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Prince Roger Nelson (born June 7, 1958), known by his
Prince, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. A major figure in popular music for over three decades, Prince is renowned as an innovator and is widely-known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence and wide . Widely regarded as the pioneer of , Prince's music combines , , , , , , , , and .
Born in , , Prince developed an interest in music at an early age, writing his first song at age seven. After recording songs with his cousin's band , 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album, , in 1978 under the guidance of Manager Owen Husney. His 1979 album, , went platinum due to the success of the singles "" and "". His next three records,
(1981) and
(1982), continued his success, showcasing Prince's trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as the
and released , which served as the soundtrack to his .
After releasing the albums
(1985) and
(1986), The Revolution disbanded and Prince released the critically acclaimed double album
(1987) as a solo artist. He released three more solo albums before debuting
band in 1991. After changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol (), also known as the "Love Symbol", in 1993, he began releasing new albums at a faster pace to remove himself from contractual obligations to Warner B he released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with
in 1998. In 2000, he began referring to himself as "Prince" once again. He has released fourteen albums since then, including his latest, , released on September 30, 2014.
Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the . He has won seven
a , and an . He was inducted into the
in 2004, the first year of his eligibility. Rolling Stone has ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Prince was born in , , the son of Mattie Della (Shaw) and . His parents were both African-American and his family ancestry is centered in , with all four of his grandparents hailing from the state. Prince's father was a pianist and songwriter and his mother was a
singer. Prince was named after his father, whose
was Prince Rogers, and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. In a 1991 interview with , Prince's father said that "I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do". Prince's childhood nickname was Skipper.
interview, Prince told
that he was "born " and "used to have seizures" when he was young. During the interview, he also said: "My mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, 'Mom, I'm not going to be sick anymore,' and she said, 'Why?' and I said, 'Because an angel told me so'."
Prince's sister Tika Evene (usually called Tyka) was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father. Prince wrote his first tune, "Funk Machine", on his father's piano when he was seven. When Prince was ten years old, his parents separated. Following the separation, Prince constantly switched homes, sometimes living with his father, and sometimes with his mother and stepfather. Finally he moved into the home of neighbors, the Andersons, and befriended their son, Andre Anderson, who later became known as .
Prince and Anderson joined Prince's cousin, Charles Smith, in a band called Grand Central while they were attending Minneapolis's Central High School. Smith was later replaced by
on the drums. Prince played piano and guitar for the band which performed at clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. Grand Central later changed its name to Champagne and started playing original music influenced by Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, , Miles Davis, Parliament-Funkadelic, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and . Prince also played basketball in high school.
In 1975, Pepe Willie, the husband of Prince's cousin, Shauntel, formed the band
with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry. Willie hired André Cymone and Prince to record tracks with 94 East. Those songs were written by Willie and Prince contributed guitar tracks. Prince also co-wrote, with Willie, the 94 East song, "Just Another Sucker". The band recorded tracks which later became the album Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings. Prince also recorded, but never released, a song written by Willie, "If You See Me" (also known as, "Do Yourself a Favor"). In 1995, Willie released the album 94 East featuring Prince, Symbolic Beginning, which included original recordings by Prince and Cymone.
In 1976, Prince created a demo tape with producer Chris Moon in Moon's Minneapolis studio. Unable to secure a recording contract, Moon brought the tape to Owen Husney, a Minneapolis businessman. Husney signed Prince, at the age of 17, to a management contract and helped Prince create a demo recording at
Studios in Minneapolis using producer/engineer David Z. The demo recording, along with a press kit produced at Husney's ad agency, resulted in interest from several record companies including , , and .
With the help of Husney, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros.. The record company agreed to give Prince creative control for three albums and ownership of the publishing rights.[] Husney and Prince then left Minneapolis and moved to , California where Prince's first album, , was recorded at . Subsequently, the album was mixed in Los Angeles and released in on April 7, 1978. According to the For You album notes, Prince produced, arranged, composed and played all 27 instruments on the recording. The album was written and performed by Prince, except for the song "" which had lyrics co-written by Moon. The cost of recording the album was twice Prince's initial advance. Prince used the Prince's Music Co. to
his songs. "Soft and Wet" reached No. 12 on the
chart and No. 92 on the . The song "" reached No. 91 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.
Ticket to Prince's first performance with his band in January 1979
In 1979, Prince created a band that included André Cymone on bass,
on guitar, Gayle Chapman and
on keyboards, and
on drums. Their first show was at the Capri Theater on January 5, 1979. Warner Bros. executives attended the show but decided that Prince and the band needed more time to develop his music. In October 1979, Prince released a self-titled album, , which was No. 4 on the Billboard
charts, and No. 22 on the , going platinum. It contained two R&B hits: "" and "". "I Wanna Be Your Lover" sold over a million copies, and reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 for two weeks on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Prince performed both these songs on January 26, 1980, on . On this album, Prince used Ecnirp Music – .
