The artist formerly known as Prince. American singer Prince passed away (11 photos)

Singer and musician, as well as composer and lyricist for songs, Prince is considered one of the most prominent representatives of the foreign scene of the 80s and 90s. His name was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Therefore, it is not surprising that various rumors constantly arose around such a bright star. One of them is that Prince is gay.

Prince's biography

Prince Rogers Nelson was born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to black parents. From childhood, the boy had a penchant for playing music, tried to compose lyrics, and mastered various instruments.

Prince got his first stage experience as a member of the band 94 East, which was led by his cousin's husband. However, Prince soon leaves the group and releases his own album, for which he records all the songs and instrumental parts himself.

Prince became a pioneer in the genre of rhythm and blues, in which he released his first creations. Previously, all music of this direction was clearly divided into two types: soul - with melodic combinations and lyrical lyrics, and funk - more fun and danceable. In his work, Prince combined these movements in the format of a single song, showing a fresh and diverse sound. The singer's next albums brought him more and more.

The most famous and awarded was his album “Purple Rain”, the lead single of the same name from which also became the title song for the film “Purple Rain”. For this composition, Prince was awarded an Oscar, and the album itself led the Billboard 200 chart for 24 weeks.

The performer Prince became known around the world a little later, after the release of the album “Parade”. In the early 90s, the actor began to actively experiment with his style and manner of performance. The new sound did not find much response from fans, and after a while the artist returned to his usual manner of performance.

Prince always devoted most of his time to work and actively toured, which could not but affect his health. On April 15, 2016, the musician needed urgent medical attention, and on April 21 he was found in critical condition in his own home. Doctors were unable to save the musician.

Is singer Prince Rogers Nelson gay?

One of the most persistent rumors about the singer’s personal life was that the singer Prince has a non-traditional sexual orientation. This suspicion followed the musician almost his entire career, although during his life he dated many girls, including such famous ones as Kim Basinger and Madonna. In addition, the singer was married twice.

The first mention in the press that the musician Prince might be gay appeared after his performance as an opening act for The Rolling Stones in 1981. Then the singer appeared on stage in a rather extravagant outfit, consisting of knitted gaiters, a bikini and a cropped jacket that resembled a military overcoat. The outfit was complemented by very high-heeled boots, which Prince wore at almost all of his performances to compensate for his very short height (only 157 cm). Fans of one of the most famous groups reacted very harshly to the artist and threw garbage at him.

I Wanna Be Your Lover (1979)

This first real hit of Prince brought him not only fame, but also the respect of music critics. Even then, journalists started talking about a special “Minneapolis sound,” the founder of which was later unconditionally declared to be Prince. It is believed that it was he who managed to stylistically combine several directions at once: funk, rock, pop, synth-pop and new wave music.

Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? (1979)

The early 1980s marked a real rise in Prince's career. The album "Prince" (which included the song Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?) was written, arranged and performed by him himself. The number of copies sold allowed it to be awarded platinum album status.

Purple Rain (1984)

Throughout the 1980s, Prince followed his established recipe for success: a mix of different musical styles and provocative lyrics were invariably popular with the public. The album Purple Rain featured the first appearance of his band The Revolution. All the songs on the disc were included in the film of the same name, which was also released in 1984. The style of this album turned out to be more diverse than Prince's previous works. Here he tried to show all the possibilities of the sound of the group that from now on accompanied him.

Batdance (1989)

Batman became Prince's 11th and once again incredibly popular studio album, in which he actively experimented with electronic sound. It was then that the artist changed his appearance, appearing on stage in more discreet black and white suits.

Nothing Compares 2 U (1990)

In Russia, Prince's popularity has always been much more moderate than in the USA and Europe. But even those who have never heard songs performed by him know exactly the super hit Nothing Compares 2 U, performed by Sinead O'Connor. Prince wrote this composition back in 1985, but it was in O'Connor's interpretation that the soulful ballad acquired the desired shade and mood and was doomed to success.

This day could have been an anniversary, but it became an occasion for memories. Memories of an artist very popular all over the world - an Artist Forever Remaining in History Like Prince. Today is the 60th anniversary of the birth of a musician with an unusual creative destiny, who left this world two years ago.

Prince Rogers Nelson is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, musician, singer, virtuoso guitarist, author of many songs that were performed by himself and many American stars of the first magnitude. His "Little Red Corvette", "Purple Rain", "Nothing Compares To You" have become modern song classics. From jazz and funk to soul and rock - in all genres he felt like a fish in water.

