ABC-TV granted Manilow his own special, The Barry Manilow Show, which 37 million people saw in 1977. The special was nominated for four Emmy Awards, including a win for Outstanding Comedy--Variety or Music Special. The Barry Manilow on Broadway show earned a special Tony Award. The Second Barry Manilow Special in 1978 also garnered four Emmy nominations.
Manilow released one of his best career albums in Even Now in 1978. The lead single "Can't Smile Without You" jumped to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #3 Popular in the U.S. and #2 in Canada. It was Barry's fourth #1 single in a little less than four years.
Even Now was nominated for Album of the Year and became his third consecutive to reach Triple Platinum status. The title song also hit #1 on the AC chart.
In 1978, Manilow placed five albums in the Top 200, joining the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis as the only artists to accomplish that. One of those was Barry's compilation Greatest Hits, which has sold over three million copies.
Partly due to his incredible success and because he persevered, Manilow had great control over his releases, and this cocktail lounge number showed hints of more Manilow versatility he would later display in full force in the latter part of his career. This is "I Was A Fool To Let You Go".
Manilow won Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist for a second consecutive year at the American Music Awards. "Copacabana (At The Copa)" peaked at #6 AC and #8 overall in the United States while hitting #7 in Canada and selling over one million units. The Copacabana is a famous nightclub in New York City named after a district in Rio de Janeiro, which is the locale for the song.
Manilow earned a Grammy Award for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance for "Copacabana" and earned Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist for the third straight year at the American Music Awards, completing one of the most dominating reigns in the history of the category. "Copacabana" was later made into a musical movie on television and three musical plays. Parker McGee, who wrote both "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" and 'Nights Are Forever Without You" for England Dan & John Ford Coley, contributed "Where Do I Go From Here?" Manilow utilized his tremendous arranging and producing skills to make it seem as if it was his song.
Barry released "Ready To Take A Chance Again", featured prominently in the great comedy Foul Play, starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. It made it to #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #11 overall in the U.S. and #4 in Canada and was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
Manilow completed the most successful year of his career with the single "Somewhere In The Night", #4 AC and #9 Popular in the U.S. and #10 in Canada. The song was originally recorded in 1975 by Helen Reddy.
The Third Barry Manilow Special with guest John Denver on ABC was nominated for two Emmy Awards and captured the award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. Dionne Warwick called upon Manilow to produce her comeback album Dionne in 1979, her first to sell over one million copies. Barry earned a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for Warwick's song "I'll Never Love This Way Again".
Barry followed up that album with One Voice in 1980. This song was written and originally recorded by Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople. Hunter included it on his solo album You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic. Asked later in an interview with Mojo magazine, Hunter said "That whole Manilow thing was quite amusing. That guy's no slouch when it comes to arranging." "Ships", about the distance between a son and his father, sailed to #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #9 overall.
Manilow was already in great demand in concert, selling out five shows at Royal Albert Hall. His 10 performances at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York grossed $2 million, breaking a 52-year record at the famous venue. "When I Wanted You" gave Manilow his 10th #1 on the Adult chart.
Manilow also starred with Warwick in the television special One Voice, which was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction at the Emmy Awards. "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" shot up to #2 on The Adult chart, the 8th consecutive Top 10 for everyone except teenagers, an incredible streak that would reach 13.
The album has now sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone.
"One of the world's all-time greatest recording artists." "Barry Manilow is the definition of 1. Class and 2. Pure talent. His orchestrations...? Unbelievable. Thank you Mr. Manilow for all of the years and all of your music." "He is a gift." "Beautiful, original, raw, amazing." "Barry wrote some of the most incredible music." "A brilliant legend." "Barry Manilow is solid gold in every way (voice, musical genius, appearance, personality...etc. etc.). He can never be equalled...he has proven his unique brilliant talents time and time again throughout the world. He is a gift to us all, from God!!!" "What a voice!!! In Cuba, we call him "El Hombre de la Voz Del Ciello"; i.e. The Man With The Voice From Heaven." "Barry Manilow is one of the best singers I have ever known."
"Great pianist, songwriter, singer, and a fantastic entertainer." "He is a musical genious with a magical voice." "This guy is one in a million. Every song is excellent." A timeless performer throughout the past four decades." "Simply amazing, one of the legends of our time." "Such a genius of a songwriter. God-given talent."