In 1980, Prince released the album, , which he recorded in his own studio. The album was certified gold and the attendant single "" reached No. 5 on the Billboard Dance chart and No. 5 on the Hot Soul Singles charts. Prince was also the opening act for ' 1980 Fire It Up tour. Dirty Mind contained sexually explicit material, including the title song, "", and the song "Sister". In February 1981, Prince made his first appearance on , performing "Partyup". In October 1981, Prince released the album, . He played several dates in support of it, at first as one of the opening acts for the , who were then on tour in the US. He began 1982 with a small tour of college towns where he was the headlining act. The songs on Controversy were published by Controversy Music – , a practice he continued until the
album in 1996. Controversy also marked the introduction of Prince's use of abbreviated spelling, such as spelling the words you as U, to as 2, and for as 4, as indicated by the inclusion of the track "Jack U Off". (His earlier song titles had used conventional spelling.) By 2002,
noted that "[n]ow all of his titles, liner notes and Web postings are written in his own shorthand spelling, as seen on 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, which featured 'Hot Wit U.'"
In 1981, Prince formed a side project band called the . The band released four albums between 1981 and 1990, with Prince writing and performing most of the instrumentation and backing vocals, with lead vocals by .[] In late 1982, Prince released a double album, , which sold over three million copies. The
was a protest against
and became his first top ten hit in countries outside the US. Prince's "" was one of the first two videos by a black artist played in heavy rotation on MTV, along with 's "". The song "" also placed in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
During this period Prince referred to his band as the . The band's name was also printed, in reverse, on the cover of 1999 inside the letter "I" of the word "Prince". The band consisted of
and Doctor Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z. on drums,
on bass, and Dez Dickerson on guitar. Jill Jones, a backing singer, was also part of The Revolution line up for the 1999 album and tour. Following the , Dickerson left the group for religious reasons. In the 2003 book Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, author Alex Hahn says that Dickerson was reluctant to sign a three-year contract and wanted to pursue other musical ventures. Dickerson was replaced by , a childhood friend of Coleman. At first the band was used sparsely in the studio but this gradually changed during the mid-1980s.[]
Prince's 1984 album
sold more than 13 million copies in the US and spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The
and grossed more than $80 million in the US.
Prince performing in Brussels during the
Songs from the film were hits on pop charts around the world, while "" and "" reached No. 1 and the
reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. At one point in 1984, Prince simultaneously had the No. 1 album, single, and film in the US; it was the first time a singer had achieved this feat. Prince won the Academy Award for
for Purple Rain, and the album is ranked 72nd Rolling Stone's . The album is included on the list of Time magazine's All-Time 100 Albums. After
heard her 12-year-old daughter
listening to Prince's song "", she founded the . The center advocates the mandatory use of a warning label (": Explicit Lyrics") on the covers of records that have been judged to contain language or lyrical content . The recording industry later voluntarily complied with this request. Of what is considered the
Prince's compositions appear no. 1 and no. 2, with the fourth position occupied by his protégée Vanity.
In 1985, Prince announced that he would discontinue live performances and music videos after the release of his next album. His subsequent recording
held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks. In 1986 his album
reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the R&B charts. The first single, "", with the video choreographed by , reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally written for a side project called . That same year the song "", which was written by Prince and recorded by The Bangles, reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart. The album Parade served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film, . Prince directed and starred in the movie, which also featured . He received the
for his efforts in acting and directing.
In 1986, Prince began a series of sporadic live performances called the . After the tour Prince abolished The Revolution, fired
and replaced
with Sheila E. Brown Mark quit the band while keyboardist Doctor Fink remained. Prince then recruited new band members
on guitar,
on trumpet,
on saxophone, Boni Boyer on keyboards,
on bass and dancer .[]
Prior to the disbanding of The Revolution, Prince was working on two separate projects, The Revolution album
and a solo effort, . Unlike the three previous band albums, Dream Factory included significant input from the band members and even featured a number of songs with lead vocals by Wendy & Lisa, while the Camille project saw Prince create a new persona primarily singing in a speeded-up, female-sounding voice. With the dismissal of The Revolution, Prince consolidated material from both shelved albums, along with some new songs, into a three-LP album to be titled . However, Warner Bros. forced Prince to trim the triple album to a double album and
was released on March 31, 1987.
The album peaked at No.6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, "", would chart at No. 3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single, "" charted poorly at No. 67 on the Hot 100, but went to No.12 on R&B chart. The third single, a duet with , "" charted at No. 2 on the Hot 100, No. 11 on the R&B chart, and the final single "" finished at No.10 on Hot 100 and No.14 on the R&B chart.
Despite receiving the greatest critical acclaim of any album in Prince's career, including being named the top album of the year by the
critics' poll, and eventually selling 3.2 million copies, album sales steadily declined. In Europe, however, it performed well and Prince promoted the album overseas with a lengthy tour. Putting together a new backing band from the remnants of The Revolution, Prince added bassist Levi Seacer, Jr., Boni Boyer on keyboards, and dancer/choreographer Cat Glover to go with new drummer Sheila E. and holdovers Miko Weaver, Doctor Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, and the Bodyguards (Jerome, Wally Safford, and Greg Brooks) for the .
The tour was a success overseas, with Warner Bros. and Prince's managers wanting to bring it to the US to resuscitate sagging sales of Sign "O" the Times; however, Prince balked at a full US tour, as he was ready to produce a new album. As a compromise the last two nights of the tour were filmed for release in movie theaters. The film quality was deemed subpar and reshoots were performed at his Paisley Park studios. The film
was released on November 20, 1987. Much like the album, the film garnered more critical praise than the previous year's Under the Cherry Moon; however, its box-office receipts were minimal, and it quickly left theaters.
