Prince
O(+>
The Artist
TAFKAP/The Artist Formerly Known As Prince
His Royal Badness
Tora Tora
Joey Coco
Alexander Nevermind
Camille
Azifwekare
Christopher Tracy
Jamie Starr (The Starr Company)
Paisley Park
Skipper
PRN
Slave
etc...
Pince is a multi-musician. He is a singer, songwriter, dancer,
actor, all rolled into one. He is claimed to be born a
musical genius, and has been compared to other wonder children like Stevie Wonder and even Mozart.
Personally, I believe that he is the greatest artist of our time.
This is his story, as far as I know.
He was born June 7th 1958 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA.
Prince inherited his interest in music from his parents. John L. Nelson, his father, was a jazz panist/composer who played in a band called "The Prince Rogers Trio". His stage name was Prince. John lived for his music and his devotion led to conflicts with Prince's mother, Mattie Shaw. She occasionally sang in the group, but was not happy when John wanted to name their firstborn baby Prince Rogers Nelson, after his band.
She felt that it was John's way
of saying: "He is gonna end up like me, and there is nothing you can do about it." Mattie never accepted his birth name, and used the nickname "Skipper" instead.
Prince got one sister, called Tyka, and after his parents divorce, he got 7 half/step siblings.
At the age of 5, Prince's musical interest was brought to life as he was watching his father on stage. He decided that he wanted to be part of that world. He didn't get much help from his father, though. John couldn't stand the noise of Prince playing the piano, so he didn't allow him to use it. About his fathers influence on him, Prince said: "He doesn't listen to
any other music. I respect anybody who doesn't try to copy other
people."
When Prince was 7, his parents divorced. John left the piano behind and that gave Prince the opportunity to play it.
He taught himself how to handle the instrument by copying theme songs from TV-series.
The first song he ever played was the theme from "Batman."
To this day, Prince has no formal musical education. He doesn't seem to believe in it either, as he has stated that: "I don't
believe that anyone can teach you art."
It didn't seem to be a loss in his case, anyway. He revealed an enormous musical talent and has, by ear, taught himself how to play more then twenty different instruments. It is said that Prince plays every instruments there is, except
the tuba, because he hates the
sound of it...
Mattie remarried when Prince was 9. He thought his stepfather had a materialistic mind and couldn't stand him. Prince was angry because instead of forming a relationship with the children and talk to them, he gave them presents and thought that would make everything all right.
Prince ended up running away from home. Several times. For a
while he stayed at his fathers place. John bought him a guitar, but soon after he threw Prince out of his home. Prince went on to live with an uncle, but as he couldn't stand the constant sound of the guitar, that didn't work out either.
Prince ended up having trouble both with the school and his friends. People thought he was strange and he got teased because of his height.
Prince was lonely, and that made him turn even more to his music. He played for hours and the music took him far away from the problems he had.
About this time, Prince has said:
"I was known to be a weird guy. I had a lot of strange dreams. I was lonely almost all the time. Instead, I had the music. In many ways the music was more important to me than people."
At 13, Prince's life changed as he became best friends with Andre Simon Andersson.
Andre lived with his mother and five
siblings in a big house and Prince moved in with them. As he and Prince were the youngest, they got
the cellar all to themselves. They could do almost anything without getting into trouble with Andre's mother.
Some time after that, they formed a band, called "Grand Central."
Prince was singing and playing the guitar, Andre played the bass, Linda (Andre's sister) played the clavier and Morris Day (who later joined "The Time") played the drums.
The Grand Central played at school dances and things like that. Most of the time
they did songs that were on the hit charts, but sometimes they filled in
with some of Princes own songs. They had to fight for the jobs,
especially because of a rival band called "Flyte Time" (who later became "The Time").
In 1976 the band changed name from "Grand Central" to "Champagne."
Prince and his friends had become so successful that they fealt it was time to go for an album. They got in touch with Chris Moon at Moon Sound Studio. Moon
was writing lyrics, but was looking for someone to write the
music. He realized straight away that Prince was the star in the group, and the one with the real talent.
