Celebrating Prince

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958- April 21, 2016)

Prince was regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation and truly embodied the 1980s to millions of fans. To honor Prince, whose birthday was June 7th, we thought it was important to showcase him and pay respects to his legacy.

Prince was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, and master guitar player with a flamboyant style and an incredible vocal range. He produced his albums himself, pioneered the Minneapolis sound, and sold over 150 million records. His music encompassed rock, R&B, blues, psychedelia, funk, soul, jazz, and pop and he often played most or all of the instruments on his recordings.

In his career, Prince won seven Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two BET Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award for the movie Purple Rain. In 2019, the 1984 film was added to the National Film Registry for preservation by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Prince was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

His body of work includes over 30 studio albums, five soundtrack albums, four live albums, and five compilation albums. More titles have been released by The Prince Estate since his passing in 2016.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records at age nineteen and released the albums For You (1978) and Prince (1979). He achieved critical success with his albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982). His sixth album Purple Rain (1984) was recorded with his band The Revolution and was the soundtrack to the film. Purple Rain was a major commercial success, spending six months on the Billboard 200 and winning Prince the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Prince then released Sign o’ the Times (1987), which was hailed by critics as his magnum opus. He also had many side projects, albums, and songs written under other names and for other artists.

On February 4, 2007, Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on a stage shaped like his personal symbol. Many fans consider it the greatest performance in Super Bowl history and the event was watched by an estimated 140 million TV viewers.

In 2010, Prince was ranked as one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” That same year, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards. Rolling Stone also voted Prince #33 on their 100 Greatest Guitarists list.

Prince died April 21,2016 in Paisley Park, his Minnesota home and recording studio. The cause of death was ruled an accidental overdose of fentanyl. He was a phenomenal talent who not only had incredible skills but who also maintained a completely original vibe in everything he did. There will never be another. Rest in Peace.

“Dear Mr. Man”

 
Prince website