Prince Rogers Nelson was the human embodiment of an enigma. He achieved the legend status as a musical genius, fashion icon and international sex symbol. Prince is not any ordinary pop star and has sold more than 100 million records around the world. He is the recipient of seven Grammy awards, one Golden Globe and one Oscar.
We look at the life and work of this mysterious creature in more detail and discover how his early life trauma shaped him into the icon he is today. We discover how the most popular musician turned into a recluse and passed away at the age of 57.
Prince was born to be a musician. He came into this world on 7th June 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His was father was John Lewis, a songwriter and pianist while his mother was Mattie Della the jazz singer.
The naming of a legend
He was named Prince after his father’s stage name which means he was always meant to be a performer. His father performed in a jazz group known as the Prince Rogers Trio and said he wanted to pass on the name to his son to allow him "to do everything I wanted to do".
Parents difficult split
At the tender age of two, Prince’s parents split up and it was because of their divorce he had a difficult childhood and a lot of pent up anger. It was his troubled upbringing that made him into a complex artist. Prince was mainly raised by his father and it was he who bought him his first guitar when he was only seven years old.
First Song at 7
Although Prince got really serious about his passion for singing during his teenaged years, he wrote his first song using his father’s piano when he was only seven. His father bought him a drum set as well which he picked up very quickly. Over the course of his lifetime the musical prodigy mastered 27 different instruments.
Living in poverty
Even though his father supported his passion for music, it was not smooth sailing during his early years. They lived in virtual poverty which developed some serious anger issues in Prince.
“We used to go to McDonald’s, I didn’t have any money, so I’d just stand outside and smell stuff. Poverty makes people angry, brings out their worst side. I was very bitter when I was young. I was insecure, and I’d attack anybody,” said Prince in an interview once.
Epileptic from birth
On top of the poor living conditions, Prince was also epileptic by birth. He began having seizures when he was very young.
"My mother told me one day I walked into her and said, 'Mom, I'm not going to be sick anymore,' and she said, 'Why?' and I said, 'Because an angel told me so,” he narrated.
A living contradiction
Prince was frequently bullied by the children at his school because of his flamboyant sense of style and overt shyness. Dennis O’Leary his childhood friend summarized Prince’s personality by saying, “Roger was a real extrovert with close friends but very quiet and shy around others.” It was these contradictions in Prince’s personality that defined his enigmatic personality when he reached the peak of his career.
Musical passion begins to develop
As Prince entered his teens his love and appreciation for the world of music became an obsession. He learned how to play multiple instruments and started a band called the Grand Central. It was at that young age he pioneered the distinct ‘Minneapolis sound’ which is associated with the hybrid of pop, rock and funk with sexually explicit lyrics.
Sex, drugs, and rock n roll
Only his passion for sex came close to his passion for music. Prince is known for having explicit lyrics which were inspired by his real-life sexual escapades. He was caught in bed with a girl when he was only 12 and he has been a ladies’ man ever since.
Stepdad troubles
Prince’s mother got married to Hayward Baker after the divorce and Prince was not on good terms with him. This is the main reason he chose to stay with his poor father instead. Baker often tried to win over Prince and even took him to see James Brown in concert when he was younger.
Homeless
Prince was kicked out of the house by his father after which he was taken in by his neighbors, the Andersons. This was the defining moment of Prince’s career because that is when Prince he became good friends with their son Andre who collaborated with him when he became Andre Cymone, the singer.
First came sports, then came music
Although the world knows him as Prince the superstar musician, he was a popular athlete during his high school years. No one would have ever guessed that he would later become a musician and even his friend O’Leary said, “We only ever talked about being athletes when we grew up.” Prince continued to play basketball as a recreational sport all throughout his life.
His big break
Prince officially began his musical career when was 17. He signed a solo music contract with Warner Bros. but even they did not know they were taking on someone who would later become a legend. Prince produced all his albums himself and even played the instruments on his songs.
Despite his fame, Prince was still very shy and he did not like anyone to see him sing. His producer David Z. remembers the singer would have the lights turned off in the studio so that nobody could watch him record.
His career takes off
Prince released his debut album ‘For You’ in April 1978 which achieved moderate success and good sales for a breakout artists. By his third studio album ‘Dirty Mind’ that was released in 1980 Prince had established his presence as a pop artist. He wrote songs with raw, sexual lyrics that covered everything up to incest. He was open about his sexuality and not afraid to show it off in front of the audience. The crowd loved his bedroom eyes, secretive smile and sensual singing style.