Moon and Prince made a deal where Prince would write music to Moon's lyrics. In return Prince would get free access to the studio.
Prince worked night and day in the studio with his songs, and after 8 months he had a demo tape.
At the same time, Champagne fell apart, and Prince ended up going solo.
He went to his sister Sharon in New York to get a record deal. When it came to signing a record deal, Prince had one very important condition: He wanted
full control over his album. As this was his debut album, this was considered to be great demands and the record deal fell through.
Owen Husney (who became Prince's manager) convinced him to return home and start over again.
Husney really believed in Prince and he managed to convince Warner Bros to believe in him as well. He told them that this guy was something else, and that he wouldn't let them down.
So, at 19, Prince signed a deal with Warner Bros. He had managed to get one of the best deals for a debut artist in the history. The deal included three albums,
the opportunity to produce them himself, and a lot of money.
Prince spent five months in the studio before he released "For You."
Except Chris Moon's lyrics for "Soft and Wet" everything is done by
Prince. Songs, music, arrangement, production, right
down to the cover of the LP which is designed by Prince. He played 27
instruments on the album and sang all the voices. On the first track,
"For You", he made a "choir" by recording the backing vocals 45 times, sung by himself every single time.
On "For You," he introduced what has come to be known as the "Minneapolis Sound," which means several synths where there normally are brass.
When Prince was done in the studio, he had cost Warner Bros. \$100,000. That
was way beyond the budget, and Prince had a great pressure on his
shoulders to do well with "For You".
He said about the album that: "I'm proud of "For You," in the sense that
it is perfect. No mistakes. But that is also the problem. It's not
really me, but more like a machine."
"For You" was released in 1978 and received good critics.
Prince went on tour with the album, and revealed himeself as a very strict bandleader.
He didn't allow any form of drug abuse, and he demanded
long and intense rehearsings.
During this time, Prince got the nickname "His Royal Badness."
In spite of good critics, "For You" didn't really sell well.
Prince decided to start all over again. He broke with Owen Husney and started working on his next album: "Prince" (1979). At that time, he
said: "I wanna give people what they need, not what they want."
When he released the single "I Wanna Be Your Lover," people
really started to notice this new artist.
Prince was on his way.
He released the albums "Dirty Mind" (1980) and "Controversy" (1981) which both became hits.
In 1982 he released the album "1999", an album which became a smash hit
and stayed at the top of the dance and pop charts for years.
The single
"1999" inspired thousands of people to vow that they would spend New
Years Eve 1999/2000 listening to his record.
Not only did Prince became a very popular pop artist, he also became a
very popular black pop artist.
He became one of the
most influential artists when it came to breaking colour barriers that
separated different music styles in the early 80s. Prince had a
multi-musical background which included everything from James Brown to
Joni Mitchell. He mixed rock, gospel, funk, blues, jazz, r&b and hip hop
into his own personal style which was impossible to leave out from any
radio station or hit list.
In 1984 Prince released the movie "Purple Rain."
The idea was born when he looked through his purple notebook which was
filled with notes about his life and carrier.
Purple Rain ended up being partly
self biographic, and it included people from his real life, like Morris Day
and the band "The Time."
The film was shot in Minneapolis during November and December 1983.
Most people thought the movie would be a
flop. Who would be interested in a movie about the life of a pop artist?
Purple Rain played in 917 cinemas all over America on opening night, July 27, 1984.
Three days later, it had played in \$7,766,000! After four weeks it
knocked down "Indiana Jones" from the No 1 spot, and stayed there for three
months.
The single "When Doves Cry" hit the No 1 spot in the USA and
stayed there for five weeks. It was the fourth single in the history to
sell double platinum.
At the age of 26 Prince had a No 1 single, "When Doves Cry", a No 1 album, and a No 1
movie, simultaneously.
At the Academy Awards in 1985 Prince received an Oscar for "Best Music,
Original Song Score" for Purple Rain. He was also nominated for a Golden
Globe Award for Best Original Song - Motion Picture for "When Doves Cry".
