Auburn High School



It wasn't as if he hadn't done bizarre things before. After all, this was a man who was said to take late-night bike rides around his neighborhood — in the buff. But the collective heave of public puzzlement on June 7, 1993, was nearly audible: On his 35th birthday, Prince laid his pronounceable past to rest with the announcement that he would henceforth be known by a scepterish rune that combined the astrological symbols for man and woman intersected by...well, something horny.Never a particularly orthodox orthographist — as evidenced by song titles like ''I Would Die 4 U'' — Prince's decision had the media (and copy editors in particular) howling. Officially, the singer explained his new designation in a press statement by saying: ''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.'' Warner Bros. Records, Prince's distributor, cooperated by mailing out thousands of computer disks bearing digital images of the glyph (which quickly became the preferred term among writers and editors for the symbol) to be used by press outlets in future stories.Questions of social utility quickly arose. Did he have it changed legally? No. As far as the government was concerned, he was — and still is — known by his birth name: Prince Rogers Nelson. What about introductions? As he told an interviewer in 1995, ''I get by. I don't need a name as such, really.'' The singer's hometown newspaper, Minneapolis'?Star Tribune, polled readers on suggestions on what to call [the Artist formerly known as Prince]. Among the responses: Ambiguity, Mysterious Illness, and, commonly, Pat (after?Saturday Night Live's ambisexual character). MTV, for its part, took to referring to the glyph on-air with a metallic clanking noise. Eventually, spokespeople for the singer relented and condoned the use of a slightly more wieldy title: the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.But more than anything, the name change symbolized a break from Warner, with whom the Artist had signed a reported $100 million deal less than a year before. The fit had never been comfortable: The label had tried to rein in Prince's output, concerned that his rapid-fire production pace would oversaturate the market; the Artist responded by accusing Warner of stifling his creativity. Just six weeks before changing his name, Prince ''retired,'' saying he would not record any more new material. Eventually, the Artist and Warner parted company for good, but by that point, the proper pronunciation of an arcane symbol had become the least of Warner's — or [the Artist formerly known as Prince]'s problems.Prince Date of Birth7 June 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USABirth NamePrince Rogers NelsonNicknameThe Purple One His Royal Badness Skipper (childhood family nickname)The High Priest of Pop The Prince of Funk The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Height5' 2" (1.57 m)Mini BiographyAfrican-American Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States to mother jazz singer, Mattie Shaw and to father songwriter and pianist, John L. Nelson. Prince's parents separated during his youth which lead him to move back and forth. Prince had a troubled relationship with his step-father which led him to run away from home. Prince lived with the Anderson family. Prince soon after became friends with the Anderson's son, Andre Anderson (Cymone), together along with Charles Smith joined a band called Grand Central. The band later renamed themselves Champagne and were a fairly successful live band, however soon diminished.Prince at the age of eighteen started working on high-quality demo tracks with Chris Moon. With these demo tracks Prince eventually ended up signing a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records and was the youngest producer associated with the label. Prince made his debut on the record label with his 1978 album, For You. It wasn't a strong successful album, however it was fair for a beginning artist and ranked 163 on the US Pop Charts. Prince's next releases would tend to do much better on the charts with his singles, "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and “I Wanna Be Your Lover” in 1979. This would start to introduce Prince as a person who presented sexually explicit material into the music industry. However Prince didn't begin to attract mainstream artists until he release his single, 1999. This single began to be noticed by MTV viewers and this would make him apart of the mainstream music media. Prince released two more singles called Little Red Corvette and Delirious. The album featured Prince's new band, The Revolution. In 1984 Prince would release what would be seen as an admired and profound masterpiece the feature film/soundtrack album, Purple Rain in 1984. Prince's father, John L. Nelson would contribute to this album, by co-writing the chord sequence for a couple of his songs. Prince continued to give co-writing credit to his father on several other albums, as his famous chord sequence would be used in several of Prince's singles and albums.A lot of Prince's songs did not agree with listeners and one of his songs, Darling Nikki prompted a group of people to start