The artist released his debut album (For You) in 1978. This was followed by the albums Prince (1979), Dirty Mind (1980) and Controversy (1981). Perhaps the singer's most popular album was Purple Rain (1984).

Prince was a man of many talents: singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, outstanding writer, actor, etc. Moreover, he was not just an artist, but an entire area of the American music industry with a characteristic African-American orientation, which includes many styles: funk, pop, rock, R&B/soul, hip-hop.
Prince had no less variety of names - the name Prince itself appeared as a result of the fact that his father John Nelson played in the group "Prince Roger Trio", and at the dawn of his career he was called successively Camilla, Jamie Starr, Alexander Nevermind, Christopher Tracy, Victor and Symbol. However, he was not called a symbol, but was designated until May 2000 - during this period he was called “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.”

During his long creative career, the musician from Minneapolis had many ups and downs, but already in the 21st century he has achieved success - numerous awards, including a Grammy and inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In December 2004, Prince was selected by Rolling Stone magazine as the year's top male artist and most anticipated artist. In February 2005, Prince was named the richest musician of the year. The musician performed almost until his death - his last performances in Atlanta took place in April 2016.

Prince always strived for self-improvement and was creative with complete dedication. He said of himself in 1985, two years before Michael Jackson sang about it: "I always thought I was bad. I wouldn't be in this business if I didn't think I was bad."
It now seems undeniable that Prince's genius, prolificacy, innovation and inimitable charisma have left an indelible and unprecedented impact on world culture.

Prince has ten platinum albums and seven awards to his credit. Grammy», « Oscar», « Golden Globe" 30 of Prince's singles reached the top 40 singles on the American charts.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 27th on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. His albums have sold a total of more than 80 million copies.

Prince Rogers Nelson / Prince Rogers Nelson. Biography

Prince Rogers Nelson(Prince Rogers Nelson) was born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis in the family of a pianist and composer John L. Nelson(John L. Nelson) and jazz singer Matty Shaw(Mattie Shaw) The father of the future star performed on stage under a pseudonym Prince Rogers(Prince Rogers). In 1960, the couple had a daughter. Tika Even(Tika Evene). Both children became interested in music early, and their parents supported their interest. Prince wrote his first song, "Funk Machine", at the age of seven. When he was 10 years old, his parents separated. The boy lived either with his father, or with his mother and stepfather.

At school Prince Together with his cousin he organized his first group. The group performed in clubs and at parties, he played piano and guitar. Despite his short stature (1.57 m), in addition to music at school, he was fond of basketball.

In 1976, 17 years old Prince made the first demo recording and signed an agreement with the manager Oeun Hasni(Owen Husney), who helped him sign a contract with the label Warner Bros. After that Prince moved to California, where in 1978 he released his first album “ For You" He acted as a producer, arranger, and author of all songs except one.

Prince played 27 instruments during the recording of the album.

In 1979 his album " Prince" rose to number 22 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum. Single " I Wanna Be Your Lover" sold over a million copies and was number 11 on Billboard's Hot 100.

1980 album " Dirty Mind", turned gold, Prince I recorded it in my own studio. In 1981 the disc “ Controversy", after which the musician played as an opening act The Rolling Stones during their American tour. At the end of 1982 he released the double album " 1999 ", which sold 3 million copies. Song " Delirious"entered the top ten of the American singles chart.

Prince reached the peak of his career in 1984 with the release of the album Purple Rain. Its circulation in the US alone exceeded 13 million copies. The disc remained in first place on the Billboard 200 chart for 24 weeks in a row. The film of the same name, in which Prince played one of the roles, grossed more than $80 million. Prince won an Oscar for Best Original Song for a Film.

At one point in 1984, both an album and a single Prince took first place in the charts, and the film with his participation was number one in the box office. This was the first time any musician had achieved such a result.

New in 1985 " Around the World in a Day"immediately rose to first place on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top for three weeks. 1986 album " Parade", soundtrack of the second film Prince « Under the cherry moon", reached third place. It was his directorial debut Prince, he himself played one of the roles and invited Kristin Scott Thomas(Kristen Scott Thomas) to play the main female role. As a result, he received " Golden raspberry"as worst actor and worst director.