Prince became one of the most successful artists of the eighties with his many major hits. Even though there were other great artists,
Prince was in a class of his own.
He became a true artist if pop music has ever seen one.
His concerts attracted music lovers of all ages and
races. If they were not drawn by his rhythms and funky lyrics, they came
because of his brilliant guitar performances and inspired arrangements.
In 1986 Prince released his second motion picture, "Under the Cherry Moon". It was shot on the French Riviera and Prince
played the character Christopher Tracy.
Unfortunately, the movie did not hit it off like Purple Rain. The soundtrack did well, though, and included hits like "Kiss".
In 1987, Prince released the album "Sign O'The Times" which, by many fans and
critics, are rated as Prince's best album ever.
The year after, he was about to release "Black Album," when he
suddenly withdrew it. There have been many theories
concerning that. The most common ones are that he wasn't
happy with the album and that the lyrics were too offensive. Another rumour says that Prince had his first and only experience with drugs at that time. An experience which scared him so much that he withdrew the "Black Album" instantly and instead started working on the "gospel" album "Lovesexy". On the music video "Alphabet St" the words "Don't buy the
Black Album, I'm sorry" appears on the screen, but rather small and only for a few seconds.
Of course, there was no way Prince was able to keep the album away from the fans. The "Black
Album" became one of the most bootlegged albums in the world. The album was officially released in 1994, only three months after "Come".
In 1989, Prince wrote the soundtrack for "Batman," and in 1990 he made
his third movie, "Graffiti Bridge." It was not very
successful, but Prince himself maintains that it was
misunderstood. He claims that people will understand it in time and that the film is the key to understand his music.
And, if you understand his music, you understand the man, because that is the way he expresses himself.
As far as the press concerns, Prince has always been shy and withdrawn.
He would give everything on stage and through his
music, but it was almost impossible to get an interview from him.
That made him, of course, kind of mysterious.
He states that he's not an especially secretive artist, he just prefers to
let the music speak for itself, and keep his own life to himself.
In recent years, he has become a bit less secretive, though. He has
given several interviews and has appeared on TV shows quite often.
In 1992 Prince signed a 6 album record deal with Warner Bros, estimated to be worth around \$100 million. It all sounded well enough, but the relationship between
Prince and Warner Bros did not work out the way he wanted. He felt they
were interfering with his work, deciding how much material he could
release and when to release it. This seemed to be a conflict that went back
quite a few years, as they had the same argument back in 1987 concerning the release
of "Sign O'The Times." Prince wanted to release the material as three
separate albums, but Warner Bros wanted it to be one double album.
Prince felt that these problems influenced his work to such an extent, that he didn't write the music as a free man. He therefore started a protest against
Warner Bros by writing "SLAVE" across his cheek.
Prince has often been accused of being eccentric, and some members of
the music press thought this was very "Prince-like". They suspected it
to be mere theatrics. Prince explained it like this:
"The people who really know the music
don't joke about it. A lot of black people don't joke about it because
they understand wanting to change a situation."
Prince wanted out of the deal, and told in public that he
would only release old material through Warner Bros. That wasn't a problem, as he had enough to choose from: "You see, I get these ideas. Sometimes at 4 a.m. So I get up, get dressed and come and sit here until it's over. I've got a thousand songs in the vaults. Finished songs. That's the thing: I have to finish a song to clear my mind for the next idea."
In 1993 Prince changed his name to O(+>, an impronounceable glyph. On his album "Come" (1994) the cover shows the words: "Prince 1958-1993." That triggered all kinds of speculations and rumours. He was going to stop writing music and become a full time actor. He was going to release music, but only
old material. He was deadly sick of AIDS and were moving to France, etc...
When people realized that he was "only" changing his name,
the rumours continued but now focused on the name change. The people who find him melodramatic and
eccentric thought this was the perfect way to prove it.
O(+> said that he never thought his name change would cause so much public attention. Lot's of people change their names, and the only special thing in his case was that he chose a name that cannot be pronounced.