Barry Pincus was born June 17, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York. He adopted his mother's maiden name and graduated from Eastern District High School in 1961. He briefly went to the City College of New York before going to the New York College of Music. In order to pay expenses, he worked at CBS-TV. He honed his skills studying at the famous Julliard performing arts school. In 1964, CBS director Bro Herrod asked Manilow to arrange some songs for a musical adaptation of The Drunkard. Barry instead gave Herrod a full original score, which was used in the eight-year run of the show Off Broadway. Manilow then entered an important and successful stage of his career writing commercial jingles. He composed some of the best-known themes of the period: McDonald's "You deserve a break today!"), State Farm ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.", Band-Aid ("I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me!", Tab, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. Manilow took home Clio Awards for Band-Aid and Tab. In 1967, Manilow landed a job as musical director for the WCBS-TV show Callback. He also conducted and arranged for Ed Sullivan's production company, arranging a new theme for The Late Show, and performed with Jeanne Lucas as a duo at Julius Monk's Upstars at the Downstairs club in New York City.
Manilow joined several session musicians and recorded four songs under the name of Featherbed, a group produced by Tony Orlando. None of the songs did well, so Barry began playing piano for other artists.
Bette Midler heard him play and hired him to arrange her music for her first two albums and play piano on her tours.
Manilow signed a recording contract with Bell Records and released his self-titled debut album in 1973. The album was produced by Ron Dante, the man behind the Archies' smash "Sugar, Sugar" as well as "Leader Of The Laundromat" for the Detergents and "Tracy" for the Cuff-Links. Dante sang backup on all of Manilow's songs from 1975-83. Among the songs on the album was "Could It Be Magic", a song Donna Summer remade into a minor hit. Music mogul Clive Davis took over Bell Records and renamed it Arista. Davis dropped many of the artists, but was impressed enough with Manilow that he kept him on the roster.
In 1974, Barry released the album Barry Manilow II. "Mandy", cowritten by Scott English, was originally named as "Brandy" but renamed to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit from 1972. Among other songs, English also wrote "Bend Me Shape Me" for the American Breed. Davis convinced Manilow to release it as a single and it not only launched his career but became one of his signature songs. "Mandy" soared to #1 on both the Popular and Adult charts in the United States and also #1 in Canada. It sold over one million singles.
"Mandy" was nominated for the prestigious Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards and pushed the album to Double Platinum status. "It's A Miracle" also topped the Adult chart and reached #12 overall and gave Barry a second #1 song in Canada.
The single also sold one million copies and the album has today sold over three million copies in the United States alone. "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" not only gave Manilow his fifth straight Top 5 song on the Adult chart but already his fourth #1 among Adults, who of course dominate the Rock audience. The song also reached #10 on the Popular chart.
Manilow's reworking of the American Bandstand theme song showed his versatility and livened up his concerts.
Barry was becoming a consistent and dependable artist, and by the 1977 album This One's for You, he was a superstar. The title song also hit #1 on the Adult chart and was later covered by both Teddy Pendergrass and Shirley Bassey.
The single "Weekend In New England" gave him four #1 Adult songs in a row and landed at #10 overall in the U.S. and #9 in Canada. It remains one of his career best.
"Looks Like We Made It" became another of Barry's biggest career hits, a #1 smash on both the Popular and Adult charts and topped out at #8 in Canada. The single was certified Gold. Richard Kerr, who wrote the music for "Mandy", returned to write this song. Will Jennings, who has written lyrics for artists such as Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and many others, explained the basis for the song:
You walk into a party. Someone you used to love
and someone who used to love you is there. You are
each with someone else. 'Looks like we made it, left
each other on the way to another love... looks like we
made it, or I thought so until the day, until you were
there, everywhere, and all I could taste was love the
way we made it'... real life. And if you feel that way,
you didn't make it.
Once again, Manilow showed there is much more to him than what one hears from his singles. With showtunes like "Jump Shout Boogie", he already was showing signs of the legendary performer he would become.
Manilow received an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, and the album sold over three million copies. Barry's concerts drew raves, and his performance at the Gershwin Theatre was recorded and released as the album Barry Manilow Live. "Daybreak" gave him nine straight Top 10 Adult hits. The album has sold over three million copies in the U.S. alone, to make it one of the top live albums of all-time, and Manilow was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist at the American Music Awards.
Manilow had become a superstar. He not only continued to dazzle listeners and audiences, but increased his appeal. Join us for Part Two!
In 1988, Prince released the album Lovesexy, which yielded the #8 hit "Alphabet St.".
