Prince The Artist RIP

Prince The Artist “A strong spirit transcends rules”. Prince. “Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay? Controversy.” Prince. These two original quotes from The Artist show what Prince was not only for music, but for Fashion, for Art, for Show business and more, he was Controversy, he was Transcendence from the mainstream, he was groundbreaking novelty with avant-garde own style. So who was Prince? For most youngsters it may be unknown, but anyone over 30 years old knows of “Prince” the musician as an Icon of Pop Music. Prince has been one of the most naturally talented artists of all time, and one of the most secretive. In short, Prince one of the most famous Pop Icons, an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, his real name went under Prince Rogers Nelson or simply the Artist (he eventually used a Symbol to denote his name). He was born on June 7th in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And as we all know he recently died last month of April 21st 2016 with 58 years old in Chanhassen, Minnesota as well. Prince was a wonderful singer, with high pitch as well as low tones, he had feelings from the soul and blues, but his style was more towards the Funk, Jazz and Pop. He was too an exceptional guitarist, effective songwriter, great producer, a marvelous performer and dancer. In general as instrument player he was also quite a surprise at the keyboards, drums, and bass; making of him one of the most talented American musicians of his generation. He could perform at a proficient level on all the instruments, and many of his productions feature him in all the performing roles. Some can say that he had similar talent to Stevie Wonder, or Ray Charles or any renowned artist of that sort. He started young his interest in music with piano at age 7 and guitar at age 13 and then finally mastered drums at age 14. Later on in life, in an interview Prince revealed that as a child, he suffered from epileptic seizures and that he was teased in school for that” He said “...that´s why Early in my career I tried to compensate by being as flashy and as noisy as I could." Under the name Prince Rogers he started playing with his father John Nelson´s jazz band where Prince´s mother was vocalist. Eventually he ran away and moved in with his Anderson family neighbors. In high school Prince formed his 1st band Grand Central, which later changed named to Champagne, with his house-mate André Anderson, who later changed his name to André Cymone and Morris Day. And 4 years later in 1978 his demo made him negotiate his first Warner Bros contract. Prince’s recording career began with funk, disco and soul mostly for black audiences. Later records incorporated influences of jazz, punk, metal, and hip-hop, through an up-tempo style with funky and soulful ballads, often using his label falsetto. His influences were many The Beatles, the Jackson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and other. Prince was intense, in his statements, his music, his clothing, but also specially on his lyrics where he often addressed desire and sexuality with outspokenness and candidness. In his lyrics he battles with the restriction of categorizing people and of social conventions. As said in one of biographies “the center of his art can be understood in terms of a desire to escape the social identities thrust upon people and him.” He too evaded convention through typographical symbolisms in his song titles and extravagant lyrics. By 1993 he changed his name to a symbol from the combination of the male and female gender signs. There´s some religious theme present in his productions as well. Prince released his first album, For You, in April, 1978 and with it suggested his musical range and got significantly more name for him. Then 2 years later came Dirty Mind in 1980, then Controversy in 1981, all these Prince, Dirty Mind, and Controversy eventually all got to be platinum records. During dirty mind tour while in concert Prince frequently wore black bikini underpants underneath a trench coat. And in 1982 Prince raised to a new level of pop stardom with his Platinum double album. "Delirious" ,“1999” and “Little Red Corvette” in 1983 was Prince’s first big hit which made him appear on MTV airtime at a time when no black artists were used to appear. Then, in 1984 with “Purple Rain”, which remains his biggest-selling album and made him already an everlasting star of the 1980s, were the famous singles hits: the frenetic “Let’s Go Crazy,” and the vulnerable “When Doves Cry”. 1985 saw the release of Around the World in a Day, which had the top 10 tracks "Raspberry Beret," a whimsical mid-tempo ditty, and "Pop Life." The record continued to feature Prince's penchant for playing a range of instruments and desire to impart messages of self-love as seen with "Paisley Park," a track inspired by the name of his Minneapolis studios. In 1986 Prince released his eighth studio album Parade, which included his pulsating no. 1 pop/r&b single "Kiss." Parade served as the soundtrack for the artist's second film Under the Cherry Moon, which he directed and starred in. Acclaimed 'Sign' and 'Batman' Soundtrack After the disbanding of the Revolution, Prince was able to consolidate various shelved projects into what ultimately became the double album Sign 'O' the Times (1987), with the title track reaching no. 3 on the pop charts and no. 1 in r&b. The album was known for its stark commentary on social issues yet also contained fun jams like "U Got the Look," a raucous duet with Scottish singer Sheena Easton that reached no. 2 pop. (He had previously penned the lasciviously charged pop/r&b hit "Sugar Walls" from her 1984 album A Private Heaven.) Sign was easily among Prince's most critically acclaimed albums, yet its sales lagged in the U.S., finding more of an audience in Europe, where the artist launched a successful tour. Maintaining a prodigious output, Prince released Lovesexy in 1988, known for its album cover featuring a photo of the artist in the nude as well as the top 5 uptempo r&b hit "Alphabet St." By the time he released his 11th studio album, the