Prince (artist)

Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, known as from 1993-2000) is a popular and influential singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His music has spanned myriad styles including funk, pop, rock, R&B/soul, and hip hop, and is regarded as the definition of "The Minneapolis Sound".

Chaos and disorder: 1994–2003

Prince released a greatest hits package in 1993 which failed to do as well as one would suspect from an artist with his track record. In 1994, The Black Album was released by Warner Bros. in an attempt to capitalize on its underground success. Following that disappointing release, Warner Bros. released the final album of "Prince" material, Come, which was moderately successful, selling over 500,000 copies. Prince pushed to have his next album The Gold Experience released simultaneously as "" material. As a test case, Warner Bros. allowed the single "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" to be released via a small, independent distributor, Bellmark. The release was very successful, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 in the UK, but this was not to be a forerunner of what was to come. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing The Gold Experience, fearing poor sales and citing "market saturation" as a defense. A battle between Warner Bros. and ensued, struggling over the artistic and financial control of 's output. During that time, appeared in public only with the word 'SLAVE' written on his cheek. When eventually released, The Gold Experience failed to sell well, although it reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 initially.

Related Topics:
1994 - Come - The Gold Experience - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World - Bellmark - Market saturation

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The Chaos And Disorder album of 1996 was his final album of new material for Warner Bros., and was one of his least successful. attempted a major comeback later that year, when, free of any further contractual obligations to Warner Bros., he released Emancipation. The album was released via his own NPG Records with distribution through EMI. While certified Platinum by the RIAA, it failed to do as well as he had hoped, with critics complaining that the sprawling 36-song, 3-CD set (each disk was exactly 60 minutes long) lacked focus.

Related Topics:
Chaos And Disorder - 1996 - Emancipation - NPG Records - EMI - Platinum - RIAA

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released Crystal Ball, a 4-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was shambolic, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventually shipped to them, and months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The Newpower Soul album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts, as many fans failed to realize it was out.

Related Topics:
Crystal Ball - 1998 - Newpower Soul

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In 1999, once again teamed up with a major record label, this time Arista Records, for a new album, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. However, it also failed to make much of a commercial impression. A few months earlier, Warner Bros. had also released ', a collection of unreleased material recorded by Prince throughout his career, and his final recording commitment on his contract with Warner Bros. The greatest success he had during the year was with the single "", released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original 1999. However critics and fans universally panned The New Master, declaring it unimaginative.

Related Topics:
1999 - Arista Records - Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

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In May 2000, reclaimed his birth name, Prince, after his publishing contract with Warner Chappell expired. In a press conference stating that he was now free from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he formally reverted to his original name and opened the door to endless "The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" digs. However, he still sometimes uses the symbol as a logo, and continues to play the -shaped guitar.

Related Topics:
2000 - Warner Chappell

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For the next three years, Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription services, first NPGOnlineLtd.com, and now NPGMusicClub.com. He also released two jazz-influenced albums, The Rainbow Children in 2001 and the all-instrumental N.E.W.S in 2003. In addition, he has brought in a newfound openness with his fans, connecting with them through the NPG Music Club, at pre-concert soundchecks, and at yearly "celebrations" at Paisley Park. Several hundred to several thousand observers are invited into his studios for tours, interviews, discussions (including with Prince himself), new music listening sessions, and of course numerous performances by Prince, related artists, and invited guests (including Alicia Keys, The Time, Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, George Clinton and others).

Related Topics:
The Rainbow Children - 2001 - N.E.W.S - 2003 - Alicia Keys - Erykah Badu - Nikka Costa - George Clinton

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In 2002, he released his first-ever live record, One Nite Alone... Live!, which featured live recordings from the intimate One Nite Alone tour performances. The 3-CD box set, which included the aftershow disc It Ain't Over!, received praise from music critics, but failed to perform well in the charts.

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