Prince assisted Madonna on her album Like a Prayer, playing guitar on three songs and co-writing and singing on "Love Song". Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson, who was starring in the upcoming movie Batman, asked director Tim Burton to include songs by Prince in the film. Prince recorded the soundtrack album. "Batdance" became his fourth #1 song, sold over two million copies and earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Video from a Film. The song hit the Top 10 in every major country except Austria. Another highlight of the album is the underrated "Partyman", which peaked at #18 despite selling over one million copies.
The "Batman" Soundtrack went to #1 on the Album chart and sold over four million copies in the United States. Prince won an American Music Award for Special Achievement and was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist. He also received Grammy nominations for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Batdance". Prince starred in and produced his fourth movie Graffiti Bridge and released the movie soundtrack in 1990. "Thieves In The Temple" went Gold and reached #6. The busy artist also wrote "Nothing Compares 2 (sic) U (sic" for Sinead O'Connor, who took the song to #1. Prince was nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
The next year, Prince released the album Diamonds and Pearls, now calling his backing band The New Power Generation. "Cream" went to #1 and sold over one million copies, while the video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video.
He scored another big hit with the #3 "Diamonds And Pearls".
Prince was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Gett Off" and scored another nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist at the American Music Awards.
In 1992, Prince released the album which became known as the Love Symbol Album, showing an unpronounceable symbol on the cover. The single "7" peaked at #7 and sold one million singles. Prince was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Diamonds And Pearls" and "7" was nominated for Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
"My Name Is Prince" is a standout track on the album, with a rap from NPG member Tony M. Prince displays a three-octave range on the song, with a low of C3 to the high note of C6.
The album is approaching three million sales in the U.S. Prince released the triple disc compilation The Hits/The B-Sides in 1993. Prince and Warner Brothers had a lengthy dispute over the release of his albums and as a result, he changed his name to the symbol, . He was now promoted as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince". still had several albums remaining under his contract with Warner Brothers, so in an effort to quickly fulfill those obligations and switch labels, he increased his output. Warner Brothers objected to the quality of the albums. Material he had originally planned to release before Lovesexy was now released as The Black Album. .
In 1995, released the album The Gold Experience, quickly followed by another, Chaos and Disorder, which was his final album for Warner Brothers.
The #3 song "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" was his last big hit. was nominated for Best R&B Album (The Gold Experience) and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for "I Hate U (sic)". Prince won an American Music Award of Merit and under the name was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist. was also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World". Later in the year, he released the triple CD Emancipation, an album of covers.
Emancipation went Platinum. In 1998, Prince released a five-CD collection of previously unreleased songs called Crystal Ball.
The next year, Prince signed with Arista Records and released the album Rave Un2 (sic) the Joy Fantastic. In 2000, he returned to the stage name of Prince. In 2004, Prince was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the Grammy Awards for N-E-W-S.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released the album Musicology through Columbia Records. At the conclusion of the year, Pollstar named Prince as the top-grossing performer in the United States. Prince was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album at the American Music Awards. Prince won Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Call My Name") and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the title song, which also earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Male Video. He was also nominated for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song (for "Call My Name") and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for "Cinnamon Girl".
In 2005, Prince signed a new deal with Universal Records and released the album 3121, which debuted at #1. "Black Sweat" received Grammy nominations for Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and the video for "Black Sweat" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. Prince also received Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album, Best Urban/Alternative Performance and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for "Beautiful, Loved And Blessed"). Prince recorded "The Song Of The Heart" for the animated movie Happy Feet, which won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. He received Grammy nominations for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for the song and won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance on "Future Baby Mama".
Prince performed during during halftime of Super Bowl XLI, in which he sang and played on stage during an increasing rainstorm. Billboard.com ranks the show as the greatest Super Bowl performance of all-time. After Prince's announced seven nights at the O2 Arena in London sold out in 20 minutes, he added eight more shows and eventually increased performed 21 shows at the venue. In 2008, Prince released the album Planet Earth, which was included in deliveries of the newspaper the Mail on Sunday. As part of a European tour, Prince performed at the Coachella Festival.
Prince released the album Lotusflower in 2009. The following year, Time magazine included Prince in its yearly ranking of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World".
Prince released the album 20Ten and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2013, Prince received the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards. In 2014, he returned to Warner Brothers. The following year, after the death of Freddie Gray and the resulting riots, Prince released the song "Baltimore" and performed a tribute to Gray at his Paisley Park estate. Prince released the album Hit n Run Phase One in 2015.