The next album intended for release was to be . More instrumental and funk and R&B themed than recent releases, The Black Album also saw Prince experiment with
on the songs "Bob George" and "Dead on It". Prince was set to release the album with a monochromatic black cover with only the catalog number printed, but after 500,000 copies had been pressed, Prince had a spiritual epiphany that the album was evil and had it recalled. It would later be released by Warner Bros. as a limited edition album in 1994. Prince went back in the studio for eight weeks and recorded .
Released on May 10, 1988, Lovesexy serves as a spiritual opposite to the dark The Black Album. Every song is a solo effort by Prince, with exception of "Eye No" which was recorded with his backing band at the time, dubbed the "Lovesexy Band" by fans. Lovesexy would reach No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the R&B albums chart. The lead single, "", peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and No. 3 on the R&B chart, but finished with only selling 750,000 copies.
Prince again took his post-Revolution backing band (minus the Bodyguards) on a three leg, 84- although the shows were well received by huge crowds, they lost money due to the expensive sets and incorporated props.
Prince performing during his
In 1989, Prince appeared on 's studio album , co-writing and singing the duet "Love Song" and playing electric guitar (uncredited) on the songs "", "", and "Act of Contrition". He also began work on a number of musical projects, including
and early drafts of his Graffiti Bridge film, but both were put on hold when he was asked by
to record several songs for the upcoming live-action adaptation. Prince went into the studio and produced an entire nine-track album that Warner Bros. released on June 20, 1989.
peaked at No.1 on the Billboard 200, selling 4.3 million copies. The single "" topped the Billboard and R&B charts.
Additionally, the single "" with Sheena Easton charted at No. 36, and "" (also featuring the vocals of Prince's then-girlfriend, nicknamed ) charted at No. 18 on the Hot 100 and at No. 5 on the R&B chart, while the love ballad "" went to No. 5 on the R&B chart. However, he did have to sign away all publishing rights to the songs on the album to Warner Bros. as part of the deal to do the soundtrack.
In 1990, Prince went back on tour with a revamped band for his stripped down, back-to-basics . With the departures of Boni Boyer, Sheila E., the horns, and Cat, Prince brought in Rosie Gaines on keys, drummer , and dancing trio The Game Boyz (, Kirky J., and Damon Dickson). The European and Japanese tour was a financial success with its short, greatest hits setlist. As the year progressed, Prince finished production on his fourth film, , and the . Initially, Warner Bros. was reluctant to fund the film, but with Prince's assurances it would be a sequel to
as well as the involvement of the original members of The Time, the studio greenlit the project. Released on August 20, 1990, the album reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and R&B albums chart. The single "" reaching No. 6 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart. Also from that album, "" placed at No. 12 on the US charts and No. 2 on the R&B charts. The song featured the teenage
(who also had a role in the film) on lead vocals. The film, released on November 20, 1990, was a critical and box-office flop, grossing just $4.2 million. After the release of the film and album, the last remaining members of The Revolution, Miko Weaver and Doctor Fink, left Prince's band.
Prince's Yellow Cloud Guitar at the . Prince can be seen playing this guitar in the "" video.
1991 marked the debut of Prince's new band, the . With guitarist Miko Weaver and long-time keyboardist Doctor Fink gone, Prince added bass player ,
on keyboards, and a brass section known as the Hornheads to go along with Levi Seacer (taking over on guitar), Rosie Gaines, , and the Game Boyz. With significant input from his band members,
was released on October 1, 1991. Reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart, Diamonds and Pearls saw four hit singles released in the United States. "" peaked at No. 21 on the Hot 100 and No. 6 on the R&B charts, followed by "", which gave Prince his fifth US No. 1 single. The title track "" became the album's third single, reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100 and the top spot on the R&B charts. "" peaked at No. 23 and No. 14 on the Hot 100 and R&B charts respectively.
1992 saw Prince and The New Power Generation release his 12th album, Love Symbol Album, bearing only an unpronounceable symbol on the cover (later copyrighted as Love Symbol #2). The album, generally referred to as the , would peak at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. While the label wanted "" to be the first single, Prince fought to have "" as he "felt that the song's more hip-hoppery would appeal to the same audience" that had purchased the previous album. Prince got his way but "My Name Is Prince" only managed to reach No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 23 on the R&B chart. The follow-up single "" fared worse, charting at No. 66 on the Hot 100 and No. 76 on the R&B chart. The label's preferred lead single choice "7" would be the album's lone top ten hit, reaching No. 7. 'Love Symbol Album' would go on to sell 2.8 million copies worldwide.
The unpronounceable symbol (later dubbed "Love Symbol #2")
After two failed attempts in 1990 and 1991, Warner Bros. finally released a
compilation with the three-disc
in 1993. The first two discs were also sold separately as The Hits 1 and The Hits 2. In addition to featuring the majority of Prince's hit singles (with the exception of "" and other songs that appeared on the
soundtrack), The Hits includes an array of previously hard-to-find recordings, notably
spanning the majority of Prince's career, as well as a handful of previously unreleased tracks such as the Revolution-recorded "Power Fantastic" and a live recording of "" with Rosie Gaines. Two new songs, "" and "", were chosen as promotional singles to accompany the compilation album.
