapolis named Owen Husney. Husney helped Prince form a demo recording at Sound 80 studios in Minneapolis. The demo recording received a lot of responds from several major record companies.
Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. At the studio, he achieved ownership of the publishing rights and the creative control of three albums.
After that, Prince shifted to Sausalito, California, where he recorded his first album For You at Record Plant studios. He arranged, produced, controlled and played 27 instruments on the recording.
Prince created another band with Andre Anderson, Gayle Chapman, Doctor Fink, Dez Dickerson and Bobby Z in the year 1979. Warner Bros officials attended their first show, which took place at the Capri Theater.
In 1980, Prince released his another album Dirty Mind. It is a loose concept album featuring numbers such as “Sister” and “Head”. He performed for the first time on Saturday Night Live, an American live television sketch comedy, In 1981. In the same year, he released the album “Controversy” which had two hits.
Prince, then, achieved his international success with the release of his album named 1999. This album was released in the year 1982.
Prince was also popular for his different kinds of innovative musical styles. The New York Times titled Prince as the master architect of rock, funk, pop and R&B. He was also popular for his showmanship and flamboyant style. He was also regarded as a sex symbol for his amorphous persona and defiance of racial stereotypes.
The sixth album, Purple Rain (1984) was the most successful album of Prince, which he recorded with backup band The Revolution. The film ‘Purple Rain’ won Prince, an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Prince was especially successful in the 90s, with the hit single ‘My Name is Prince’ being a chartbuster. From 1992 to 2000, he changed his name to an unpronounceable love symbol. Love Symbol was also the name of his hit album in 1992.
Prince – Records and Under-rated achievements
The Rolling Stone Magazine called ‘Prince’, the 27th greatest artists of all time. He won 7 Grammy Awards, 1 Academy Award and a Golden Globe award.
Not many know that Prince wrote some of the most popular songs for other artists which include songs like ‘Manic Monday’, ‘Thy will be Done’ and ‘Nothing Compares to You’.
Prince – Height
Prince was just 1.58 meter tall. In fact, he was known to wear heels which incidentally became a style symbol. He would say, “I wear heels not because I am short but because women love them.”
Prince – Wife and other relationships
Prince was married twice. He married backup dancer and singer Mayte Garcia in 1996 but the marriage ended in divorce in 1999. While she had a miscarriage with one kid, the other one died in a matter of one week due to Pfeiffer Syndrome.
Prince later married Manuela Testolini in 2001 but the marriage ended in divorce in 2006.
He also dated famous celebrities such as Kim Basinger, Maddona, Vanessa Marcil, Sherilyn Fenn, Tara Leigh Patrick and Susanna Hoffs.
Prince – Death (Cause)
The seven times Grammy winner was found dead in the elevator of his apartment in Chanhassen, Minneapolis on 21st April, 2016. Medical crew found him unresponsive when they arrived at his place. They performed CPR, but it did not work. This famous iconic performer was announced dead at 10.07 am (local time). He was actually sick with flu-like symptoms since the past two weeks. The reason of Prince’s Death was attributed to an accidental fentanyl overdose
Prince’s death trended like wildfire in social media with more than 62 million interactions in the past five hours. Everyone from Barack Obama to Madonna and from Richard Marx to Katy Perry expressed their condolences.
Prince – Legacy
Prince pioneered a funk rock subgenre known as Minneapolis Sound, that grew to prominence in the 1970s. He released 39 albums in the course of his life, with many tracks and albums still to be released, when he died. It was found that there were as many as 50 music videos that were never released.
Prince was also a talented song-writer who has written songs for other musicians like ‘Manic Monday’ and ‘Nothing Compares to You.” It is believed that Prince has written almost 1000 sounds.
] His awards included the Grammy President’s Merit Award, the American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, the Billboard Icon Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
Prince – Net Worth
He amassed a net worth of $300 million.
Prince – House
Prince stayed in a palatial property called Paisley Park, known for its sprawling area and lush greenery. That place also served as his recording studio. Since no will was written by Prince, his estate was divided and distributed as per Minnesota’s inheritance laws.