The singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist
broke through in the late 1970s with the hits “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”
and “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” and soared over the following decade with such
albums as “1999” and “Purple Rain.” The title song from “1999” includes one of
the most widely quoted refrains of popular culture: “Tonight I’m gonna party
like it’s 1999.”
The Minneapolis native, born Prince Rogers Nelson,
stood just 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and seemed to summon the most original and
compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that
openly drew upon Jimi Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an
erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original
material. Among his other notable releases: “Sign O’ the Times,” ”Graffiti
Bridge” and “The Black Album.”
He was also fiercely protective of his independence,
battling his record company over control of his material and even his name.
Prince once wrote “slave” on his face in protest of not owning his work and
famously battled and then departed his label, Warner Bros., before returning a
few years ago.
“What’s happening now is the position that I’ve always
wanted to be in,” Prince told the AP in 2014. “I was just trying to get here.”
The same year, Prince was inducted into the Rock and
Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.
“He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black
funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the
Eighties,” reads the Hall’s dedication. “Prince made dance music that rocked
and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince
and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative.”
Rarely lacking in confidence, Price effortlessly
absorbed the music of others and made it sound like Prince, whether the James
Brown guitar riff on “Kiss” or the Beatle-esque, psychedelic pop of “Raspberry
Beret.”
He also proved a source of hits for others, from
Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” to Cyndi Lauper’s “When You Were
Mine.” He also wrote “Manic Monday” for the Bangles
Prince had been touring and recording right up until
his death, releasing four albums in the last 18 months, including two on the
Tidal streaming service last year. He performed in Atlanta last week as part of
his “Piano and a Microphone” tour, a stripped down show that has featured a mix
of his hits like “Purple Rain” or “Little Red Corvette” and some B-sides from
his extensive library.
Prince debuted the intimate format at his Paisley Park
studios in January, treating fans to a performance that was personal and was
both playful and emotional at times.
The musician had seemed to be shedding his reclusive
reputation. He hosted several late-night jam sessions where he serenaded
Madonna, celebrated the Minnesota Lynx’s WNBA championship and showcased his
latest protege, singer Judith Hill.
Ever surprising, he announced on stage in New York
City last month that he was writing his memoir. “The Beautiful Ones” was
expected to be released in the fall of 2017 by publishing house Spiegel &
Grau.
The publishing house has not yet commented on status of book, but a press
release about the memoir says: “Prince will take readers on an unconventional
and poetic journey through his life and creative work.” It says the book will
include stories about Prince’s music and “the family that shaped him and the
people, places, and ideas that fired his creative imagination.”
RIP
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