There was no holding him back and he continued to shock the world with back to back platinum albums. His album ‘Controversy’ which came out in 1981 teased the fans with lyrics that talked about his sexuality.
Ladies man
Prince was not only in the news because of his musical genius but also because of his love life. He had a long list of beautiful women that he was often seen with. Madonna, Kim Basinger, Carmen Electra are some his most memorable love interests.
But No Kardashians
Prince held a grudge against Kim Kardashian ever since she refused to dance with him backstage in 2011. Prince told her to go off the stage and has never been on good terms with family ever since. Kim talked about it in an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians saying, "To my defense, like, didn't watch Dancing with the Stars? Like, I'm not a good dancer."
Making it to the big screen
Prince released his iconic ‘Purple Rain’ album in 1984. The album was produced as the soundtrack for a film with the same name and it was in this movie that Prince made his first Hollywood appearance. The singer had beautiful elfin features and his androgynous body was not only made for singing but was also talented in acting.
The movie ranked number one on the box office with the album doing equally well. It had hits such as ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, ‘When Doves Cry’ and sold 22 million copies all over the world. The song also won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1985.
Controversy begins
With his global success, Prince was put under the spotlight and scrutinized intensely which resulted in many problems. Tipper Gore, wife of senator Al-Gore criticized the singer for his track ‘Darling’ from the album Purple Rain. The song talked about a young girl pleasuring herself in the hotel lobby which Gore believed was highly inappropriate for the younger viewers.
This outcry led to a ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker being slapped on all his albums.
The bad press continues
Prince came under fire again when he refused to collaborate with Michael Jackson and many other artists on the USA For Africa song ‘We Are the World’. The public disapproved of him saying no to the charity organization and labelled him as a selfish person. Prince explained that it was because of his shy disposition that he would have been unable to perform in the presence of such great singers.
A Paradox of a person
It was not easy to believe that someone who could outperform every other artist on stage was so shy in real life. Even though Prince was a master at exhibiting himself he struggled in social settings and mostly kept to himself when he was off-stage.
His former bodyguard Chick Huntsberry or ‘Big Chick’ also painted a negative picture of Prince in his book where he said the singer was an insomniac and only cared about his work.
Becoming a recluse
As Prince continued to receive bad press and became the target of public disapproval he decided to put an end to his concert tours and settle down in Minneapolis. He spent $10 million on building his own recording studio and home which was named Paisley Park.
He adopted the hermit lifestyle which cut him off from some of his closest friends who assumed he did not want to be disturbed. He once said in an interview ‘I wish more of my friends would come by. A lot of the time they think I don’t want to be bothered.’
Batman and Prince Return
In 1987 Prince decided to step out into the real world and release his album Sign O’The Times. This put him back in the spotlight and he did the soundtrack for the upcoming Batman movie by Tim Burton. This was Prince’s comeback and put the singer back on the radar. He also met the Kim Basinger who was the female lead in the movie during this time.
A torrid love affair
The two could not keep their chemistry under wraps and their love affair was soon common knowledge for everyone. Kim was so crazy in love with The Purple Rain singer that she gave up her acting career to move in with Prince at his Paisley Park estate.
An Intervention
Kim Basinger’s family was very concerned about her decision to give everything up for Prince and believed the singer had her in some kind of trance. They arrived at Paisley Park unannounced and took her away when Prince was away on tour.
Caught on tape
Kim and Prince had recorded an album titled “Hollywood Affair” while they were living together. It was released after she was taken away by her family. One of the songs was called Scandalous Sex Suite and it contained voice recordings from when they were having sex. When Basinger was asked about why she recorded that single she replied, “I don’t really have boundaries, so I enjoyed that time of my life.”
Growing career frustration
Career-wise Prince struggled during the early 1990’s. He was fed up with his label Warner Bros and how they were handling the production of his music. He felt like another one of Warner Bros money minting machines and did not feel cared for by the label. This lead to him rebelling in the only way he knew how.
The artist formerly known as Prince
In September 1993 Prince decided to change his stage name and rather than choosing another iconic title he chose a symbol that signified love. He wrote in his official statement, “It is an unpronounceable symbol whose meaning has not been identified. It's all about thinking in new ways, tuning in 2 a new free-quency,"
Controversial decision
His decision to change his stage name was called ridiculous and absurd. Record sales were on the decline and an entire set of logistical problems presented themselves for the distributors as well as media. His work had to be titled as “Artist Formerly Known as Prince”.