The soundtrack for the next film was released in 1987 as a double album. Sign o" the Times" More than 3 million records were sold, and the European tour in support of the album was a great success. Next album, " Lovesexy", only reached number 11 on the charts in 1988 and sold poorly.

In 1989 Prince invited to write a couple of songs for " Batman" The musician recorded 9 tracks, and this recording took first place on the Billboard 200. In 1990, he released his fourth film “ Graffiti Bridge"and the album of the same name.

The album turned out to be quite successful. Diamonds and Pearls", released in 1991. And a year later with a new group The New Power Generation Prince recorded his twelfth album " Love Symbol Album».

In 1993, Prince announced that his stage name was now Symbol of Love, a combination of the masculine (♂) and feminine (♀) signs. Since no verbal version of the sign was offered, the press referred to the musician as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.”

In 1994 Prince made it clear that he wanted to quickly fulfill his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. According to the musician, the label limited his creative freedom and was to blame for the commercial failure of the disc. Love Symbol Album" The last disc released on this label Prince became " Chaos and Disorder» 1996. After the termination of the contract in 2000, the musician returned to the name Prince. He distributed the next few recordings through his website.

A loud return took place in 2004, when he performed with Beyoncé several songs at the award ceremony " Grammy" Having released the album " Musicology», Prince went on a large-scale tour.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as the top-earning musician, estimating his annual income at $56.5 million. The “Musicology” disc also brought the musician two Grammy awards.

At the end of 2005 he signed a contract with Universal Records and released the album " 3121 "in Latin American style. Video for the first single " Te Amo Corazon» removed Salma Hayek(Salma Hayek). The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 2006, Prince received a Golden Globe for the song “The Song of the Heart” for the full-length animated film “ Do your feet».

In February 2007, Prince performed in Miami at the main event of the American sports season - the Super Bowl. The broadcast was watched by 140 million viewers. In 2010, Billboard.com named his performance the best in Super Bowl history.

October 14, 2010 in New York at the " Apollo"Prince announces the start of his new East American tour" Welcome 2 America"and showed off the gold-leaf-covered Fender Custom Stratocaster guitar made by Yuri Shishkov, which accompanied him at concerts. At the end of the tour, the guitar was put up for auction, and the proceeds from its sale went to a fund to help needy children in Harlem.

In 2010 Prince also released the album " 20Ten" He refused to provide it to online stores and closed his official website.

Prince on music online: “I don’t understand why I should give my music to iTunes or anyone else. They don't pay in advance and get angry when they can't get the music. All these computers and gadgets fill your head with numbers, and there is nothing good about that.”

During his career, Prince received 33 nominations and seven Grammys. His albums "1999" and "Purple Rain" are included in the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked Purple Rain number 72 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and Time magazine included it in its 100 Albums of All Time.

Prince is called a pioneer of the Minneapolis sound, which mixed funk, rock, pop, R&B and New Wave.

Prince was not only engaged in his career, but also produced other performers. Among his charges were Carmen Electra(Carmen Electra), Sheila (Sheila E.), The Time and Vanity 6 groups.

Prince Rogers Nelson / Prince Rogers Nelson. Personal life

U Prince there were affairs with many stars, including actresses Kim Basinger(Kim Basinger) and Sherilyn Fenn(Sherilyn Fenn), singers Madonna(Madonna) and Carmen Electroy.

In 1985 he was engaged to Suzanne Melvoin(Susannah Melvoin). However, on Valentine's Day 1986, he married his singer and dancer Mate Garcia(Mayte Garcia). In October 1986 their son was born Fight Gregory(Boy Gregory). A child was born with a rare genetic disease, syndrome Pfeiffer, and died a week later. Prince And Mate divorced in 1999.

In 2001 he married Manuele Testolini(Manuela Testolini). She filed for divorce in May 2006. Since 2007, he has been dating his protégé Bria Valente(Bria Valente).

In 2001 Prince became a member of the sect " Jehovah's Witnesses».

He was a vegetarian, supported the Minnesota Vikings football team, and lived near Minneapolis. He also had a house in France.

On April 21, 2016, the body of the 57-year-old musician was discovered in his home in Minneapolis. The exact cause of death is still being established.