The symbol itself was not a surprise to his fans, as
everybody who has followed his carrier, has seen it develop.
Already in early years he appeared with the symbol which combined
the male and female glyph, and O(+> seems to be the very same symbol, just personalized by him.
There have been a lot of theories on why he changed his name.
O(+> said it is based on the advice from his "Spirit." He has also told that he feels that a name change was
necessary, as he felt divorced from Prince. The only other
explanation he gave was in the Epilogue of "Letitgo" (Come), which scrolls up on the screen after the clip finishes, as well as appearing at the end of the "Three Chains O'Gold" video. It reads like this:
Epilogue
Upon the seventh day
of the sixth month,
nineteen hundred and Ninety-three,
Marking the beginning and ending
of cycles of creation,
Prince, reaching the balance
of thirty-five years,
Put into practice the precepts
of perfection:
Voicing bliss through the freedom
of being one's self
Incarnating the
New Power Generation into
The close of the six periods
of involution giving
Birth upon himself to regenerate
his name as O(+>
For in the dawn, all will require
no speakable name
To differentiate the ineffable one
that shall remain.
After years of fighting the Warner Bros, he got out of the conflict satisfied. He signed a deal with EMI which gave him complete artistic freedom, and the opportunity to record and produce whatever he wanted to.
He celebrated the event by releasing the three-cd album "Emancipation."
In 1997 he released "Crystal Ball" on his own label, through his
official 1800newfunk website. The album was a collection of songs from
his vault, recorded during the 80s and 90s. The 3cd set also included
an acoustic album, "The Truth". Prince also released "Kamasutra", which is the
music for a ballet that O(+> made. "Crystal Ball" was only released
through 1800newfunk. Even though the high expense (USD 50) he has sold
250 000 sets, which is pretty amazing, for an album that has not been
promoted through the media.
In 1999, Warner decided to re-release the "1999" single. O(+> put up a
fight with them, and released his own version, "1999 The New
Master". He has tried to buy the royalties to the master tapes of his
work, but Warner refuses. Prince has therefore planned a re-release of all his previous albums. That way, his fans can choose which albums to
buy, and who they want to support, him or Warner Bros.
Warner released an album "The Vault.. Old Friends 4 Sale" in
August 1999, which also was a selection of old songs.
Prince signed a one-record deal with Arista Records. He seemed happy about that, and released "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" in 1999. After the release, Prince split with Arista Records as well, as he wasn't satisfied with the way they had promoted the album. As far as new releases are concerned, there are a lot of rumours but nothing has come of it. Another "best of" album is scheduled for July 31st 2001, but that is the work of Warner Bros and not Prince.
During his years in the public, Prince has been linked to quite a few well known women. Women like Appolonia, Vanity, Sheila E, Madonna, Kim Basinger, Kylie Minogue, etc.
But then Prince met Mayte Jannell Garcia: "People design their own plans. That's when the dawn takes place. The dawn is an awakening of the mind, when I can see best how to accomplish the tasks I'm supposed to do. I feel completely clear...I know exactly who I am."
On Valentine's Day (Wednesday Feb. 14) 1996 at 3.00 pm, he married his back-up singer Mayte at the Park Avenue United
Methodist Church, MPLS/USA by Reverend Keith Johnson. According to Prince it was a traditional wedding who included only their closest friends and family. They later annulled the marriage and stated that they didn't believe in contracts.
Mayte became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Boy Gregory, in October 1996. Sadly, the baby boy was born with a rare skull condition (clover lead syndrome), and died shortly after. Prince and Mayte have now split.
The last few years, Prince has lived in a pink/blue wooden house,
close to "Paisley Park Studios," a huge place built in suburban
Minneapolis (7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassan,MN, Minnesota 55317, USA). He has stated that he'll always live in Minneapolis.
On May 16th 2000, Prince announced the return of his birth name, Prince Rogers Nelson. He said that because his contract with Warner Bros has been fulfilled, it felt right to go back to the name Prince.