1993 also marked the year in which Prince changed his stage name to the Love Symbol (see left), which was explained as a combination of the
for male (♂) and female (♀). In order to use the symbol in print media, Warner Bros. had to organize a mass mailing of floppy disks with a custom font. Because the symbol had no stated pronunciation, he was often referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", TAFKAP, and "The Artist".
In 1994, Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting that he release albums more sporadically. He also blamed Warner Bros. for the poor commercial performance of the Love Symbol Album, claiming that it was insufficiently marketed by Warner. It was out of these developments that the aborted
was officially released, approximately seven years after its initial recording and near-release. The "new" release, which was already in wide circulation as a , sold relatively poorly.
Following that disappointing venture, Warner Bros. succumbed to Prince's wishes to release an album of new material, to be entitled . When Come was eventually released, it confirmed all of Warner's fears. It became Prince's poorest-selling album to date, struggling to even shift 500,000 copies. Even more frustrating was the fact that Prince insisted on crediting the album to "Prince ".
Prince pushed to have his next album
released simultaneously with Love Symbol-era material. Warner Bros. allowed the single "" to be released via a small, independent distributor, , in February 1994. The release was successful, reaching No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in many other countries, but it would not prove to be a model for subsequent releases. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing The Gold Experience, fearing poor sales and citing "" as a defense. When eventually released in September 1995, The Gold Experience failed to sell well, although it reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 initially, and many reviewed it as Prince's best effort since Sign "O" the Times. The album is now out-of-print. , released in 1996, was Prince's final album of new material for Warner Bros., as well as one of his least commercially successful releases. Prince attempted a major comeback later that year when, free of any further contractual obligations to Warner Bros., he released , a 36-song, 3-CD set (each disc was exactly 60 minutes long). The album was released via his own
with distribution through . To publish his songs on Emancipation, Prince did not use Controversy Music – ASCAP, which he had used for all his records since 1981, but rather used Emancipated Music Inc. – ASCAP.
by the , Emancipation is the first record featuring
by Prince of songs of other artists: 's top ten hit song of 1995 ""; "" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and Linda Creed); "" (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid); and "" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart).
Prince released , a five-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was disorderly, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventu these pre-orders were eventually delivered months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The retail edition has only four discs, as it is missing the Kamasutra disc. There are also two different packaging editions for retail, one being in a four-disc sized jewel case with a simple white cover and the Love Symbol the other is all four discs in a round translucent snap jewel case. The discs are the same, as is the CD jacket. The
album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts. His collaboration on 's , and 's , both released on the
label around the same time as Newpower Soul met with the same fate, despite heavy promotion and live appearances on , and the
show's Summer Concert Series.
In 1999, Prince once again signed with a major label, , to release a new record, . In an attempt to make his new album a success, Prince easily gave more interviews than at any other point in his career, appearing on MTV's
(with his album cover on the front of the , in the background on TRL throughout the whole show),
(with Larry Graham) and other media outlets. Nevertheless, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic failed to perform well commercially. A few months earlier, Warner Bros. had also released , a collection of unreleased material recorded by Prince throughout his career, and his final recording commitment on his contract with Warner Bros. The greatest success he had during the year was with the EP , released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original 1999.
The pay-per-view concert, , was broadcast on December 31, 1999 and consisted of footage from the December 17 and 18 concerts of his 1999 tour. The concert featured appearances by many guest musicians including , , Jimmy Russell, and The Time. It was released to home video the following year. A remix album,
(as opposed to "Un2") was released exclusively through Prince's
in April 2000.
On May 16, 2000, Prince ceased using the Love Symbol moniker and returned to using "Prince" again, after his publishing contract with
expired. In a press conference, he stated that, after being freed from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he would formally revert to using his real name. Prince still frequently uses the symbol as a logo and on album artwork and continues to play a Love Symbol-shaped guitar. For several years following the release of Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription service,
(). Two albums that show substantive jazz influence were available commercially at record stores: 2001's , and the 2003 instrumental record
which was nominated for a
Grammy Award. Another album of largely jazz-influenced music, , was released via download in 2003 to members of the NPGMusicClub. Xpectation is jazz themed along with new age and atmospheric themes.
In 2002, Prince released his first live album, , which features performances from the . The 3-CD box set, which also includes a disc of "aftershow" music entitled It Ain't Over!, failed to chart. During this time, Prince sought to engage more effectively with his fan base via the , pre-concert sound checks, and at yearly "celebrations" at , his music studios. Fans were invited into the studio for tours, interviews, discussions and music-listening sessions. Some of these fan discussions were filmed for an , directed by . Smith discusses what happened during those days at length in his
DVD. Performances were also arranged to showcase Prince's talents, as well as to collaborate with popular and well-established artists and guests including , the , , , , and .
On February 8, 2004, Prince appeared at the
with . In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Knowles performed a medley of "", "", "", and Knowles' "". The following month, Prince was inducted into the . The award was presented to him by Alicia Keys along with
of . As well as performing a trio of his own hits during the ceremony, Prince also participated in a tribute to fellow inductee
in a rendering of Harrison's "", playing a long guitar solo that ended the song. In addition he performed "Red House" on the album . On February 19,
broadcast included a performance of "Reflection" from Prince's Musicology album. Prince was accompanied by Wendy Melvoin, formerly of The Revolution.
