Prince Rogers Nelson (better known as Prince) (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American musician and dancer. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He was known for blending erotic lyrics with funk rock and technology. He had ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. His releases have sold over 350 million copies worldwide. From 1993 to 2000, Prince changed his name to a glyph. Since this symbol was impossible to pronounce, people began calling him "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince."
In addition to his own musical career, he was a "talent promoter" for the careers of Sheila E., Carmen Electra, The Time and Vanity 6.
Prince has sold over 400 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. Rolling Stone ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. This was the first year he was eligible.
On April 21, 2016, Prince died of a fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota at the age of 57.
Early life
Prince was born Prince Rogers Nelson, on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father was John Lewis Nelson who was a Jazz singer-songwriter. His mother was Mattie Della Shaw. His family was from Louisiana. He had epilepsy when he was younger. His sister was Tyka Nelson. He played basketball when he was in high school.
Career
Prince released his first single, "Soft and Wet", in 1978. It reached number 92 in the Billboard 100. In 1979 "I Wanna Be Your Lover" was number one for two weeks in the American R&B singles chart.
Prince released his third album Dirty Mind in 1980. Rolling Stone gave the album four and a half stars.
In 1982 Prince released his fifth album 1999. "Little Red Corvette" was released as the second single. Prince had his first number one single, "When Doves Cry", in 1984. The single he released after that, "Let's Go Crazy", also reached number one. In 1985 Around the World in a Day was released. The album's first single "Raspberry Beret" reached number two in the Billboard 100. Prince's next number one "Kiss" was in 1986. It won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. "U Got the Look" was released in 1987. It reached number two in the Billboard 100.
In 1990 Sinead O'Connor reached number one with her cover of Prince's song "Nothing Compares 2 U". Prince was angry about this.
In 2006 the second single from Prince's album 3121 entered the Billboard 100 at number 60. This was the highest number a Prince single had entered the chart at for years.
In 2014 it was reported that Prince would be signed to Warner Bros. again. Prince released a new single on April 19 called "The Breakdown".
In May 2015, following the death of Freddie Gray and the riots, Prince released a song entitled "Baltimore" in tribute to Gray and in support of the protesters in Baltimore. He also held a surprise tribute concert for Gray at his Paisley Park estate called 'Dance Rally 4 Peace' in which he asked fans to wear the color gray in honor of Freddie Gray.
His album Hit n Run Phase One was first made available on September 7, 2015 on music streaming service Tidal before being released on CD and download on September 14.
In 2016, Prince announced that he was writing a memoir, titled The Beautiful Ones.
Personal life
Over the years Prince was romantically linked with many celebrities. These include Madonna, Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn Fenn, and Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6.
Prince was engaged to Susannah Melvoin in 1985.
He married his backup singer and dancer, Mayte Garcia, on Valentine's Day, 1996. They had a son, amiir (born October 16, 1996). He was born with Pfeiffer syndrome 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 had been in a relationship with Bria Valente from 2007.
Prince was raised Seventh Day Adventist and became a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001.