Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, and actor. Often credited as an influence on music and one of the greatest musicians of his era, he pioneered the Minneapolis sound and was influential in the evolution of various other genres of music.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 18, releasing his first album, For You, two years later. He went on to achieve critical success with his albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982). In 1984, Prince became the first singer to simultaneously have a number-one film, album and single in the United States, with Purple Rain, its soundtrack, and "When Doves Cry" respectively, the latter being the biggest hit single of the year. The album, recorded with his new backing band the Revolution, spent six consecutive months atop the United States Billboard 200 chart and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. After disbanding the Revolution, Prince released his first double LP in 1987, titled Sign o' the Times, widely lauded by critics as the greatest work of his career and one of the greatest records in music history.

In 1993, in the midst of a contractual dispute with Warner Bros., Prince changed his stage name to the unpronounceable symbol , known to fans as the "Love Symbol". After signing a contract with Arista Records in 1998, Prince reverted to his original name in 2000 and continued releasing albums, including the double Grammy Award winning Musicology (2004). He was a prolific musician who released 39 albums during his life, with a vast array of unreleased material. On April 21, 2016, at the age of 57, Prince died after accidentally overdosing on counterfeit hydrocodone/paracetamol pills laced with fentanyl at his Paisley Park home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Prince sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His awards include 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 Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024, and twice into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2022.

Early life

Prince Rogers Nelson was born at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1958, to jazz singer Mattie Della (née Shaw) and pianist and songwriter John Lewis Nelson. All four of his grandparents were from Louisiana. The jazz drummer Louis Hayes was his paternal cousin.

Prince was named after his father's most popular stage name, Prince Rogers, which was used while performing with Della in a jazz group named the Prince Rogers Trio. In 1991, Prince's father told A Current Affair that he named his son "Prince" because he wanted Prince "to do everything I wanted to do". During his childhood, Prince was not fond of his name and used "Skipper" instead. Prince said he was "born epileptic" and had seizures when he was young. He stated, "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 younger sister, Tyka, was born on May 18, 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, which was encouraged by their father. His parents were both members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant denomination.

In 2022, during a Minneapolis teachers' strike, Minneapolis–Saint Paul news station WCCO-TV was researching a previous teacher's strike in April 1970 and accidentally uncovered an interview they had done with Prince about that strike. Prince, who was 11 years old at the time, said about the strike, "I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff." While he never identifies himself in the interview, it was confirmed to be him through interviews with a historian in Minneapolis, as well as by a former classmate who was a member of Prince's first band. The video is one of few videos from his childhood.

Prince wrote his first song, titled "Funk Machine", on his father's piano when he was seven years old. When he was ten, his parents divorced. His mother remarried Hayward Baker, with whom she had a son named Omarr. Prince had a fraught relationship with Omarr, to the extent that it caused him to repeatedly switch homes, sometimes living with his father and sometimes with his mother and stepfather. Baker took Prince to see James Brown in concert, with Prince crediting Baker with improving the family's finances. After a brief period of living with his father, who bought him his first guitar, Prince moved into the basement of the Anderson family, who were his neighbors, after his father threw him out. He befriended the Andersons' son, André Cymone, who later collaborated with Prince.

Prince briefly attended Minneapolis's Bryant Junior High, after which he moved to Central High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He played on Central's junior varsity basketball team, and continued to recreationally play basketball as an adult. He was trained in classical ballet at the Minnesota Dance Theatre through the Urban Arts Program of Minneapolis Public Schools. Prince became an advocate for dancers, and used his wealth to save the failing Joffrey Ballet in Chicago during the 1990s. He met songwriter and producer Jimmy Jam in 1973 and impressed Jam with his musical talent, early mastery of a wide range of instruments, and work ethic.

Career

1975–1980: Beginnings and breakthrough

In 1975, Pepe Willie, the husband of one of Prince's cousins, formed the band 94 East with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry, hiring André Cymone and Prince to record tracks. Willie wrote the songs, with Prince contributing guitar tracks, both of them co-writing the 94 East song, "Just Another Sucker". The band recorded tracks which later appeared in the album Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings. In 1976, shortly after graduating from Central High School, 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, then aged 19, to a management contract, and helped him create a demo at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis, with 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 Warner Bros. Records, A&M Records, and Columbia Records.

With the help of Husney, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1977. The record company agreed to give Prince creative control for three albums and retain his publishing rights. Husney and Prince then left Minneapolis and moved to Sausalito, California, where Prince's first album, For You, was recorded at Record Plant Studios. The album was mixed in Los Angeles and released on April 7, 1978. According to the For You album notes, Prince wrote, produced, arranged, composed, and played all 27 instruments on the recording, except for the song "Soft and Wet", whose lyrics were co-written by Moon. The cost of recording the album was twice Prince's initial advance. Prince used the Prince's Music Co. to publish his songs. In the United States, "Soft and Wet" reached No. 12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Just as Long as We’re Together" reached No. 91 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

Around this time, a side enterprise that Prince began to pursue involved a then-teenage singer Sue Ann Carwell, whose career as a solo artist he hoped to mold after hearing her talented performance on the Minneapolis R&B scene. However, Carwell resisted his suggestion that she use the name "Susie Stone". Recordings he had been working on with her for a projected 1978 album, including "I'm Saving It Up", "Make It Through the Storm", "Since We've Been Together" and "Wouldn't You Love To Love Me?", went unreleased. Carwell was subsequently signed by Warner Bros. Records.

In 1979, Prince created a band with André Cymone on bass, Dez Dickerson on guitar, Gayle Chapman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, and Bobby Z. 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 the album Prince, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Black Albums charts and No. 22 on the Billboard 200, and went platinum. It contained two R&B hits: "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover", which sold more than a million copies, and reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed at No. 1 for two weeks on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Prince performed both songs on January 26, 1980, on American Bandstand.