PRINCE
Prince was a multi-talented and skilled artist that could do anything from sing, dance, write and arrange songs, produce music, and lead a band. An incredible songwriter who released 39 studio albums throughout his nearly 40-year career. The mastermind behind the "Minneapolis sound," that took over in the '80s and beyond. Prince discovered his passion for music from a young age as he came from a family of musicians. His parents, John Nelson and Mattie Shaw, played and performed with the Prince Rogers Band. During his upbringing, he learned how to play several instruments all by himself such as the piano, drums, and guitar, and formed a high school band called Grand Central. He later explained, that expressing himself in flashy and noisy ways was his way of compensating for the way he suffered from epileptic seizures and teasing in school.
Regardless of the obstacles he faced in his personal life, his career took off. He released his debut album, For You, in 1978 and Prince in 1979 in which he played most of the instruments himself. Prince brought him his first Top 20 pop hit "I Wanna Be Your Lover." In 1980, he released Dirty Mind which contained themes about sexual exploration and fantasy, and as his career developed, he was known for using themes of spirituality in his music. He became a visual icon with his trademark curls, flowing jackets, and ruffled attire with punk embellishment. It was his release of the album 1999 that brought him international success in 1982. This album included Top 10 hits such as "Little Red Corvette" and "Delirious." His classic album Purple Rain (1984) became the soundtrack to the film Purple Rain and made almost $70 million at U.S. Box Office while the track reach No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
To find out more information about Prince, check out the following resources!
https://www.biography.com/musician/prince
https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/prince
Listen to Prince on Spotify!