In April 2004, Prince released
through a one-album agreement with . The album rose as high as the top five on a number of international charts (including the US, UK, Germany and Australia). The US chart success was assisted by the CD being included as part of the concert ticket purchase, and each CD thereby qualifying (as chart rules then stood) towards US chart placement. Musicology is R&B and soul-themed along with funk, pop, quiet storm, and rock. Three months later,
named him the greatest
of all time. That same year, Rolling Stone magazine named Prince as the highest-earning musician in the world, with an annual income of $56.5 million, largely due to his , which
named as the top concert draw among musicians in US. The artist played an impressive run of 96 the average ticket price for a show was US$61. Further highlighting the success of the album, Prince's Musicology went on to receive two Grammy wins, for
for "" and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the . Musicology was also nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Album, while "" was nominated for . The album became the artist's most commercially successful since , partly due to a radical scheme devised which included in Billboard′s sales figures those that were distributed to each customer during ticket sales for the Musicology tour, with concert figures accounting for 25% of the total album sales. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked Prince No. 27 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with
singing backing vocals) on 's single "", Wonder's first since 1999. In the aftermath of , which devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, Prince offered a personal response by recording two new songs, "" and the instrumental "Brand New Orleans", at
in the early hours of September 2. Prince again performed all instrumental and vocal parts. These recordings were quickly dispersed to the public via Prince's NPG Music Club, and "S.S.T." was later picked up by , where it reached No. 1 on the store's R&B chart. On October 25,
released a version of the single on CD.
In late 2005, Prince signed with
to release his album, , on March 21, ). The first single was the Latin-tinged "", the video for which was directed by actress
and filmed in , Morocco, featuring Argentine actress and singer . The video for the second single, "", was nominated at the
for Best Cinematography. The immediate success of 3121 gave Prince his first No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 with the album. To promote the new album, Prince was the musical guest on
on February 4, 2006, 17 years after his last SNL appearance on the 15th anniversary special and nearly 25 years since his first appearance on a regular episode in 1981, making Prince the only SNL musical guest to have that long of a gap between appearances. He performed two songs from the album, "" and "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed", with . Prince also held a contest to win a trip to see a 'Purple Ticket Concert' at his private residence in , California. Seven winning tickets were placed inside 3121 CD packages in the US, and other tickets were given away in various contests on the Internet and around the world. On May 6, 2006, 24 prizewinners (with a guest each) attended a star-studded private party and performance at Prince's home.
On June 12, 2006, Prince received a
Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his "visionary" use of the I Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997's , exclusively on the Internet (although he did take phone orders for it as well...1-800-NEW-FUNK).
Only weeks after winning a Webby Award, Prince abruptly shut down his then-official
website on July 4, 2006, after more than five years of operation.[] On the day of the music club's shutdown, a lawsuit was filed against Prince by the British company HM Publishing (owners of the , also NPG). Despite these events occurring on the same day, Prince's attorney has called it pure coincidence and stated that the site did not close due to the trademark dispute. Prince appeared at multiple award ceremonies in 2006. On February 15, 2006, Prince performed at the
along with Wendy & Lisa and Sheila E. He played "Te Amo Corazón" and "Fury" from 3121 and "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" from Purple Rain. On June 27, 2006, Prince appeared at the
, where he was awarded Best Male R&B Artist. In addition to receiving his award, Prince performed a medley of Chaka Khan songs for Khan's BET Lifetime Award. Prince had previously written and performed several songs with the singer.
In November 2006, Prince was inducted into the , appearing to collect his award but not performing. Also in November 2006, Prince opened a nightclub named 3121 in
at the . He performed weekly on Friday and Saturday nights until April 2007, when his contract with the Rio ended. On August 22, 2006, Prince released . The double disc set contains one CD of previous hits, and another of extended versions and mixes of material that had largely only previously been available on vinyl record B-sides. Prince wrote and performed a song for the hit 2006 animated film . The song, entitled "", appears on the film's , which also features a cover of Prince's earlier hit "Kiss", sung by
and . In January 2007, "The Song of the Heart" won a
for Best Original Song.
Prince's stage set for the Earth Tour in 2007
On February 2, 2007, Prince played at the
press conference. He and the band played a set comprising 's hit, "", "" from
and "Get On the Boat" from . Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on February 4, 2007. The performance consisted of three
tracks ("Let's Go Crazy", "" and the ), along with cover versions of "" by , "" by , the
song "" and "" by . Coincidentally, Miami had rain on the day of the Super Bowl, which was lit purple during the performance of "Purple Rain". He played on a large stage shaped as his symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television viewers, the largest audience of his life. On February 4, 2010,
ranked the performance as the greatest Super Bowl performance ever.
