What's up everybody!
It is time to drop a few interesting facts from the world of history and I've got one
of my favorite teachers Mrs. Day I'm about to take us to music school.
Let's go!.
Hey friend.
I am so excited to talk with you about one of the most iconic musicians in history.
So get ready to rock, as we discuss someone who is known for the color purple & thinking
about rain.
Today we are sharing interesting facts from the biography of Prince.
You sound super excited Mrs. Day and I am too.
Like starting off most people know Prince by his first name but that was actually the
name given at birth too.
You are so right.
Prince Rogers Nelson was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota an interesting fact
about where his name came from all starts with his father.
I didn't know that.
Tell us more Mrs. Day.
Mrs. Day: well when it came to prince & his musical gift he had a little help from his
father and mother.
both of his parents were heavily involved in music & his mother was a singer for his
father's band.
Prince's father John Nelson, was a musician whose stage name was Prince Roger.
Interestingly enough he had his own band called the Prince Rogers Trio.
Prince's father and mother thought it would be an amazing idea to name their son after
the band.
That is awesome Mrs. Day!
That had to be really helpful having parents who are involved in music as an influence
for him.
Now it makes total sense why he got involved with music at an early age.
He sure did.
When looking over his biography Prince became interested in music at a young age and was
a natural when playing instruments.
What do you mean by he was a natural?
Well there are some people who are able to do things that take others a long time to
learn.
Prince was gifted at creating music & he taught himself how to play the piano, guitar and
drums.
That is crazy Mrs. Day!
It makes me think of my gift for eating potato chips and chicken sandwiches.
It just comes naturally.
Now I see why when walking by your locker in the Halls it smells like old potato chips
and chicken.
It smells delicious doesn't it?
Umm...
No!
But continuing on with my guy Prince, his love for music would last a lifetime even
continuing into High School where he formed his own band.
I know where you're going with this one Mrs. Day.
In high school, Prince formed a band that was called Grand Central.
They would later change the name of the group to Champagne, where Prince performed with
another icon in music named Morris Day.
You mean the guy from The Jungle Love song with Jerome.
That is right.
Morris Day performed Jungle Love in Prince's iconic film Purple Rain.
Giving you some backstory on that in 1978 Prince signed with Warner Bros records.
In the '80s Prince and his band the Revolution went on to create the classic album Purple
Rain along with the film that made over 70 million at the box office.
not only was it successful at the box office but Purple Rain earned an Academy Award for
the best original score.
even though Prince was successful there came a little jealousy from another iconic musician
in the '80s and an upset parent that would push for music industry changes.
Jealousy.
This has to be juicy.
It sure is and talking about another icon of the 80s and 90s did you know that Prince
had somewhat of a rivalry?
Really.
I would have never thought that Prince was competitive.
Are you kidding?
Not only did Prince enjoy playing basketball, but when it came to music he was very competitive
wanting to be at the top of the music industry.
Now rumor has It that Prince and Michael Jackson had a bit of a rivalry.
No way.
Prince and Michael Jackson had beef.
Actually, in an interview with Chris Rock, Prince opened up about the fact that he was
supposed to be in Michael Jackson's Bad music video.
He shared that he wouldn't be included on the song because of refusing to sing the opening
lyrics and having a disagreement on creative direction.
That would have been a crazy collab.
I'm sure it would have but the two would never make things work.
many insiders and family members talked about how Michael Jackson was a bit jealous of the
success of purple rain because Michael Jackson wanted to be a bad boy like prince.
Michael attempted to portray a tougher image with his album called Bad.
there was a big difference between his thriller album and how he came out with his bad album.
but what were you talking about with an upset parent?
former vice president Al Gore's wife Tipper Gore bought princess Purple Rain album for
her 11-year-old daughter.
After hearing the lyrics on the album she helped form an organization to put pressure
on the music industry to warn parents about explicit content and after that the explicit
lyrics warning label became a standard for music.
Okay and did you know Prince was a huge giver.
He was a behind-the-scenes humanitarian who once quietly donated money to the family of
Trayvon Martin.
Rev. Al Sharpton shared a story about Prince calling him about funds he wanted to give
to Trayvon Martin's family.
That is amazing.
Hands down Prince was amazing like his Superbowl halftime shows in 2007.
Fans around the world were able to witness greatness as Prince performed with over 140
million viewers at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida singing Purple Rain during
the halftime show and it was literally raining.
All I can say is legendary!
Franky: I bet it was.
I mean the life of Prince will forever be remembered in the world of music.
It sure will be, but sadly, April 21st 2016 would be a very sad day.
That is where his Purple Majesty passed away in an elevator at his iconic Paisley Park.
Wow, the career of Prince will go down in history as one of the greatest taking home
Grammy awards and more including being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
All I can say is whether we're talking diamonds and pearls when doves cry, or shouting let's
go Crazy Prince Will always be remembered as a musical legend!