Prince - Biography

Last Editor: fferraina				Prince Biography -   Name : Prince Date of birth : June 7, 1958 Placec of birth : Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Real Name : Prince Rogers Nelson Profession : Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actor Instrument : Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion Height : 5'2

Prince Trivia -

In May 2000 Prince dropped the symbol O(+> he adopted as a name. He had used the symbol because he considered his record contract with Warner Bros. Records oppressive, which ended in 2000. The symbol to which Prince changed his name (which is best rendered as ether O{+> or O(+> in normal ASCII characters) originated in and was borrowed by Prince from ancient Europe. [16 October 1996]. Son, with Mayte Garcia, born with the rare skull disease Pfeiffer's syndrome and unable to breathe without a ventilator. The child was taken off life support on 23 October and died. Changed his stage name to O(+>. [7 June 1993] Has dated several famous women before settling down: Kim Basinger, Sherilyn Fenn, Apollonia Kotero and Sheena Easton, to name a few. Started the careers of Vanity and Carmen Electra amongst others. Son of jazz pianist John L. Nelson. One of very few artists who has denied 'Weird Al' Yankovic permission to parody any of his songs. After years of asking, ''Weird Al' Yankovic' obtained video parody permission, and the video for UHF (1989) includes a sequence that spoofs the bathtub intro for Prince's video of "When Doves Cry". Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2004. A very short man, he often has to wear large shoes on stage so he is not dwarfed by some female singers. He was voted the 28th greatest Rock & Roll Artist of all time by "Rolling Stone" magazine. He joins Sylvester Stallone, Roberto Benigni, Kevin Costner, William Shatner and Tom Green as being the only actors to direct themselves in performances that would win them a Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Did the music for the movie Girl 6 (1996) as Prince. It was the only time he referred to himself as Prince from 1993 to 2000. In the late 1990s, he requested to be referred to as simply The Artist, since his initial intention when he changed his name to O(+> was to not be referred to as Prince. Unfortunately that was not going too well, considering everyone was calling him the Artist Formerly Known as Prince because the symbol has no pronunciation. The symbol he used as his name was also the name of his last Warner Bros. album as Prince, which was released just a few months before his name change. He recorded as Prince since then on his independently distributed, self-released albums and those licensed to Arista/BMG Records and Columbia/SME Records. Known for his colorful outfits and explicitly flaunting and expressing his strong sexuality during his performances, despite being a devout Christian. One of the very few musicians who writes, produces and composes all his music himself. On most of his albums, he plays all the instruments himself, except for brass instruments, which he does not play, though he does have a backing band for concerts. His songwriting skills have provided hits for others such as Chaka Khan, Sinéad O'Connor and Jordan Knight. Played the song "1999" for the last time at a New Year's Eve party in 1999, then announced he was retiring the song. During the filming of Purple Rain (1984), he was told one day by director Albert Magnoli that the film needed a montage song that dealt heavily on emotions. Prince responded with two songs the very next morning, written, produced and recorded. One of the songs was the smash hit "When Doves Cry". Performed a composition written by his father, John L. Nelson, in the music of Purple Rain (1984); this music was also part a song from the Purple Rain (1984) soundtrack, "Computer Blue". His 1984 album "Purple Rain" sold 13 million copies in the United States. In November 2005 he was told by his doctors that he would need a hip replacement following years of energetic dancing on stage. Was to duet with Michael Jackson on his album "Bad", but could not decide on the words to the song. Prince's 2006 tour made him the most lucrative live performer of the year. His 69 city, 96 show tour took $87.4 million (£45.5 million), beating Céline Dion's Las Vegas residency, which came in second, taking $80.4 million (£41.8 million). Winner of the 1993 Brit Award for International Solo Artist. Winner of the British Phonographic Industry Awards for International Act and Soundtrack for "Purple Rain" in 1985. Winner of the 1992 Brit Award for International Solo Artist. In his An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002) (V) film, director Kevin Smith says that he learned during shooting of a documentary for Prince that he has made about 50 fully produced music videos for songs that were never released in any kind of form. Arrived an hour late to the 2007 Golden Globe Awards due to traffic and missed accepting the Golden Globe for Best Song for movie "Happy Feet". Justin Timberlake accepted the award for him after an awkward silence waiting for Prince to come on stage. He did so in an amusing fashion by crouching down to a shorter height and raising his voice to accept the award for Prince. Hugh Grant later announced Prince had finally arrived after being stuck in gridlock traffic, and gave Prince an opportunity to stand and receive applause for his win. During high school he was in a band called "Champagne" with his cousin Morris Day and friend Andre Cymone. Known as "Gazoo" in school because of his huge Afro and small body. Gazoo was the flying space guy in the Fintstones cartoon show with the giant head covered by a space helmet. Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [14 November 2006]. Ranked #18 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll. Ranked #5 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists. Wrote a song for his friend the actress Jackie Swanson entitled Palomino Pleasure Ride. Has sold 80 million albums worldwide. Held a press conference to announce his intention to perform 21 shows in London. (8 May 2007). Performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida, to a worldwide television audience of 140 million viewers. (4 February 2007). Thrilled his hometown fans by performing three shows over twelve hours, only stopping when police shut him down. The Minneapolis native first performed at a department store to promote his new cologne, cramming nine songs into a 45-minute set. He then played that night at the Target Center arena. He capped the night with a return to First Avenue, the club he made famous in the movie Purple Rain (1984). Minnesota's governor and the Minneapolis mayor issued proclamations honoring Prince, and fans flew in from all over the country to see the performer. After the Target Center, Prince waited until nearly 2:45 a.m. before starting the First Avenue show, the first time he had played at the club since 1987. The city lets music play until 4 a.m. He was 15 songs and 70 minutes into a 24-song set when he announced from the stage: "The authorities say we gotta go. We always listen to the authorities. I promise I'll be back." (7 July 2007). Is a Vegetarian.