soundtrack to Batman, in 1989, Prince had become one of America's most commercially successful pop artists, continually making waves on the charts. Batman offered up the no. 1 romp "Batdance" as well as the top 5 r&b hit "Partyman." The video for "Batdance" famously featured Prince in split-effect makeup and costuming meant to symbolize both the film's shadowy hero and his crazed nemesis, the Joker. The Early '90s: The New Power Generation The early 1990s marked the launch of the New Power Generation, Prince's latest band that featured a blend of contemporary r&b, hip-hop, jazz and soul along with the vocals of Rosie Gaines. The group was first called out in the soundtrack to Graffiti Bridge, a 1990 sequel to Purple Rain that didn't fare well at the box office yet still yielded the top 10 track "Thieves in the Temple." With the NPG's artistic contribution, Prince found success with his albumDiamonds and Pearls (1991), which rose to no. 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Diamonds included the romantic title ballad, the industrial strength "Gett Off," the playful paean "Insatiable" and the saucy No. 1 single "Cream." Prince's work with the NPG continued to unashamedly toy with ideas around sexuality, gender norms and the body. To promote the album, Prince had appeared on the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards to do a live performance of "Gett Off." Echoing parts of the track's music video, the performance featured an array of dancers and musicians in an onstage bacchanal, with the artist famously turning around towards the end of the song to show off his seatless pants. In the fall of 1992 Prince had signed a record $100 million dollar deal with Warner Bros., which was considered "the largest recording and music publishing contract in history" at the time and allowed him the freedom to pursue television, film, book and merchandising deals separately. As a comparison, fellow music giants, Michael Jackson and Madonna, had $60 million-plus contracts that were all inclusive. Stellar Collaborations Provocative performances aside, Prince had well established himself as an in-demand collaborator and behind-the-scenes player whose songs were remade by other artists. In the mid-'80s, Chaka Khan released an ebullient, highly successful cover of his 1979 tune "I Feel For You," while Sinead O'Connor's biggest hit was Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U." The Art of Noise and Tom Jones reached the U.K. top 5 in 1988 with a remake of "Kiss," and Alicia Keys covered "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" on her own 2001 debut. Prince also worked on specific album tracks for performers like Khan,Madonna, Tevin Campbell, Kate Bush, the Time, Martika, Patti Labelle andJanelle Monae. He was behind the girl group Vanity 6, lead by singer/actress Vanity, and their no. 1 dance hit "Nasty Girl." And he sent a song to the all-women's band the Bangles that they would record to great effect, having a no. 2 hit with the lush ode to a stressful workday, "Manic Monday." In 1992 Prince and the New Power Generation released Love Symbol Album. Though embraced by some critics, sales did not fare as well as Diamonds.Love only managed to have one top 10 hit, the transcendent single "7," though "My Name Is Prince" and the carnal "Sexy MF" garnered some attention as well. The following year Prince released the compilation box setThe Hits/The B-Sides, which had an array of popular songs as well as the newly released "Pink Cashmere," a tender number sung in falsetto. Name Change The lack of success for Love Symbol Album created tension between Prince and his record label Warner Bros. Over the ensuing years, the singer's career went through a roller coaster of ups and downs. Turned off by feeling controlled by his label, Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable glyph O(+> in 1993, a fusion of female and male astrological symbols which he used until 2000. During that time, he was more frequently referred to as "the artist formerly known as Prince," and his new symbol was not embraced by most fans. He also started making appearances with the word "SLAVE" drawn on the side of his face, meant to convey the great disdain he had for his label. Prince did release the 1995 album The Gold Experience during this time of duress, and scored another top 5 song with "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." Once he was released from all contractual obligations to Warner Bros., Prince released the triple album fittingly entitled Emancipation (1996), which went on to become certified platinum and featured the soul remake "Betcha by Golly, Wow." Several other albums affiliated with his NPG label soon followed, including Crystal Ball (1998) and Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999). In Recent Years After several years of relative obscurity, Prince returned to the limelight in 2004 to perform at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles, the same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That spring, he released Musicology with a tour that became the top concert draw in the United States. The album won two Grammys and added another dreamy ballad, "Call My Name," to the Prince canon. His next album, 3121, was released in 2006. That year, he wrote and performed "Song of the Heart" for the animated film Happy Feet, and won a Golden Globe (Best Original Song) for the composition. In 2007 he performed for the Super Bowl XLI halftime show on a massive stage shaped as his famous symbol amid pouring rain. The event was watched by 140 million fans. 2010 was the year of accolades for Prince. He not only was lauded by Billboard.com as the greatest Super Bowl performer ever, but was also featured in TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BET Awards. He ended the year with an induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Prince also continued to release albums as seen with Planet Earth (2007), LotusFlow3r (2009) and, in a joint deal with the Daily Mirror, 20Ten (2010). With the advent of the Internet as the primary force for distributing music, Prince was against the