Prince Rogers Nelson / Prince Rogers Nelson. Discography

For You (1978)
Prince (1979)
Dirty Mind (1980)
Controversy (1981)
1999 (1982)
Purple Rain (1984)
Around the World in a Day (1985)
Parade (1986)
Sign o' the Times (1987)
Lovesexy (1988)
Batman (1989)
Graffiti Bridge (1990)
Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
Love Symbol Album (1992)
Come (1994)
The Black Album (1994)
The Gold Experience (1995)
Chaos and Disorder (1996)
Emancipation (1996)
Crystal Ball/The Truth (1998)
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999)
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999)
The Rainbow Children (2001)
One Nite Alone... (2002)
Xpectation (2003)
N.E.W.S (2003)
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
Musicology (2004)
3121 (2006)
Planet Earth (2007)
Lotusflow3r/MPLSound (2009)
20Ten (2010)
Plectrumelectrum (2014)
Art Official Age (2014)
HITnRUN Phase One (2015)
HITnRUN Phase Two (2015)

Prince Rogers Nelson / Prince Rogers Nelson. Filmography

DIRECTOR

Prince: The Hits Collection (video, 1993)

Prince: Diamonds and Pearls (video, 1992)

Gett Off (video, 1991)

Graffiti Bridge (1990)

Sign of the Times (1987)

Under the Cherry Moon (1986)

ACTOR

Prince: The Reign of the Prince of Ages (video, 2005)

The Undertaker (video, 1995)

Sexy MF (video, 1992)

Graffiti Bridge (1990)

Under the Cherry Moon (1986)

Purple Rain (1984)

COMPOSER

Graffiti Bridge (1990)

Sign of the Times (1987)

Purple Rain (1984)

PRODUCER

The Sacrifice of Victor (video, 1995)

3 Chains o" Gold (video, 1994)

SCREENWRITER

Graffiti Bridge (1990)

As one of the highest-grossing artists of the 20th century, this musician has released many of his own albums, produced and written material for other artists, acted in films and experimented with styles, and for his merits has repeatedly become a Grammy winner, as well as being included in the " Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis on June 7, 1958. His father was a pianist, and his mother was a jazz singer, and already at the age of seven his musical genes made themselves felt: the boy composed his first tune, “Funk Machine,” on his father’s instrument. During his school years, Prince acquired a guitar in his arsenal, and he and his cousin became part of the group "Grand Central" (later "Champagne"), which played music influenced by James Brown, "Sly & The Family Stone", "Parliament" - "Funkadelic", "Earth, Wind & Fire" and Todd Rundgren. Afterwards, Nelson participated in another family contract, “94 East,” and a year later he recorded a solo demo tape. The sample did not give a direct result (in terms of a record contract), but provided the musician with normal management, which obtained good conditions for him from Warner Bros. The first record, the pop-funk "For You", turned out to be what is called a "sighting shot": the song "Soft And Wet" was on the 12th line of the "Hot Soul Singles" list, and the disc itself was hovering outside the third fifty. Prince's second album was more diverse (ranging from R&B ballads and disco to hard rock), better-selling and higher on the charts (No. 22), but it was still just flowers. The real creative upswing began with the record "Dirty Mind", where the funk became hard and the songs acquired a sexual overtones.

Continuing in the same spirit, Prince recorded a couple more albums, and with the double “1999” he achieved excellent results: the work entered the top ten, and reviewers began to trumpet the “Minneapolis sound.” However, even this success could not be compared with the furor that the soundtrack to the autobiographical film "Purple Rain" produced. If earlier Prince recorded albums almost alone, then on the cover of the sixth studio album his accompanying team “Revolution” was officially presented for the first time. The heavy, almost metallic riffs on "Purple Rain" coexisted perfectly with the pop melodies, and the aggressive funk was decorated with a neo-psychedelic touch, and all this made the listener's head spin. The album topped the American charts for 24 weeks, sold millions of copies and made its creator a real superstar. Feeling like he was on top, Prince decided it was time to move on and the next year he moved into psychedelics with the program “Around The World In A Day”. The taken aback public didn't really understand anything, but just in case, they bought a couple of million copies of the record, which occupied the top spot on Billboard for three weeks.