Prince Detailed Biography -

Minneapolis' multi-instrumentalist Prince was Jackson's intellectual counterpart. This licentious androgyne, specializing in quasi-porno ballads, not only wrote his songs but even played all or most of the instruments. His favorite format was the concept album, not the hit single. His fusion of pop, soul and rock was driven by sheer libido. Prince basically transformed the moaning and screaming of copulation into a style of singing, a neurotic, delirious falsetto that continuously referenced sexual pleasure. If the fundamental elements remained the same throughout the decade, the emphasis shifted from the purely self-celebratory 1999 (1982) to the epic Purple Rain (1984) to the self-indulgently baroque Around The World (1985) to the semiotic, post-modern clockwork of Sign Of The Times (1987). Each album was both an erotic and a stylistic tour de force. His career as a whole was both a lascivious act and a pop encyclopedia. Prince's songwriting skills, also displayed in the Bangles' Manic Monday (1986) and Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares (1990), belonged to a white tradition that harks back to the Brill Building and runs through Brian Wilson and Todd Rundgren. Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of groundbreaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he has released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed; no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole. Prince's first two albums were solid, if unremarkable, late-'70s funk-pop. With 1980's Dirty Mind, he recorded his first masterpiece, a one-man tour de force of sex and music; it was hard funk, catchy Beatlesque melodies, sweet soul ballads, and rocking guitar pop, all at once. The follow-up, Controversy, was more of the same, but 1999 was brilliant. The album was a monster hit, selling over three million copies, but it was nothing compared to 1984's Purple Rain. Purple Rain made Prince a superstar; it eventually sold over ten million copies in the U.S. and spent 24 weeks at number one. Partially recorded with his touring band the Revolution, the record featured the most pop-oriented music he has ever made. Instead of continuing in this accessible direction, he veered off into the bizarre psycho-psychedelia of Around the World in a Day (1985), which nevertheless sold over two million copies. In 1986, he released the even stranger Parade, which was in its own way was as ambitious and intricate as any art rock of the '60s; however, no art rock was ever grounded with a hit as brilliant as the spare funk of "Kiss." By 1987, Prince's ambitions were growing by leaps and bounds, resulting in the sprawling masterpiece Sign o' the Times. Prince was set to release the hard funk of The Black Album by the end of the year, yet he withdrew it just before its release, deciding it was too dark and immoral. Instead, he released the confused Lovesexy in 1988, which was a commercial disaster. With the soundtrack to 1989's Batman he returned to the top of the charts, even if the album was essentially a recap of everything he had done before. The following year he released Graffiti Bridge, the sequel to Purple Rain, which turned out to be a considerable commercial disappointment. In 1991, Prince formed the New Power Generation, the best and most versatile and talented band he has ever assembled. With their first album, Diamonds and Pearls, Prince reasserted his mastery of contemporary R&B; it was his biggest hit since 1985. The following year, he released his 12th album, which was titled with a cryptic symbol; in 1993, Prince legally changed his name to the symbol. In 1994, after becoming embroiled in contract disagreements with Warner Bros., he independently released the single "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," likely to illustrate what he would be capable of on his own; the song became his biggest hit in years. Later that summer, Warner released the somewhat halfhearted Come under the name of Prince; the record was a moderate success, going gold. In November 1994, as part of a contractual obligation, Prince agreed to the official release of The Black Album. In early 1995, he immersed himself in another legal battle with Warner, proclaiming himself a slave and refusing to deliver his new record, The Gold Experience, for release. By the end of the summer, a fed-up Warner had negotiated a compromise which guaranteed the album's release, plus one final record for the label. The Gold Experience was issued in the fall; although it received good reviews and was following a smash single, it failed to catch fire commercially. In the summer of 1996, Prince released Chaos & Disorder, which freed him to become an independent artist. Setting up his own label, NPG (which was distributed by EMI), he resurfaced later that same year with the three-disc Emancipation, which was designed as a magnum opus that would spin off singles for several years and be supported with several tours. However, even his devoted cult following needed considerable time to digest such an enormous compilation of songs. Once it was clear that Emancipation wasn't the commercial blockbuster he hoped it would be, Prince assembled a long-awaited collection of outtakes and unreleased material called Crystal Ball in 1998. With Crystal Ball, Prince discovered that it's much more difficult to get records to an audience than it seems; some fans who pre-ordered their copies through Prince's website (from which a bonus fifth disc was included) didn't receive them until months after the set began appearing in stores. Prince then released a new one-man album, New Power Soul, just three months after Crystal Ball; even though it was his most straightforward album since Diamonds and Pearls, it didn't do well on the charts, partly because many listeners didn't realize it had been released. A year later, with "1999" predictably an end-of-the-millennium anthem, Prince issued the remix collection 1999 (The New Master). A collection of Warner Bros.-era leftovers, Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale, followed that summer, and in the fall Prince returned on Arista with the all-star Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.