| He's been called
"His Royal Badness" and "His Purple Highness,"
and for several years he was simply called by an unpronounceable
symbol, or as the "Artist Formerly Known As Prince."
Reclusive man of mystery, self-proclaimed messianic zealot,
sex symbol, flamboyant rock star, Prince--when he was Prince
the first time around--was at the top of the music world,
giving Michael Jackson a run for his pop dollars. Although
completely unpredictable, highly controversial, and self-indulgent,
Prince is also an extremely accomplished musician, producer
and composer, one of the 1980s' true musical originals.
A virtual one-man band, Prince sculpted and created the
Minneapolis Sound through his keyboards, screeching, almost
pleading, vocals, erotic live shows, and explicit sexual
lyrics. Named after his father's jazz group, the Prince
Rogers Band, Prince Rogers Nelson had music in his blood
from birth. When his parents divorced, his father left his
piano behind, and at the age of 7, Prince began mimicking
television themes on the keys. As a teenager, he ran away
from home, moved in with a friend, formed a band, and taught
himself how to play bass, guitar, and drums. By the age
of 18, he had recorded several demos, and by 19, he had
struck an amazing deal with Warner Bros. Records, one unheard
of by an unknown; the artist, dubbed a prodigy, was not
only given a six-figure, several-album contract, but also
an inordinate amount of freedom--as a songwriter, musician,
and producer.
In 1977, Prince
became the youngest producer in Warner history. Not too
surprising, Prince's debut, For You, in 1978, was over-budget
and over-ambitious (he played a reported 23 different instruments
on the record). While the music covered a broad spectrum
of styles, from acoustic to rock to R&B, appearing like
he couldn't decide which was his style, Prince knew lyrically
where he was comfortable; "Soft And Wet" oozed
sex and slithered its way onto the singles and black charts.
Back in Minneapolis, he gathered some old musicians together
and played his first solo show in January 1979. His early
shows were tame, but in support of his self-titled sophomore
outing, Prince was parading and strutting around the stage
in tight-ass pants (or no pants, only zebra-print butt-hugger
undies) and high-heeled boots, beginning a decade of lavish
and erotic performances with lingerie-clad women and oddly-attired
musicians at his side.
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