Remembering Prince

Prince, the prince of pop, died yesterday April 21, 2016. His death has affected so many people across the world. He had such a great ear for not just music but for up in coming music artists. Prince was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prince's music early in his career we saw the release of Prince, Dirty Mind and Controversy; all of which created controversy due to their fusion of religious and sexual themes. Then he released the albums 1999 and Purple Rain, cementing his superstar status with No. 1 hits like "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy." The artist's prodigious output also included in later albums like Diamonds and Pearls, The Gold Experience and Musicology.

His Early Life

Both parents John Nelson and Mattie Shaw were jazz musicians/singers in the Prince Rogers Band (that is where Prince got his name.) So his love for music came naturally; teaching himself to play piano, guitar, and drums. His parents split when he was 10 so himself and his sister spent time at both theirs father and mother's houses. In which Prince eventually ran away to his neighbor's house (The Andersons.) In high school he performed his first band Grand Central (later to be called Champagne) with Andre Anderson and Morris Day. Prince signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1978. In a 2009 interview Prince revealed that when he was nothing but a child he suffered from epileptic seizures. From having these seizures kids at school would tease him.

Career Takes Off: 'Controversy' and '1999'

In 1978, Prince dropped his debut album, For You, which was followed by Prince in 1979. He played practically all of the instruments on the albums, and the sophomore release contained his first top 20 pop hit "I Wanna Be Your Lover." The critically acclaimed Dirty Mind dropped in 1980. Controversy released in 1981 continued playing with the themes of its predecessor, as seen with the dance-oriented title track, which reached No. 3 on the r&b charts, as well as songs like "Sexuality" and "Do Me Baby." Yet as Prince continued to develop his career, he would also be known for tracks that had a deep spirituality. The singer found international success with the release of his 1982 album, 1999.

The '80s: 'Purple Rain' and Beyond

With his band the Revolution, Prince went on to create the classic album Purple Rain in 1984, which also served as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, grossing almost $70 million at the U.S. box office. Co-starring Apollonia Kotero and Day, the movie garnered an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The melancholy title track "Purple Rain" reached no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the hits "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" both reached no. 1. While "Crazy" readily joined the pantheon of wild, electrifying rock songs, "Doves Cry" had one-of-a-kind signatures, displaying an otherworldly meld of electronic and funk elements without a traditional chorus. The soundtrack offered two other hits: "I Would Die 4 U" and "Take Me With U." Prince simultaneously became a well-known visual icon with his trademark curls, flowing jackets and ruffled attire with punk embellishments. "Darling Nikki" was another tune from Purple Rain that incited controversy due to its explicit visuals. After senator Al Gore's wife Tipper Gore bought the album for their daughter and listened to the track, she eventually pushed for albums to sport labels specifically geared toward parents warning of graphic lyrics.

Name Change

The lack of success for Love Symbol Album created tension between Prince and his record label Warner Bros. Over the ensuing years, the singer's career went through a roller coaster of ups and downs. Turned off by feeling controlled by his label, Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable glyph O(+> in 1993, a fusion of female and male astrological symbols which he used until 2000. During that time, he was more frequently referred to as "the artist formerly known as Prince," and his new symbol was not embraced by most fans. He also started making appearances with the word "SLAVE" drawn on the side of his face, meant to convey the great disdain he had for his label. Prince did release the 1995 album The Gold Experience during this time of duress, and scored another top 5 song with "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World."

In Recent Years

After several years of relative obscurity, Prince returned to the limelight in 2004 to perform at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles, the same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That spring, he released Musicology with a tour that became the top concert draw in the United States. The album won two Grammys and added another dreamy ballad, "Call My Name," to the Prince canon. His next album, 3121, was released in 2006. That year, he wrote and performed "Song of the Heart" for the animated film Happy Feet, and won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for the composition. In 2007 he performed for the Super Bowl XLI halftime show on a massive stage shaped as his famous symbol amid pouring rain. The event was watched by 140 million fans. 2010 was the year of accolades for Prince. He not only was lauded by Billboard.com as the greatest Super Bowl performer ever, but was also featured in TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BET Awards. He ended the year with an induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Prince also continued to release albums as seen with Planet Earth (2007), LotusFlow3r (2009) and, in a joint deal with the Daily Mirror, 20Ten (2010).

Death

On April 21, 2016, Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota. The week prior, his plane made an emergency landing and the singer was hospitalized for what was reportedly a severe case of the flu. Early reports by TMZ, though, have revealed that the musician had overdosed on Percocet, which he had been taking for a hip issue linked to corrective surgery in 2010. The Carver County sheriff's department and Midwest Medical Examiner's office have launched an investigation into the cause of death. After the autopsy, his remains were cremated and his close family and friends gathered for a small, private funeral on April 23. Tributes to a profoundly unique artist have poured in from fans across the globe, as evidenced by impromptu memorials and celebrations of his work. With love especially hailing from the city where Prince was born and continued to live, thousands of mourners sang to "Purple Rain" in downtown Minneapolis on the night of his death.

Source: www.biography.com