A battle of identity
The new name also brought on many money problems and Prince said wrangle “My bills come in weekly, so I need my cheques to do the same”. Due to the battle over his identity he was having problems with the label. But he wanted to rebel against them because they acted like they owned him. He would often go out in the public with the word “Slave” written across his cheek.
Reuniting with Warner
In 1996 Prince finally relented and returned to his former label. He decided to go back to calling himself Prince after three years of rebellion. The main idea behind changing the stage name was to annoy the critics and Prince’s sly tactics actually worked.
Copyright Battles
Prince was also involved I the never-ending battle with the internet and how they did not respect the copyright laws when distributing his material. In 2007 Prince said he was going to sue eBay and YouTube. The matter escalated to the point where his fans had to form a “Prince Fans Unite” club to fight back on the legal requests made by the artist to have all his photographs on the web taken down.
Plain no
Prince is one of the few musicians who refused to let Weird Al’Yankovic produce a parody of his songs. He did not only say no to him once but about half a dozen times and without giving any explanation or justification for his denial.
His first real romance
Prince met singer Susannah Melvoin in the 1980’s and worked with him as well. The two made a strong connection which led to their inevitable engagement. Melvoin knew Prince was serious about the relationship when he began sending flowers to her house every day for two whole years.
An indecent proposal
Prince proposed to Susannah when they were filming for Under the Cherry Moon in Paris. She said that he just woke up one morning and said to her I don’t want you to be in the film. I want you to be my wife.” The next thing she knew they were engaged. Even though the relationship did not work out they remained on good terms even after the breakup and Melvoin says she feels honored to have known this man intimately.
The first love of his life
Prince knew he wanted to marry Mayte Garcia one day when he saw her standing outside the theatre after his concert in 1989. Garcia was only 16-years-old at that time and a talented dancer who wished to join Prince’s troupe. He was enamored by her despite being 15 years older and the two struck up an unusual friendship immediately.
Birth-control and a marriage
Mayte was only 19 when Prince asked her to start taking birth control pills and took their relationship to the next level. They finally got married in an extravagant wedding held in Paisley Park and Garcia was soon expecting his child.
A Devastating loss
The couple faced a traumatic loss when they lost their son Boy Gregory Nelson only a week after he was born. The child had a rare skull disease known as the Pfeiffer Syndrome. The news was not revealed to the public until weeks after his demise when rumors about their son never being seen in public began to pop up.
A Bizarre time to interview
What people failed to understand was how the couple managed to keep up appearances and appear on The Opera Winfrey Show only days after their baby’s death. They pretended that the child was doing fine. Mayte mentioned in her autobiography that Prince told her about Opera coming over and said, “I need you to do this.” She was sobbing uncontrollably and had to have a heavy mask of makeup applied on her face to hide the sorrow.
A strange way to cope
When you watch the interview with the knowledge that they had lost their child it is pretty evident in the artists’ behavior. He is seen in a state of shock and there are some heartbreaking moments like when Prince showed Opera the nursery and said it was his favorite room in the house. Mayte revealed later on that she thought it was his way of processing the death and coping with the loss.
A surprising interview
It was in an interview with British journalist Susie Boone, the artist opened up about his tragic lost and how he stayed resilient throughout it. “Contrary to what has been said about me, I feel very positive. I feel God has a plan,” Prince told her.
Warm and humorous
Susie Boone was surprised by the welcoming manner with which Prince treater her during the interview. She was not expecting the Star to broach the subject so openly. She reported to Marie Claire, “I’d heard stories about him being evasive and difficult in interviews, so his warmth and humor were a big surprise. That was a side of him we didn’t really see. He wanted to tell the world “I’m happy.””
Their marriage breaks down
Mayte was pregnant a second time but miscarried the baby. Although the couple tried to work their way through the tragedy they ended up filing for a divorce in 1998. Mayte claimed that the loss of two children was too much for both of them. Even after the divorce, the two remained on courteous terms and Mayte still says that he was the love of her life. She only sings praises of the star despite such a strange turn of events that took place at the beginning of their relationship.
Jehovah Witness and second marriage
Prince became a Jehovah’s Witness in 2001 and married Manuela Testolini who worked with him on of his charity organizations. Their marriage lasted five years and during that time they lived the most lavish life throwing huge parties and blowing through cash giving off the impression that they were really happy. But Manuela asked for a divorce in 2006 even though Prince did not want to end it. In the end, he agreed to it and they parted amicably.
Ever-evolving faith
It was shocking for the world that the most sexually open music artists yet had converted to a Jehovah’s Witness. He cut out a number of songs from his album for being too explicit and even stopped using curse words.