“Parade” (the soundtrack to the film “Under The Cherry Moon”), made with the use of orchestrations, looked even more strange, but despite contradictory responses, Prince managed to stay in the top ten (even in the top three) and at the platinum level. After the “ceremonial” tour, the musician made a number of changes in the accompanying lineup, and then abandoned the “Revolution” brand altogether. Even before the “revolutionary” crackdown, Prince began work on a number of projects, but they remained unfinished, but the preparations for them ended up together on the double album “Sign O” The Times,” very eclectic, but quite successful (No. 6). By the end of 1987 year, the musician planned to release "The Black Album", where he returned to his funk roots, but shortly before the release he withdrew the edition, deciding that the opus turned out to be too dark and too immoral. The gospel-funk "Lovesexy", which was released instead of "chernukha", turned out to be its spiritual opposite. , but the public reacted to the story of the struggle between good and evil without much enthusiasm, and the disc remained outside the Top 10 (No. 11). Although the soundtrack to the film “Batman” returned Prince to the top of the charts, an attempt to make a film sequel to “Purple Rain” (). The new film and the corresponding soundtrack were called "Graffiti Bridge") and had relatively modest success. The musician spent the next decade creating a new team, "New Power Generation", which debuted on the disc "Diamonds And Pearls". The record sold out at the level of the mid-80s, and already in 1992 the sales curve crept down again.

By the way, with the name of the 14th studio album, Prince puzzled critics - the symbol depicted on the cover had no verbal equivalent. Moreover, after some time he himself changed his name to this icon, but cunning reviewers got away with it in both cases: the album began to be called “Love Symbol Album”, and the musician - “the artist formerly known as Prince”. Meanwhile, our hero began to have disagreements with the "Warner brothers", and therefore the album "Come" was recorded only to fulfill contractual obligations. But if the failure of this faceless work was understandable, then the fiasco of "The Black Album", the implementation of which the author finally gave the go-ahead, was explained by another reason - many had already gotten themselves a bootleg copy. Accusing the label of resisting the release of The Gold Experience, the musician began to appear in public with the word “slave” written on his cheek, but then everything more or less settled down, and the company agreed to set him free after the next album. As a result, the chic funk-rock “The Gold Experience” entered the top ten, but “Chaos And Disorder”, made according to the play-by-play principle, was a natural failure.

Freed from the chains that held him, the prolific and ambitious musician-symbol released the triple (!) album “Emancipation” through his own label “NPG”. It was planned that the release would be accompanied by a series of tours, and the accompanying singles would be enough for several years, but the idea failed, since even die-hard fans found it difficult to digest such a quantity of material. When it became clear that "Emancipation" was not going to be a commercial blockbuster, Nelson rummaged through the stash and scraped together a bunch of different things for an entire box set, which also included a disc with acoustic songs "The Truth". Unfortunately, the sale of the box was haphazard, and some customers who placed an order via the Internet had to wait about a year for delivery, although by that time the “Crystall Ball” could be found in a regular store. Due to the lack of promotion, the fresh album “New Power Soul”, not much inferior to “Diamonds And Pearls”, also suffered - many fans did not even know about its existence (perhaps this was due to the fact that the disc was nominally released under the label “New Power Generation” "). Having made the appropriate conclusions, the next time the musician paid much more attention to promotion - he attached his opus to the majors "Arista", invited a bunch of guests, including Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow, and gave as many interviews as he had never given before. Unfortunately, these efforts did not pay off - "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" went to a modest 18th place, with muted responses and slightly gilded sales.

With the advent of the 2000s, Prince became Prince again, but at the same time he again puzzled the audience, turning from the usual funk to jazz structures. His research in a new field remained unclear, and neither the conceptual "The Rainbow Children", nor the instrumental "Xpectation", nor the jam "N.E.W.S." did not touch the hearts of the listeners. Prince's real return came in 2004, when the "Musicology" disc went on sale. The album sold out very well, made it into the top five and, among several Grammy nominations, won two (Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance). A couple of years later, the musician confirmed his worth and the abundance of gunpowder in his flasks with the chart topper “3121”, and the program “Planet Earth” came out only a little less on the chart - it took second place. Then Prince was again drawn to multi-volume ambitious projects, and in 2009 he released the three-disc box set “Lotusflow3R”. The first part (actually "Lotusflow3R") was given over to guitar music, the second ("MplSound") served as a return to eighties funk, and the third sounded modern R&B with vocals by Bria Valente. If until now Prince has more than once resorted to the Internet to distribute albums, he refused to release the “20Ten” disc digitally and, even more than that, closed his official website. After this release, the musician endured an unusual four-year pause between studio releases, but in the fall of 2014 he promised to release two full-length films at once.

Last update 09.17.14