Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson entered the world at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 7th of June 1958. His father John Lewis Nelson was a pianist and songwriter who performed under the stage name Prince Rogers. The elder Nelson played with jazz singer Mattie Della in a group called the Prince Rogers Trio. This family background placed young Prince directly into the heart of American jazz culture from his earliest days. All four of his grandparents traced their roots back to Louisiana. He grew up alongside his younger sister Tyka, born the 18th of May 1960. Both children developed a deep interest in music encouraged by their parents. They attended the Seventh-day Adventist Church together as part of their family life.
Prince faced health challenges early when he stated he was born epileptic and suffered seizures during childhood. At age seven, he wrote his first song titled Funk Machine on his father's piano. Family dynamics shifted dramatically when his parents divorced while he was ten years old. His mother remarried Hayward Baker, creating a complex household that included a stepson named Omarr. Prince described a fraught relationship with Omarr that caused him to move between homes frequently. Sometimes he lived with his father, other times with his mother and stepfather. Baker took Prince to see James Brown in concert, an experience Prince credited with improving the family's finances.
After a brief period living with his father, Prince moved into the basement of neighbors Anderson. He befriended the Andersons' son André Cymone who would later collaborate extensively with him. Prince briefly attended Bryant Junior High before transferring to Central High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He trained in classical ballet at the Minnesota Dance Theatre through the Urban Arts Program. This early exposure to dance became a lifelong advocacy for dancers. He used his wealth decades later to save the failing Joffrey Ballet in Chicago during the 1990s.
The year 1984 marked a seismic shift in American pop culture when Prince achieved something no singer had ever done before. He simultaneously held the number one position on three different charts: film, album, and single. The film Purple Rain starred Prince himself and was loosely autobiographical. Its soundtrack album sold more than 13 million copies in the United States alone. It spent 24 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The movie won Prince an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score while grossing over $68 million domestically.
Songs from the film dominated radio airwaves worldwide. When Doves Cry reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 alongside Let's Go Crazy. The title track itself peaked at number two. At one point in 1984, Prince held all three top positions simultaneously. This feat remains unique in music history. The backing band for this era was called the Revolution. Their name appeared printed in reverse on the cover of the 1999 album inside the letter I of the word Prince. The group included Lisa Coleman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z on drums, Brown Mark on bass, and Dez Dickerson on guitar.
Pop artist Andy Warhol created twelve unique paintings of Prince during this period titled Orange Prince among others. Four of these paintings now reside in The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Vanity Fair published Warhol's portrait in November 1984 to accompany an article about Purple Fame. Tipper Gore heard her daughter listen to Darling Nikki which gained notoriety for its sexual lyrics. She founded the Parents Music Resource Center advocating mandatory warning labels on record covers containing unsuitable content.
Following the massive success of Purple Rain, Prince began dismantling his creative structure. He disbanded the Revolution after their tour concluded. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman were fired from the group. Brown Mark quit while only keyboardist Doctor Fink remained. Miko Weaver, Atlanta Bliss, and Eric Leeds joined the new lineup. Before disbanding, Prince worked on two separate projects: Dream Factory with The Revolution and a solo album named Camille. The Camille project featured Prince creating an androgynous persona singing in a sped-up female-sounding voice.
Warner Bros forced Prince to trim his triple album Crystal Ball down to a double LP. They released Sign o' the Times on the 31st of March 1987. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 chart. Its first single Sign o' the Times charted at number three on the Hot 100. Follow-up singles included If I Was Your Girlfriend reaching number 67 on the Hot 100 but number 12 on the R&B chart. A duet with Sheena Easton titled U Got the Look reached number two on the Hot 100. The final single I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man charted at number 10 on the Hot 100 and number 14 on the R&B chart.
Critics named it the top album of the year by the Pazz & Jop critics poll. It sold 3.2 million copies worldwide. In Europe, Prince promoted the album with a lengthy tour. He put together a new backing band from remnants of the Revolution adding bassist Levi Seacer Jr., keyboardist Boni Boyer, and dancer choreographer Cat Glover alongside drummer Sheila E. The Sign o' the Times Tour succeeded overseas but Warner Bros wanted to bring it to the United States. Prince did not approve a full US tour as he was ready to produce a new album.
In 1992, following Diamonds and Pearls success, Prince renewed his contract with Warner Bros agreeing to what was reportedly a $100 million deal. This agreement allowed him to release six more albums with the label. By October, he released his fourteenth studio album bearing only an unpronounceable symbol on its cover. Fans later dubbed this symbol Love Symbol #2. It combined male and female symbols into one graphic representation. The third single 7 peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold 2.8 million copies worldwide falling short of expectations.
Rebellion against Warner Bros intensified in 1993 when Prince formally adopted the unpronounceable symbol as his stage name. To use the symbol in print media, Warner Bros organized mass mailings of floppy disks containing custom fonts. At that time, Prince was often referred to as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince or simply the Artist. That same year, Warner Bros released a greatest hits compilation called The Hits/The B-Sides featuring three discs. Two new songs Pink Cashmere and Peach served as promotional singles for the collection.
Freeing himself from Warner Bros constraints, Prince attempted a major comeback later in 1996 with Emancipation. This thirty-six song three-CD set featured each disc exactly sixty minutes long. The album released via his own label NPG Records with distribution through EMI. It received Platinum certification from the RIAA. Emancipation became the first Prince record featuring covers of other artists' songs including Joan Osborne's One of Us and Thom Bell and Linda Creed's Betcha by Golly Wow!