Prince Knocking at your door
Prince joined the faith after a two-year long debate with his friend and musician Larry Graham. Larry convinced him to join him and Prince would refer to this decision not as a ‘conversion’ but a ‘recognition’. He would regularly attend group meetings and also went knocking door to door spreading God’s message. Can you believe that?
Charitable Endeavours kept hidden
Throughout his lifetime especially after converting to Jehovah’s Witness, Prince never made his charity work public. It was after his death that the donations he made to many charity organizations came to light. He was the one who paid the medical bills for drummer Cylde Stubblefield’s cancer treatment. The hackathon program was also launched by Prince.
Anti-gay comments
One of the most shocking news that came out after Prince recognized himself as a Jehovah’s Witness was his reaction towards gay marriage. "God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, 'Enough.'" It angered the public because he was so overtly open about his sexual escapades. However, Prince always stuck to his convictions and was never one to be diplomatic about a controversial topic.
Performances never waned
Prince continued to make music even in the 2000’s. His newer albums were not as successful as the previous ones but he always gave his all kin every performance. From 2004 when he appeared with Beyonce at the Grammy Awards to the mesmerizing concert in London in 2014, the star remained the powerhouse he was when he first began. However, his closed-off and introverted nature never changed and he still chose to stay in his estate in Minneapolis over The City of Angels, Los Angeles.
Beyoncé remembers his sense of humor
The world cannot deny the artist’s brilliance and recently Beyonce shared her fond memories of the singer. She brought to light a side of him very few knew of and that was his sense of humor. She said his comic timing was perfect and in a foreword of a photobook about Prince, the Lemonade singer shared how she couldn’t stop laughing when they performed together at the 2004 Grammy’s.
Don’t hate us
Beyonce wrote in the book that, “Prince’s timing was genius and his sense of humor, spontaneous and unexpected. "At the end of 'Purple Rain'/'Let’s Go Crazy'/'Crazy in Love' medley, I had no idea he would say what he did. We did talk about making a face but when he blurted out 'Don’t hate us ‘cause we fab,' it took everything I had to keep my composure."
Defying gender stereotypes
Prince was hailed as a sex symbol around the world especially for his androgynous natures which broke the borders of sexuality. His essence and influence was captured by a critic who wrote, "Prince's '80s evasion of conventional gender definitions speaks to us now in this trans-aware moment. But it also harks backward in time to the origins of rock 'n' roll in racial mixture and sexual blurring"
Hip replacement
Prince did not care for gender stereotypes and was often seen in high heels. He underwent a double hip replacement surgery when his health worsened in 2005. Doctors pinned it down to continuous dancing on stage in high-heeled boots.
Untimely Death
Prince spent the last few months of his life out of the public eye which is why his death on April 21st came as a shock to everyone. Prince died of an accidental drug overdose in Paisley Park. Reports say he was heavily relying on painkillers and acquired them illegally to manage the symptoms of his medical problem. His friends, family and fans joined hands in mourning the loss of an iconic singer and performer whose music touched the lives of millions across the world.
Post-death relatives…
After his death many people motivated by greed tried to grab the fortune he left behind. His estate was valued at several million dollars which included the property, cars and stocks. Within three weeks of his death about 700 people came forward claiming to be his half-siblings or descendants.
Post-death projects
It was rumored that Prince kept a hidden room in his house at Paisley Park knows as ‘The Vault’. He kept all his recordings there even the ones that were never released. According to reports there are enough songs on there to release one album every year until the year 2100. Composer Brent Fischer said “He could put out music for the next generation and it would still be relevant.”
No Will found
Prince did not leave behind a last will or testament. His estate was estimated at a total of $800 million and assumed to be shared by his sister Tyka and the five half-siblings from his second marriage. The family was also in talks to sue the doctor who prescribed Prince the painkillers that caused his death.
Tributes come flooding in
Tributes for the singer came from all over the world. Stars like Lady Gaga and Rihanna paid their respects crediting him as one of the icons that inspired them to take up singing as a career. Justin Timberlake went beyond that and said “It would be silly to say that he has inspired our music. It’s beyond that. He’s somewhere within every song I’ve ever written.”
The love is real
Madonna also gave the star a special tribute at the Billboard Music Awards 2016. The two were rumored to be lovers and had collaborated on many projects in the 80’s. Their names were taken side by side as icons so it was fitting that she pay her respects. She opened her performance inspired in a purple suit singing “Nothing Compares 2 U” and ended it with the unforgettable “Purple Rain” with Stevie Wonder joining as a surprise guest.
They kept flooding in