Prince played 21 concerts in London during the summer of 2007. The
included 21 nights at the 20,000 capacity , with
in his band. Tickets for the O2 Arena were capped by Prince at ?31.21. The residency at the O2 Arena was increased to 15 nights after all 140,000 tickets for the original seven sold out in just 20 minutes. It was then further extended to 21 nights. On May 10, 2007, Prince performed a "secret" gig at London's
in front of a small crowd of fans and celebrities. A prelude to the forthcoming summer gigs in London, Prince played a relaxed set of hits including ("", changing the lyric from "You don't have to watch " to , "", and "") alongside more recent tracks, plus a cover version of 's "".
Prince made an appearance at the 2007 , performing with Sheila E. in June 2007. On June 28, 2007, the UK national newspaper the
revealed that it had made a deal to give Prince's new album, , away for free with an "imminent" edition of the paper, making it the first place in the world to get the album. This move sparked controversy among music distributors and also led the UK arm of Prince's distributor, , to withdraw from distributing the album in UK stores. The UK's largest high street music retailer, , decided to stock the paper on release day due to the giveaway. Planet Earth is rock-oriented along with disco, and other various music styles. On July 7, 2007, Prince returned to his hometown of
to perform three shows in what was unofficially declared Prince Day in . He performed concerts at the
Auditorium (to promote his new perfume "3121") on , the
arena, and . It was the first time he had played at First Avenue (the club appeared in the film Purple Rain) since 1987.
Prince playing with
On April 25, 2008, Prince performed on , where he debuted a new song, "Turn Me Loose". Days after, he headlined the . Prince was paid more than $5 million for his performance at Coachella, according to . Prince cancelled a concert, planned at Dublin's
on June 16, 2008, at just 10 days' notice. In October 2009 promoters
went to court to sue Prince for EUR1.6 million, after paying him $1.5 million, half his agreed fee of $3 million for the concert. MCD claim they had to refund 55,126 tickets purchased and its total losses exceeded $1.66 million. Prince's lawyers argued the MCD claim was "greatly inflated". Prince settled the case out of court in February 2010 for $2.95 million. During the trial, it was revealed that Prince had been offered $22 million for seven concerts as part of a proposed 2008 European tour. In October 2008, Prince released a live album entitled , as well as 21 Nights, an accompanying book of poems, lyrics and photos. The book chronicled his record-breaking tenure at London's O2 Arena in 2007, while the album is a collection of songs performed live at aftershows in the IndigO2.
Prince at the
On December 18, 2008, Prince premiered four songs from his new album on LA's Indie rock radio station . The radio station's programmers Max Tolkoff and
had been invited to Prince's home to hear the new rock-oriented music. Prince then surprised the two by giving them a CD with four songs to premiere on their radio station. The music debuted the next day on Jonesy's Jukebox, hosted by
. The music comprised a cover of "" by , together with "Colonized Mind", "Wall of Berlin" and "4ever". The same day, another new Prince composition entitled "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" premiered on the now obsolete and defunct  — replacing a shorter, instrumental version of the song that streamed several days previously.
On January 3, 2009, a new
was launched, streaming some of the recently aired material ("Crimson and Clover", "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" and "Here Eye Come") and promising opportunities to listen to and buy music by Prince and guests, watch videos and buy concert tickets for future events. On January 31, Prince released two more songs : "Disco Jellyfish", and "Another Boy". "Chocolate Box", "Colonized Mind", and "All This Love" have since been released on the website. Prince released a triple album set containing , MPLSoUND, and an album credited to his new protégé, , called Elixer, on March 24, 2009, followed by a physical release on March 29. The release was preceded by performances on
and . It was released in other countries digitally, with official physical release dates yet to be announced. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and critics' opinions were mixed to positive.
On July 18, 2009, Prince performed two shows at the , being backed by the
including Rhonda Smith, Renato Neto and . There he played "A Large Room with No Light", which had been in Prince's "vault" for some time. On October 11, 2009, Prince gave two surprise concerts at the glass-and-iron
exhibition hall after visiting the landmark Paris building on the banks of the Seine. On October 12, he gave another surprise gig at . On October 24, Prince played a concert at his own
complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In January 2010, Prince wrote a new song, "Purple and Gold", inspired by his visit to a
football game against the . The song is a simple, drumline-driven track. The following month, Prince let Minneapolis-area public radio station
premiere his new song "Cause and Effect" as a gesture in support of independent radio.
In 2010, Prince was listed in TIME magazine's annual ranking of the "100 Most Influential People in the World".
Prince released a new single on Minneapolis radio station 89.3 The Current called "Hot Summer" on June 7, his 52nd birthday. Also in June, Prince appeared on the cover of the July 2010 issue of , and he received the
at the 2010 .
Prince released his album
in July 2010 as a free
with publications in the UK, Belgium, Germany, and France. Prince has refused access to the album to digital download services. He also closed his official website, . In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Prince said, "The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it... Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
On July 4, 2010 Prince began his , a concert tour in two legs with shows in Europe. The second leg began on October 15 and ended with a concert following the
on November 14. The second half of the tour has a new band, John Blackwell, , and Sheila E. Prince let
debut the snippet of his new song "Rich Friends" from the "new" album 20Ten Deluxe on October 8, 2010. Prince started the
Tour on December 15, 2010.
Prince was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame on December 7, 2010.
On February 12, 2011, Prince presented
with an award and donated $1.5 million to charities. On the same day, it was reported that he was unimpressed about Glee covering his hit "", and that he had not authorised its use.
