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".

Controversy: Early career 1975–83

Pepe Willie, husband of Prince's cousin, was an influential presence in Prince's early career. Willie acted as mentor and manager, along with Husney, for Prince in the Grand Central days, and employed Prince in the studio for his own recordings. In 1977, Willie formed 94 East, a band with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry. Willie enlisted the talents of Prince and Andre Cymone as session musicians for their studio recordings, and in 1986 released the re-recorded tracks (except for Prince and Cymone's parts) from 1975-1977 as Minneapolis Genius. In 1995, the original recordings with Prince and Cymone were released by Willie as 94 East featuring Prince, Symbolic Beginning.

Related Topics:
1977 - 94 East - 1986 - 1975 - 1995

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Prince's first album for Warner Bros, released in 1978, was titled For You. The majority of the album was written and performed by Prince, spawning the now ubiquitous phrase on Prince albums: "Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince". He spent twice his initial advance recording the first album, which sold modestly, making the bottom reaches of the Billboard 200, while the single "Soft and Wet" performed well on the R&B charts.

Related Topics:
1978 - For You - Ubiquitous - Billboard 200 - R&B

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By 1979, Prince had recruited his first backing band with Cymone on bass, Gayle Chapman and Matt Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z on drums and Dez Dickerson on guitar. He recorded his second, self-titled album still mostly on his own, which made the Billboard 200 and contained two R&B hits in "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover".

Related Topics:
1979 - Gayle Chapman - Matt Fink - Bobby Z - Dez Dickerson - I Wanna Be Your Lover

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Ambitious, talented, and hardworking, if sometimes overstretched, Prince tried to bring modern ideas and attitudes into pop music. He first attracted attention with his spacey soulful sound topped with screaming guitar, not to mention the colorful clothes he put on his 5 ft 2 inch frame (1.57 meters). In his early years, he liked to dress in a suspender belt and lacy women's lingerie.

Related Topics:
Suspender belt - Lingerie

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In 1980, Prince released Dirty Mind. Recorded mostly as a solo effort and released using the original demos, the album served to establish Prince as a critical favorite. On stage, Lisa Coleman replaced Chapman in the band, who felt the sexually explicit lyrics and stage antics of Prince's concerts conflicted with her religious beliefs. Dirty Mind was particularly notable for its sexually explicit material, such as in the songs "Head" and "Sister".

Related Topics:
1980 - Dirty Mind - Lisa Coleman

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Prince supported Rick James in a 1980 tour with the label "punk funk" being applied to both artists, although it didn't sit comfortably with Prince, who did not consider his music so narrowly defined. He recorded the album Controversy, released in 1981, with the single of the same name making international charts for the first time.

Related Topics:
Rick James - Controversy - 1981

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Prince also wrote, produced, and in some instances performed on, the debut album for The Time, containing former members of Flyte Tyme, including frontman Morris Day. They would be the first of the proteges who Prince would assist in the next decade including Vanity (of Vanity 6), Apollonia (of Apollonia 6) and Sheila E. Behind the scenes, Prince often wrote, composed, performed and recorded the material for his protege acts, using them as another outlet for his prolific output. He would also write hits for artists such as Sheena Easton and The Bangles and his songs would be covered in hit versions by artists as diverse as Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, Tom Jones with The Art of Noise and, perhaps most notably, Sinéad O'Connor. Her cover of a song he initially wrote for protege band The Family, "Nothing Compares 2 U", was a huge commercial success in 1990.

Related Topics:
The Time - Morris Day - Protege - Vanity - Vanity 6 - Apollonia - Apollonia 6 - Sheila E - Sheena Easton - The Bangles - Kate Bush - Chaka Khan - Tom Jones - The Art of Noise - Sinéad O'Connor - The Family

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