a censorship organization called, Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) as the track implemented grinding ludicrous acts such as masturbating, which stunned listeners. Prince however continued to release various other singles with the same platform. His memorable releases were Around The World In A Day, Parade, Love Sexy, and Batman.Prince released a sequel to Purple Rain in 1990 called Graffiti Bridge, a soundtrack album accompanied this movie entitled, Graffiti Bridge. The film did terrible at the box-office and was nominated for several Razzie awards. Many people saw the soundtrack album, as the highlight of the film.In 1991, Prince assembled a new band called, The New Power Generation with this band he would release singles such as Diamond and Pearls, Cream, and Gett Off. Prince eventually changed his stage name from Prince to a symbol, which led people to call him, "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince". Prince soon took back his old stage name.Prince in the 90's continued to release singles such as Came, The Gold Experience, Chaos And Disorder, and Emancipation. With the rise of the new millennium, Prince continued to release material. He did a collaboration with Stevie Wonder on Stevie's single called, “What The Fuss” in 2005. Prince will be known as an artist whom inspired millions through his music and set an inspirational platform in terms of music which artists still abide by. His tones can still be heard from songs by other artists because of the influence Prince had on them.SpouseManuela Testolini(31 December 2001 - 2006) (divorced)Mayte Garcia(14 February 1996 - 14 February 1999) (annulled) 1 childTrade MarkIn song titles, usually replaces "to," "two," or "too" with "2"; "for" with "4"; and "you" with "U." (Example: "I Would Die 4 U.")Colorful outfits and raunchy lyricsHigh heelsOdd shaped guitarsHigh pitched VoiceTriviaIn May 2000 Prince dropped the symbol O(+> he adopted as a name. He had used the symbol because he considered his record contract with Warner Bros. Records oppressive, which ended in 2000.The symbol to which Prince changed his name (which is best rendered as either O{+> or O(+> in normal ASCII characters) originated in and was borrowed by Prince from ancient Europe.Son, with Mayte Garcia was born with the rare skull disease, Pfeiffer's syndrome, and unable to breathe without a ventilator. The child was taken off life support on 23 October and died.Changed his stage name to O(+>. [7 June 1993]Started the careers of Vanity and Carmen Electra amongst others.Son of jazz pianist John L. Nelson.One of very few artists who has denied 'Weird Al' Yankovic permission to parody any of his songs. After years of asking, ''Weird Al' Yankovic' obtained video parody permission, and the video for UHF (1989) includes a sequence that spoofs the bathtub intro for Prince's video of "When Doves Cry".Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2004.A very short man, he often has to wear large shoes on stage so he is not dwarfed by some female singers.He was voted the 28th greatest Rock & Roll Artist of all time by "Rolling Stone" magazine.He joins Sylvester Stallone, Roberto Benigni, Kevin Costner, William Shatner and Tom Green as being the only actors to direct themselves in performances that would win them a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.Did the music for the movie Girl 6 (1996) as Prince. It was the only time he referred to himself as Prince from 1993 to 2000.In the late 1990s, he requested to be referred to as simply The Artist, since his initial intention when he changed his name to O(+> was to not be referred to as Prince. Unfortunately that was not going too well, considering everyone was calling him the Artist Formerly Known as Prince because the symbol has no pronunciation.The symbol he used as his name was also the name of his last Warner Bros. album as Prince, which was released just a few months before his name change. He recorded as Prince since then on his independently distributed, self-released albums and those licensed to Arista/BMG Records and Columbia/SME Records.Known for his colorful outfits and explicitly flaunting and expressing his strong sexuality during his performances, despite being a devout Christian.One of the very few musicians who writes, produces and composes all his music himself. On most of his albums, he plays all the instruments himself, except for brass instruments, which he does not play, though he does have a backing band for concerts. His songwriting skills have provided hits for others such as Chaka Khan, Sinéad O'Connor and Jordan Knight.Played the song "1999" for the last time at a New Year's Eve party in 1999, then announced he was retiring the song.During the filming of Purple Rain (1984), he was told one day by director Albert Magnoli that the film needed a montage song that dealt heavily on emotions. Prince responded with two songs the very next morning, written, produced and recorded. One of the songs was the smash hit "When Doves Cry".Performed a composition written by his father, John L. Nelson, in the music of Purple Rain (1984); this music was also part a song from the Purple Rain (1984) soundtrack, "Computer Blue".His 1984 album "Purple Rain" sold 13 million copies in the United States.In November 2005 he was told by his doctors that he would need a hip replacement following years of energetic dancing on stage.Was to duet with Michael Jackson on his album "Bad", but could not decide on the words to the song.Prince's 2006 tour made him the most lucrative live performer of the year. His 69 city, 96 show tour took $87.4 million (?45.5 million), beating Céline Dion's Las Vegas residency, which came in second, taking $80.4 million (?41.8 million).Winner of the 1993 Brit Award for International Solo Artist.Winner of the British Phonographic Industry Awards for International Act and Soundtrack for "Purple Rain" in 1985.Winner of the 1992 Brit Award for International Solo Artist.In his An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002) (V) film, director Kevin Smith says that he learned during shooting of a documentary for Prince that he has made about 50 fully produced music videos for songs that were never released in any kind of form.Arrived an hour late to the 2007 Golden Globe Awards due to traffic and missed accepting the Golden Globe for Best Song for movie "Happy Feet". Justin Timberlake accepted the award for him after an awkward silence waiting for Prince to come on stage. He did so in an amusing fashion by crouching down to a shorter height and raising his voice to accept the award for Prince. Hugh Grant later announced Prince had finally arrived after being stuck in gridlock traffic, and gave Prince an opportunity to stand and receive applause for his win.During high school he was in a band called "Champagne" with his cousin Morris Day and friend Andre Cymone.Known as "Gazoo" in school because of his huge Afro and small body. Gazoo was the flying space guy in the Fintstones cartoon show with the giant head covered by a space helmet.Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [14 November 2006].Ranked #18 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll.Ranked #5 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.Wrote a song for his friend, actress Jackie Swanson, entitled "Palomino Pleasure Ride".Has sold 80 million albums worldwide.Held a press conference to announce his intention to perform 21 shows in London. (8 May 2007).Performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida, to a worldwide television audience of 140 million viewers. (4 February 2007).Thrilled his hometown fans by performing three shows over twelve hours, only stopping when police shut him down. The Minneapolis native first performed at a department store to promote his new cologne, cramming nine songs into a 45-minute set. He then played that night at the Target Center arena. He capped the night with a return to First Avenue, the club he made famous in the movie Purple Rain (1984). Minnesota's governor and the Minneapolis mayor issued proclamations honoring Prince, and fans flew in from all over the country to see the performer. After the Target Center, Prince waited until nearly 2:45 a.m. before starting the First Avenue show, the first time he had played at the club since 1987. The city lets music play until 4 a.m. He was 15 songs and 70 minutes into a 24-song set when he announced from the stage: "The authorities say we gotta go. We always listen to the authorities. I promise I'll be back." (7 July 2007).Is a Vegetarian.Shares a great interest in silent-screen star Clara Bow with friend and former girlfriend Sherilyn Fenn.Merited a place in Time magazine's - The 100 Most Influential People in the World ("Artists" category) - with an homage penned by Usher Raymond. [May 10, 2010]Ex-wife Manuela Testolini married Halle Berry's ex-husband Eric Benet at The Resort at Pelican Hill (Newport Beach, California). Among the guests were Samuel L. Jackson, Niecy Nash, Shaun Robinson, and Matt Bonner. Testolini and Benet have been an item for four years, and are expecting their first child. (31 July 2011).Personal QuotesYou can always renegotiate a record contract. You just go in and say, 'You know, I think my next project will be a country-and-western album.'People say I'm wearing heels because I'm short. I wear heels because the women like 'em.Cool means being able to hang with yourself. All you have to ask yourself is "Is there anybody I'm afraid of? Is there anybody who if I walked into a room and saw, I'd get nervous?" If not, then you're cool.I never really got off on awards so much. I think it's more for the people who give them and also for the fans. I get a lot of props from people in the street and a lot of love and congratulation, pats on back, so it's a good feeling you know the after-effects.I've got more hits than Madonna's got kids.I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They will not give me an advance for it and they get mad when they don't get it. All computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and they are not good for youIt's fun being in Islamic countries, to know there's only one religion. There's order. You wear a burqa. There's no choice. People are happy with that. ................
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