Prince, the #45 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"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.

Be sure to catch Part Two of Prince!