On April 7, 2016, Prince postponed two concerts due to influenza. He rescheduled the show for the following week, but on the way back home, Prince was unresponsive. His private jet made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, where he was hospitalized but soon left against medical advice. Representatives at the hospital said Prince was dehydrated after suffering from the flu for several weeks. Prince returned to his hometown of Chanhassen, Minnesota and made several stops on April 19. The next day, representatives of Prince called Dr. Howard Kornfield of California asking for medical help for Prince. Kornfield contacted a local doctor in Minneapolis to arrange an appointment for April 21. At 9:43 a.m., Dr. Kornfeld's son placed a 9-1-1 call to the Carver County Sheriff's Office for an ambulance at Paisley Park. Kornfeld flew in to administer buprenorphine and come up with a treatment plan for opiod addiction.
First responders found Prince unresponsive in an elevator and performed CPR, but announced that Prince had been dead for about six hours. The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Anoka County announced on June 2 that Prince had died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl. Prince albums sold over four million copies in the week following and five albums appeared in the U.S. Top 10, the first time that feat had ever occurred. Prince racked up 49 career hits, with 19 of those reaching the Top 10 and five going to #1.
Prince has sold over 100 million records and won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. The late superstar won seven Grammy Awards from 32 nominations, six American Music Awards out of 24 nominations, one Golden Globe Award from two nominations, an Academy Award and four MTV Video Music Awards out of six nominations. In addition, the song "1999" and the albums Purple Rain and Sign o' the Times have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
He followed up Purple Rain with the album Around the World in a Day the next year, another #1 album. A beret is a European hat that is held to the head by a tight band. "Raspberry Beret" climbed to #2 in the United States and New Zealand and #8 in Canada.
Prince added three more American Music nominations: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Video Artist.
Prince recorded this song about the trappings of a musical superstar before the "Purple Rain" project was finished. "Pop Life" gave him another Top 10 hit.
In 1986, Prince released the album Parade, which was the soundtrack to his second movie, Under the Cherry Moon, which he directed and starred in. "Kiss" sold over one million singles and went to #1 in the U.S. and the Top 10 in most countries. The album was certified Platinum in the United States. "Kiss" was named Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Best R&B Song at the Grammy Awards and earned an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Single.
Prince recorded "Sometimes It Snows In April" on April 21, 1985, as fate would have it, exactly 31 years before his death.
Also that year, Prince wrote "Manic Monday", which the Bangles turned into a #2 smash. Prince released the album Sign o' the Times in 1987. The title song hit #3. The reference to "the spaceship" is to the U.S. Space Shuttle disaster on January 28, 1986 when The Challenger blew up right after liftoff.
Sign o' the Times sold over three million albums in Europe and was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. "Starfish And Coffee" is a story about Cynthia Rose, a classmate of Melvoin and Wendy of the Revolution. Rose was ignored by her classmates but Melvoin took a special interest in her. Melvoin told the story to Diffuser.fm:
I think Cynthia was dropped off from another world
filled with extraordinary images. Images only Cynthia
knew the meanings behind," Melvoin wrote inan essayabout the song's history. "Her favorite number
for many years was the number 12. I knew this
because she’d rock back and forth in her seat asking
you if you knew what her favorite number was for the
day… It was always shocking to her that you knew
what her favorite number was I would inevitably say
"I think it’s twelve, right Cynthia?" She was amazed
and joyous that you guessed it right. Once more I’d
watch how she would ecstatically experience the
world.
"Adore" was never released as a single, but it is a highlight of both his songwriting and vocal abilities.
Prince wrote "U (sic) Got The Look" for Sheena Easton and sang with her on the #2 hit. Prince earned Grammy nominations for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while also being nominated for Album of the Year for Sign o' the Times. The video received four nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, including wins for Best Male Video and Best Stage Performance in a Video.
"I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" also landed in the Top 10. It features two Prince guitar solos--one ambitious and the other bluesy.
"I'm certain Prince must of had a time machine of some kind...because the music he created in the 70's and 80's was generations ahead of it's time."
"Pure talent/ground breaking.."
"Prince was surely COOL and his music mesmerizing"
"One of the greatest all-around musicians."
"This little dude was so incredibly talented..."
"The depth of Prince's message in his music and the showmanship in his performances are simply undeniable and unmatched."
"What a gift he was!
supernaturally brilliant."
"Such energy, he was a once in a lifetime gem to the music world."
"Prince was a BEAST!!!"
"Prince's music had incredible crossover appeal. Merging of R & B, Funk and Rock.
Is there anything he couldn't do?"
"What a star.
Legends never die."
"A monumental talent."
"A true talent gone too soon."
"Prince was the master of creating the most catchy, smartest songs ever."
