how did print transform from the
shortest guy on his high school
basketball team to the larger-than-life
rock jazz funk soul icon who dominated
charts and hearts for decades this is
the evolution of prints before he
crafted the soundtrack for Gotham's
favorite vigilante Prince Rogers Nelson
knew his music was a calling that
couldn't go unanswered he was born
January 7 1958 in Minneapolis Minnesota
his father John Nelson led a jazz group
called the Prince Rodgers trio and his
mother Mary Shaw was their lead singer
Prince was named after the group that
brought his parents together and
affectionately called skipper at home
John and Maddy divorced when Prince was
10 years old and stopped speaking to one
another making his childhood hectic and
unstable the product of two musicians
Prince's talent was obvious he grew up
with the sounds of Santana Larry Graham
and Fleetwood Mac at 13 years old
Prince's first band Grand Central was
formed they'd perform at local venues
and battle against groups such as the
Morris they led the time although he
played basketball in high school
yep all five foot two of them he
committed his energy to developing a
successful music career because he
thought music was the only thing he was
truly good at he learned to play dozens
of instruments using Stevie Wonder as
early inspiration back then hi I used
him as a role model and trying to play
all the instruments and be very
self-contained and keep my vision clear
after making the move from the Midwest
to Los Angeles he scored a solo deal
with Warner Brothers at the age of 17
his debut album for you was released
three years later in 1978 aside from the
single soft and wet which he co-wrote
with producer Chris moon Prince pinned
every song produced every track and
played all 27 instruments on the album
he released an album every year for the
next four years the projects were brief
but their poll was powerful Prince's
distinctive voice was enchanting his
sexual freedom was fascinating and his
artistry was offending the status quo
1982 s 1999 inspired Prince's first
Grammy nominations for Best Male local
performance in the pop and R&B category
now that the world knew his name prince
was ascending to his throne to ensure
they never forget it in July of 1984
Prince made his big screen debut in
Purple Rain for starters you have to
purify yourself in the waters of Lake
Minnetonka in the musical romantic drama
the kid and his band of revolution are
on the brink of success but he's got a
few demons figuratively and literally to
overcome the film made more than 63
million dollars at the box office the
Purple Rain soundtrack whose tracklist
included Prince's first number-one
single when doves cry dominated the
Billboard 200 chart for 24 weeks and
earned Prince two golden gramophones at
the next year's Grammy Awards the
soundtrack was also nominated for a
Golden Globe and won the Academy Award
for best music original song score
during the height of the soundtracks
success prince and the revolution
performed a free concert for 2,500 deaf
students at Gallaudet University so they
could feel his music Prince cited
self-consciousness and social anxiety
and his refusal to join the 24 artists
lineup for USA for Africa's we are the
world recording some interpreted his
absence as arrogance but loyal fans
insisted that this was just another
example of the very private musician
being misunderstood in 1986 Prince
starred in his second film under the
cherry moon it wasn't as critically
well-received as Purple Rain but it did
deliver a sexy chart-topper that would
win him a Grammy and remain a favorite
throughout Prince's career kiss his 1987
album sign of the times which introduced
classics such as the door would have
become a world-renowned favorite and go
on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall
of Fame three decades later in the
winter of 1988 director Tim Burton
reached out to Prince to ask him to
write perform and produce original songs
for the soundtrack of his upcoming
combat action flick Batman at first the
star was hesitant but watching a rough
cut of the film inspired him the
resulting work was released in June of
1989 and topped the Billboard 200 for
six weeks the next year Prince
the experiences he's gained in the film
industry thus far to write and direct
his own feature film your fede bridge he
returned as the kid to star in this
unofficial Purple Rain sequel but the
project flopped
Besson barely made more than four
million dollars domestically shy of its
six million dollar budget Prince was
always an enigma
but his particular brand of artistry
thrived in Independence and commanded
respect Prince kept the company of many
gorgeous women over the years including
his Purple Rain love interest Apollonia
kotero Madonna Kim Basinger and Carmen
Electra to name a few however the first
time he'd say I do would be in 1996 to
form a backup singer might they Garcia
the couple was together for four years
with loss of two children a son only
days after being born and the
miscarriage of another child took its
toll and led to an emotional divorce
1996 was also the year that Prince chose
to depart from Warner Brothers he
thought he was a slave to the label
literally brandishing the word on his
forehead during meetings his first
independent production was the 36th
track album emancipation which debuted
under the unpronounceable symbol with
which he temporarily replaced the name
that made him famous we had some issues
basically about ownership of the music
and how often I was supposed to record
and things like that we got along
otherwise no creative issues whatsoever
although he was still regularly turning
out albums the already private artist
became even harder to access over the
years preferring the confines of his
Paisley Park mansion and the company of
loved ones his public appearances grew
scarce he won several Grammys in the
mid-2000s for works such as musicology
as well as another Oscar in 2007 for
Best Original Song motion picture for
his work on the animated comedy Happy
Feet in 2014
Prince and Warner Brothers reconciled
eighteen years after their very public
split allowing him to regain ownership
of the catalog of timeless hits that
defined his career on April 15th 2016
Prince was headed home on his private
plane when he suddenly fell unconscious
forcing the plane to make an emergency
landing and him to be rushed to the
hospital
he recovered from that incident but was
found unconscious again days later this
time in an elevator in his Minnesota
mansion pence was pronounced dead the
morning of April 21st 2016 and what was
determined to be an accidental pain
medication overdose 39 albums 20
platinum certifications and more than
100 million records sold worldwide in
his lifetime Prince's legacy and
influence is alive in the work of
today's most talented artists such as
Janelle Monae Beyonce Justin Timberlake
Bruno Mars and so many others who've
infused his radical spirituality and
passion into their work Prince the
purple one the beautiful one his
authenticity elevated the standards of
the music industry and made it
immeasurably more pleasurable to get
through this thing called life thanks
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