Prince released Crystal Ball, a five-CD collection of unreleased material in 1998. Distribution proved
disorderly with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before shipping. These pre-orders arrived months after retail stores received copies. The retail edition contained only four discs missing the Kamasutra disc included in the deluxe version. Two different packaging editions existed for retail sale: one jewel case with white cover and another round translucent snap case containing all four discs.
In 1999, Prince signed again with Arista Records releasing Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. A pay-per-view concert broadcast the 31st of December 1999 featured footage from concerts held December 17 and 18. Guest musicians included Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton, Jimmy Russell, and members of The Time. On the 16th of May 2000, Prince stopped using the Love Symbol as his name since his publishing contract had expired. He stated he would revert to using his real name after being freed from undesirable relationships associated with the previous moniker.
February 2016 marked the beginning of Prince's Piano & A Microphone Tour showing him stripped back to just himself and a custom piano on stage. Warm-up shows occurred at Paisley Park in late January before the tour commenced in Melbourne Australia on February 16. Australian and New Zealand legs played small-capacity venues including Sydney Opera House. Hit n Run Phase Two CDs distributed to every attendee after each performance continued through the United States but was abruptly cut short by illness in April 2016.
Prince saw Doctor Michael T Schulenberg
in Excelsior on April 7 and again on April 20. He postponed two performances at Atlanta Fox Theatre due to influenza. Despite still feeling unwell, he performed what became his final show on April 14. Flying back to Twin Cities early next morning, he became unresponsive requiring an emergency landing at Quad Cities International Airport in Moline Illinois. Paramedics administered naloxone blocking opioid effects. Once conscious, he left against medical advice claiming dehydration and weeks-long influenza symptoms.
On April 21, Carver County Sheriff received a 911 call requesting ambulance transport to Paisley Park home. Caller initially identified unconscious person then moments later declared death finally identifying him as Prince. Emergency responders found Prince unresponsive in elevator performing CPR unsuccessfully. They pronounced him dead at 10:07 am nineteen minutes after arrival. A press release from Midwest Medical Examiner stated accidental overdose of fentanyl caused death at age 57. The fentanyl laced counterfeit hydrocodone paracetamol pills led to investigations ending without criminal charges filed.
Numerous musicians and cultural figures reacted immediately to Prince's passing. President Obama mourned him while United States Senate passed resolution praising achievements as musician composer innovator and cultural icon. Cities across America held tributes vigils lighting buildings bridges structures purple. Within first five hours media reported death, Prince topped Twitter trending terms. Facebook recorded 61 million Prince-related interactions. AMC Theatres screened Purple Rain select theaters over following week Saturday Night Live aired Goodnight Sweet Prince episode featuring show performances.
Nielsen Music reported sales spiked 42,000 percent for his material. Artist
catalog sold 4.41 million albums songs April 21 through 28 with five albums simultaneously top ten Billboard 200 first chart history occurrence. Morris Day with Time and Bruno Mars performed tribute at 59th Grammy Awards. the 2nd of May 2016 New Yorker cover featured illustration purple rain. June 2016 Vanity Fair released special edition commemorative magazine Genius of Prince celebrating star life achievements new photography archive articles including original November 1984 article written wake singer songwriter breakout success.
First posthumous release from estate arrived the 22nd of November 2016 titled 4Ever compilation hits plus one previously unreleased song Moonbeam Levels originally recorded 1999 sessions 1982. the 9th of February 2017 estate signed distribution deal Universal Music Group including post-1995 recordings NPG Records label unreleased vault tracks. Court voided Universal deal July 13 though Universal continued administer songwriting credits create merchandise. the 23rd of June 2018 deluxe reissue Purple Rain released most expansive edition containing remaster original album overseen Prince himself bonus disc From Vault Previously Unreleased plus single maxi-single edits B-sides DVD issue Prince Revolution Live Syracuse Purple Rain Tour.
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Common questions
When and where was Prince born?
Prince Rogers Nelson entered the world at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 7th of June 1958. His father John Lewis Nelson was a pianist and songwriter who performed under the stage name Prince Rogers.
What major achievement did Prince accomplish in 1984 with Purple Rain?
The year 1984 marked a seismic shift when Prince simultaneously held the number one position on three different charts for film, album, and single. The soundtrack album sold more than 13 million copies in the United States alone while spending 24 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
Why did Prince change his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993?
Rebellion against Warner Bros intensified in 1993 when Prince formally adopted the unpronounceable symbol as his stage name to escape contractual constraints. He stated he would revert to using his real name after being freed from undesirable relationships associated with the previous moniker on the 16th of May 2000.
How did Prince die according to the medical examiner report?
A press release from Midwest Medical Examiner stated accidental overdose of fentanyl caused death at age 57. The fentanyl laced counterfeit hydrocodone paracetamol pills led to investigations ending without criminal charges filed.
What happened to Prince's music sales immediately following his death in April 2016?
Nielsen Music reported sales spiked 42,000 percent for his material within days of his passing. Artist catalog sold 4.41 million albums and songs between April 21 through 28 with five albums simultaneously top ten Billboard 200 first chart history occurrence.