"He’s so missed
Prince was no doubt a musical genius... So much talent."
Roger Nelson was born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father was a jazz musician and Prince became interested in music at an early age. He wrote his first song on his father's piano when he was seven. Prince's parents separated when he was 10, and Prince went back and forth between homes growing up.
Prince played football, basketball and baseball at Central High School and was a good student, most interested in instructor Jimmy Hamilton's "The Business of Music" course. Prince formed the group Grand Central which was renamed Champagne in 1976.
After several months living with his half sister Sharon in New York City, Prince returned to Minneapolis and formed a touring group with bassist Andre Cymone. Prince created a demo tape his senior year at Central High and signed a management contract with Owen Husney. The demo tape received interest from several top record labels and Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records at age 18. Husney and Prince moved to Sausalito, California so Prince could record his debut album. He released his debut album For You in 1978. Prince showed his amazing talent and versatility, writing or co-writing, arranging and producing all of the songs on the album and playing all 27 instruments on the album. Prince formed a backing band and played his first concert at the Capri Theater on January 5, 1979. Later that year, Prince released his self-titled album, which eventually went Platinum. "I Wanna' Be Your Lover" rose to #1 on the R&B chart and peaked at #11 on the Popular chart.
Prince built his own recording studio, Paisley Park, and recorded the album Dirty Mind there, released in 1980. Here's "When You Were Mine", later remade by Cyndi Lauper.
In 1981, Prince released the album Controversy, promoting the album by opening for the Rolling Stones in the United States.
The title song, with its great guitar riff, was built around the beat and was a huge hit in the clubs.
That year, Prince formed the band the Time. In addition to recording his own music and touring, Prince wrote, sang backing vocals and played most of the instruments for the Time from 1981-90.
In 1982, Prince released the double album 1999. The title song, Prince's protest against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, was a huge international hit, #4 on the R&B chart and #12 in the United States and #2 in the United Kingdom and Australia, #4 in New Zealand and #6 in Canada.
1999 has now sold over three million copies in the U.S. alone. "Little Red Corvette" raced to #2 in the U.K., #5 in Canada, #6 in the U.S. and #8 in Australia.
"Delirious" also reached the Top 10.
Prince was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album at the American Music Awards and he earned a nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "International Lover".
Although his live performances were lewd and bordering on bizarre, Prince became a recluse off stage, shuttering himself up in his lakeside mansion in northern Minnesota.
In 1984, Prince released the loosely autobiographical movie Purple Rain and soundtrack album. Many of the songs were live recordings taken from a concert in August of 1983 at the First Avenue and 7th Street Entry, a famous Minneapolis club.
This amazing talent wrote, composed, produced, and was instrumented by Prince in 12 hours. "When Doves Cry" spent five weeks at #1 and also topped charts in Australia and Canada and reached #2 in Ireland and New Zealand, #4 in the U.K., #6 in the Netherlands and #10 in Norway and was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards. It sold over two million singles.
"Let's Go Crazy" was another monster hit, going to #1 for two weeks in the U.S., #2 in Canada and #7 in the U.K. and selling over one million units.
Purple Rain had a lock on #1 for 24 weeks and sold over 13 million units in the United States. The first use of the words "purple rain" in popular music was in the 1972 America song "Ventura Highway", heard earlier in The Top 100 Artists*. The title song is one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*, selling over one million copies and reaching the Top 10 in every major country in the world.
At one time, Prince owned the #1 song, #1 album and #1 movie in America, the first time an artist had ever achieved the feat. Prince used an LM-1 drum machine to lay down the beat for this song. A fourth Top 10 emerged from the album as "I Would Die 4 (sic) U (sic)" reached #8.
"Take Me With U (sic)" is a duet with his backing singer, Apollonia Kotero. The song was originally going to be on Apollonia's solo album before Prince decided to include it in the movie.
"The Beautiful Ones" is a top track on the album. Many thought it resulted from Prince's affair with Susannah Melvoin, the sister of Wendy in his group, the Revolution. However, Prince told Ebony magazine in 2015 it was about Denise Matthews, his girlfriend at the time of the song.
Prince won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special and was nominated for Album of the Year. He landed another Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, which he wrote for Chaka Khan.
"Baby I'm A Star" is one of the songs Prince played for his famous halftime performance during Super Bowl XLI. Prince won American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("When Doves Cry"), Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album, while nominated for seven others: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Male Video Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Video Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Single, Favorite Pop/Rock Video and Favorite Soul/R&B Video (all for "When Doves Cry"). He also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