trend of having songs shared at will on the web. He railed against the idea of providing his songs to online music platforms without proper upfront compensation and profit sharing, with his tracks eventually only found on the Jay-Z backed streaming service Tidal. One of the few pop artists to have full ownership of his masters, he was diligent via Web Sheriff in erasing examples of his music, including videos and live performances, from the internet. He was thus behind the Lenz v. Universal Musical Group case, which unsuccessfully pushed for the YouTube removal of a baby dancing to "Let's Go Crazy." Prince continued to take political stands with his performances as well. On May 2, 2015, Prince staged a Dance Rally 4 Peace at Paisley Park to pay tribute to Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American who died in police custody after his arrest in Baltimore, and to show support for the activists protesting his death. With his backup band 3RDEYEGIRL, Prince performed a 41-minute concert including his protest song “Baltimore,” which was inspired by Gray’s death. Throughout most of his career Prince’s immense creativeness conflicted with his record label agreement of releasing only one album per year. Eventually, much later, after selling some of his creations to be performed by other artist, or making great significant collaboration, the artist Prince decided to come to a formal termination of his contract with Warner Brothers in 1999. Prince influenced with his funk, pop, rock mix of keyboard -mastered Minneapolis Sound and his sexy lyrics much of 1980´s dance disco pop music. He was seven-time Grammy winner. Over the account of his personal life, we know that on 1996´s Valentine’s Day Prince married singer and dancer Mayte Garcia, and had a son born on October 16th, 1996 who tragically died a week later from a rare genetic disorder named Pfeiffer Syndrome. Prince and Garcia’s marriage was dissolved in 2000. In 2001, Prince married his second wife, Manuela Testolini, from his charity organizations. Again this marriage lasted only until 2006.Prince was extremely private about his personal life, and he preferred to spend time at his Paisley Park compound. When he was younger in the 1980s, Prince had a long on-and-off relationship with singer-songwriter Susannah Melvoin, and with drummer Sheila E. Prince´s death overcame us all, last month on April 21st, 2016, Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota. A week before he was hospitalized after an emergency landing. Reports of TMZ say that The Artist was actually given a life-saving "safe shot" for a Percocet overdose. The sheriff's department have launched an investigation into the cause of death. Dr. Howard Kornfeld apparently had been treating him for a hip surgery some years earlier and was dealing with the musicians discomfort at concerts, the attorney William Mauzy stated the artist "was dealing with a grave medical emergency". After the autopsy was performed, his remains were cremated and his close family and friends had a small private funeral on April 23. And we are waiting for a larger memorial service for his tribute. Fans have poured across the globe, with expressions of love and admiration, many main building especially from the city where Prince was born were lit in colors as "Purple Rain" in downtown Minneapolis on the night of his death. Recent Quotes On Prince. These are just some of the Celebrities´ reactions to Prince death: “He Changed The World!! A True Visionary. What a loss. I'm Devastated. This is Not A Love Song”. Madonna. “It was Raspberry Beret. I was 4 years old. Yes, 4. I remember that I instantly loved it. "Mommy, who is that singing?" Seems weird but it's true. More than a "once in a lifetime" artist... Just a ONCE IN FOREVER ARTIST. I'm still in shock as I write this and I feel this overwhelming grief.” Justin Timberlake 'A strong spirit transcends rules,' Prince once said—and nobody's spirit was stronger, bolder, or more creative." —President Obama “Prince was an original lyricist and a startling guitar player. His talent was limitless.” Mick Jagger “Prince was an original lyricist and a startling guitar player. His talent was limitless”. Whoopi Goldberg “No. Prince Rogers Nelson. R.I.P You've been the soundtrack of so many lives. Terrible and Sad news” Sarah Jessica Parker. Quotes and Recent Quotes by Prince “You just keep doing stuff, and it gets stacked up and drives you crazy. And you don't know what to do about it. Studies show that things like regret, not being able to forgive other people, that's what causes cancer. It piles up, and you get irritable” —Prince “Y'know, 'Purple Rain' was more or less like a fever-pitch type feeling all the time. People at the hotel waiting, crowds everywhere we went, just...crazy.” —Prince “I know those paths of excess, drugs, sex and alcohol - all those experiences can be funky, they can be very funky, but they’re just paths, a diversion, not the answer…” —Prince “...a lot of the people that come see us now, their parents listened to real music, real songwriting, real musicianship, and they respect somebody who takes their craft seriously. I grew up that way, so when we do our shows I try to have the best musicians I can find with me at that particular time, and like I said, we don’t play down to them.” —Prince “We made money [online] before piracy was real crazy. Nobody’s making money now except phone companies, Apple and Google. I’m supposed to go to the White House to talk about copyright protection. It’s like the gold rush out there. Or a carjacking. There’s no boundaries.” —Prince “I don't vote. ... The reason why is that I'm one of the Jehovah's Witnesses. And we've never voted … President Obama is a very smart individual and he seems like he means well. Prophecy is what we all have to go by now.” —Prince References http://www.biography.com/people/prince-9447278 http://www.britannica.com/biography/Prince-singer-and-songwriter http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/prince/biography by @3nglishOnline x @EnglishxSpanish Content Writers & Translators @InstitutoIdiomas www.insitutoidiomas.wordpress.com