On the May 18, 2011, it was announced that Prince would be headlining
on July 3, 2011, marking his first UK show since 2007 and his first ever UK festival appearance.
Despite having previously rejected the Internet for music distribution, on November 24, 2011, Prince re-released a reworked version of the previously unreleased song "Extraloveable" through both iTunes and Spotify. Purple Music, a Switzerland-based record label, released a CD single "Dance 4 Me" on December 12, 2011, as part of a club remixes package including
CD single "2 Nite" released on February 23, 2012. The CD features club remixes by Jamie Lewis and David Alexander, produced by Prince.
In January 2013, Prince released a
for a new song called "Screwdriver". A couple of months later in April 2013, Prince announced a short West Coast tour with
as his backing band. The final two dates of the tour were in Minneapolis where former
sat in as guest drummer on both shows. In May, Prince announced a deal with Kobalt Music to market and distribute his music.
On August 14, 2013, Prince officially sent his first tweet through the 3RDEYEGIRL Twitter account. The same day, he released a new solo single for exclusive download through
website. The single "Breakfast Can Wait" received attention for its cover art, featuring comedian 's notable impersonation of the singer in a sketch on the 2000s
In February 2014, Prince performed concerts with 3rdeyegirl in London. Beginning with intimate shows, the first was held at the London home of singer , followed by two performances of what Prince described as a "sound check" at the Electric Ballroom in , and another at Shepherds Bush Empire.
On April 18, 2014, Prince released a new single entitled "The Breakdown". Along with the surprise release, news came that a new album was in the works, an expanded edition of Purple Rain would be released for the 30th anniversary, and he has re-signed with his former label,
after an 18-year split. He also gained the rights to his master recordings from the 1980s, which had been a point of contention for his initial split with the major label.
In May 2015, following the
and the subsequent , Prince released a song entitled 'Baltimore' in tribute to Gray and in support of the protesters in .
He also held a surprise tribute concert for Gray at his Paisley Park estate called 'Dance Rally 4 Peace' in which he reportedly encouraged fans to wear the color gray in honor of Freddie Gray.
Prince resides near , Minnesota. Over the years Prince has been romantically linked with many celebrities, including , , , , , , , , and
and . Prince was engaged to
in 1985. He married his backup singer and dancer, , on Valentine's Day, 1996. They had a son, Boy Gregory (born October 16, 1996), who was born with
and died a week after birth. Prince and Mayte divorced in 1999. In 2001, Prince married Manuela Testolini in a private ceremony. Testolini filed for divorce in May 2006. He also had a short-term relationship with protégée
Prince became a member of
in 2001 following a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow Jehovah's Witness, musician . Prince said he didn't consider it a conversion, but a "realization"; "It's like
in ," he explained. He attends meetings at a local
and occasionally knocks on people's doors to discuss his faith. Prince has reportedly needed double-hip-replacement surgery since 2005 but won't undergo the operation unless it is a
because . The condition is rumored to be aggravated by repeated onstage dancing in high-heeled boots. However, when Prince was interviewed in 2010, journalist Peter Willis said he believed the rumors of Prince needing double hip surgery to be unfounded and untrue as Prince appeared to be agile.
Prince is . The
for his album
featured a message about the cruelty involved in
production.
Since 2008, Prince has been managed by UK-based Kiran Sharma.
Speaking about her relationship with Prince in an interview with Norwegian station
in November 2014,
said that Prince had summoned her to his house after "". O'Connor said "I made it without him. I'd never met him. He summoned me to his house—and it's foolish to do this to an Irish woman—he said he didn't like me saying bad words in interviews. So I told him to fuck off." O'Connor alleged the row became physical. "He got quite violent. I had to escape out of his house at 5 in the morning. He packed a bigger punch than mine." "Nothing Compares 2U" is the song Prince penned which later became a worldwide hit for O'Connor in 1990.
This section of a
any . Please help by adding . Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (December 2014)
In addition to his singing abilities (which encompass a wide range from falsetto to baritone and rapid, flamboyant shifts of register, as well as diverse characterisation) Prince is one of pop music's most prominent multi-instrumentalists. The precise number of instruments he is capable of playing remains obscure, partly due to the active mythologizing of his abilities and working practices (such as the claim that he had played "all 27 instruments" on his debut album, which appears to have included various different kinds of guitar, keyboard and synthesizer in the total).
As a live performer he tends to focus on guitar, piano, lead vocals and occasional harmonica. On recordings he has also played assorted keyboards and synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, various percussion instruments and saxophone, as well as mastering both drum and synthesizer programming. Prince has mentioned learning and performing simple parts on particular instruments that he does not otherwise play (such as concert harp) in order to serve song arrangements on albums.
In 1993, during negotiations regarding the release of , a legal battle ensued between Warner Bros. and Prince over the artistic and financial control of his musical output. During the lawsuit, he appeared in public with the word "slave" written on his cheek. Prince explained his name change as follows:
The first step I have taken toward the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to the Love Symbol. Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros...
I was born Prince and did not want to adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my name, and my identity, was the Love Symbol, a symbol with no pronunciation, that is a representation of me and what my music is about. This symbol is present in my it is a concept that has evolved it is who I am. It is my name.
Prince is a trademark owned by Paisley Park Enterprises Inc. It was initially filed with the
(USPTO) in 2005 in the categories of printed materials, clothing, electronic commerce, and entertainment services based on first commercial in 1978. Various searches to the USPTO did not find any registrations or transfers of "Prince" or related names by Warner Bros. In 1991, PRN Music Corporation assigned the trademarks Prince, The Time, Paisley Park, New Power Generation, and Prince and the Revolution to Paisley Park Enterprises.
Prince has used pseudonyms to separate himself from the music (either his own or that of others) for wh "I was just getting tired of seeing my name," he said, "If you give away an idea, you still own that idea. In fact, giving it away strengthens it. Why do people feel they have to take credit for everything they do? Ego, that's the only reason." These pseudonyms include: Jamie Starr and The Starr Company (for the songs he wrote for the
and many other artists from ), Joey Coco (for many unreleased Prince songs in the late 1980s, as well as songs written for
& Kenny Rogers), Paisley Park (occasionally used in the early 1990s for his production credits on songs, including those written for
and ), Alexander Nevermind (for writing the 1984 song "" by Sheena Easton), and Christopher (used for his song writing credit of "" for the ).
On September 14, 2007, Prince announced that he was going to sue
because they "are clearly able [to] filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success." , the international Internet policing company he hired, told Reuters: "The problem is that one can reduce it to zero and then the next day there will be 100 or 500 or whatever. This carries on ad nauseam at Prince's expense."
In October 2007, Stephanie Lenz filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Publishing Group, claiming they were abusing copyright law, after the music publisher had YouTube take down Lenz's home movie in which the Prince song "" played faintly in the background.
On November 5, 2007, several fan sites of Prince formed "Prince Fans United" to fight back against legal requests they claim Prince made to cease and desist all use of photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince's likeness. While Prince's lawyers claimed that the use of such representations constituted copyright infringement, the Prince Fans United claimed that the legal actions were "attempts to stifle all critical commentary about Prince." A few days later, Prince released a statement denying the fansites' claims, stating "The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fansites, or control comment in any way. The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images, and no lawsuits have been filed." The statement from , Prince's promoter, asserted that the only "offending items" on the three fansites were live shots from Prince's 21 nights in London at the O2 Arena earlier in the year.
On November 8, 2007, Prince Fans United received a song named "PFUnk", providing a kind of "unofficial answer" to their movement. The song, originally debuted on the PFU main site, was retitled "" and is available on iTunes.
On November 14, 2007, it was reported that the satirical website
had pulled their "image challenge of the week" devoted to Prince after legal threats from the star under the . B3ta co-founder
wrote on the site: "Under threat of legal action from Prince's legal team of 'potential closure of your web site' – We have removed the Prince image challenge and B3ta apologizes unreservedly to AEG / NPG and Prince for any offence caused. We also ask our members to avoid photoshopping Prince and posting them on our boards."
At the 2008 Coachella Music Festival, Prince performed a cover of 's "", but immediately after he forced YouTube and other sites to remove footage that fans had taken of the performance, despite Radiohead's demand for it to remain on the website. Days later, YouTube reinstated the videos, while Radiohead claimed "it's our song, let people hear it." In 2009, Prince put the video of that Coachella performance on his then-official .
In 2013, the
granted to Prince the inaugural "Raspberry Beret Lifetime Aggrievement Award", a reference to resentment of parties who allege unfair treatment and misuse of copyright claims by the artist and his lawyers.
In January 2014, Prince filed a lawsuit titled Prince v. Chodera against 22 online users for direct copyright infringement, unauthorized fixation, and contributory copyright infringement and bootlegging. Several of the users were fans who had shared links to bootlegged versions of several Prince concerts through social media websites like Facebook.
Main articles:
Studio albums
Christopher Tracy
(1979–80)
(1980–81)
(1981–82)
(1982–83)
(1984–85)
(1988–89)
(1997–98)
(2000–01)
(2003–04)
(2006–07)
(2010–12)
Live Out Loud Tour w/3rdeyegirl (2013)
Earning 33 nominations, Prince has won seven Grammys. He also has had two albums -
- awarded the .
Nominated work
Award category
"International Lover"
Purple Rain
Purple Rain
Purple Rain
"I Feel for You"
Best R&B Song
Sign "O" the Times
Album of the Year
"U Got the Look"
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"U Got the Look"
Best R&B Song
"Batdance"
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
"Nothing Compares 2 U"
"Gett Off"
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"Diamonds and Pearls"
"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
"Eye Hate U"
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Gold Experience
"Cinnamon Girl"
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
"Call My Name"
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
"Call My Name"
Best R&B Song
"Musicology"
Musicology
Best R&B Album
"Black Sweat"
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
"Beautiful, Loved and Blessed"
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"Black Sweat"
Best R&B Song
Best R&B Album
"Future Baby Mama"
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
(VMAs) is an award show by cable network MTV to honor the top music videos of the year. It was first held in September 1984 and was originally meant as an alternative to the Grammy Awards in the video category. Prince has won four awards from 12 nominations throughout his career.
Nominated work
Award category
Best Choreography in a Video
Best Choreography in a Video
Best Male Video
Nominated work
Award category
Best Original Song Score
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