Thursday, April 21, 2016

Prince, DEAD (1958-06-07, 2016-04-21) (aged 57)

The amazing Prince is dead.
I saw Prince live in 1993 in a big stadium (Estádio Alvalade) and in 1998 in Pavilhão Atlântico. I was on front row both shows.
Love his music and a his movies like "Purple Rain" from 1984, "Under the Cherry Moon" 1986, "Sign o' the Times" 1987 and "Graffiti Bridge" 1990.

You can check his story on his wikipedia page and on his imdb page.

Here it goes a little from his history from wikipedia.

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016), known by the mononym Prince, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. Prince was renowned as an innovator, and was widely known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, and wide vocal range. He was widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound. His music integrates a wide variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, soul, psychedelia, and pop.

Prince was born in Minneapolis and developed an interest in music as a young child, writing his first song when he was seven years old. After recording songs with his cousin's band 94 East, 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album For You in 1978, under the guidance of manager Owen Husney. His 1979 album Prince went platinum due to the success of the singles "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover". His next three records—Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982)—continued his success, showcasing Prince's trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as The Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name. A prolific songwriter, Prince in the 1980s wrote songs for and produced work by many other acts, often under pseudonyms.

After releasing the albums Around the World in a Day (1985) and Parade (1986), The Revolution disbanded and Prince released the double album Sign o' the Times (1987) as a solo artist. He released three more solo albums before debuting The New Power Generation band in 1991. He changed his stage name in 1993 to an unpronounceable symbol Prince logo.svg, also known as the "Love Symbol". He then began releasing new albums at a faster pace to remove himself from contractual obligations to Warner Bros.; he released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with Arista Records in 1998. In 2000, he began referring to himself as "Prince" again. He released 15 albums after that; his final album, HITnRUN Phase Two, was first released exclusively on the Tidal streaming service on December 11, 2015. On April 21, 2016, Prince died at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, following two weeks of reported illness.

Prince sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year of his eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Early life

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, the son of Mattie Della (Shaw) and John Lewis Nelson. His parents were both African-American, and his family ancestry is centered in Louisiana, with all four of his grandparents hailing from that state. Prince's father was a pianist and songwriter and his mother was a jazz singer. Prince was named after his father, whose stage name was Prince Rogers, and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. In a 1991 interview with A Current Affair, Prince's father said, "I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do". Prince's childhood nickname was Skipper.

In an interview, Prince told Tavis Smiley that he was "born epileptic" and "used to have seizures" when he was young. During the interview, he also said: "My mother told me one day I walked in to 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'."

Prince's sister Tika Evene (usually called Tyka) was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father. Prince wrote his first tune, "Funk Machine", on his father's piano when he was seven. When Prince was ten years old, his parents separated. Prince repeatedly switched homes following the separation, sometimes living with his father and sometimes with his mother and stepfather. Finally, he moved into the home of neighbors named Anderson and befriended their son Andre Anderson, who later became known as André Cymone.

Prince and Anderson joined Prince's cousin Charles Smith in a band called Grand Central while they were attending Minneapolis's Central High School. Smith was later replaced by Morris Day on the drums. Prince played piano and guitar for the band, which performed at clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. Grand Central later changed its name to Champagne and started playing original music influenced by Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Miles Davis, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Todd Rundgren. Rock critics have noted similarities between Prince's later androgynous look, music and vocal style and that of Little Richard.

Prince also played basketball in high school, and continued to play it for recreation as an adult.

You can see the rest of his story in his wikipedia page: wikipedia

Illness and death

On April 7, 2016, Prince postponed two performances from his Piano & A Microphone Tour, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta; the venue released a statement saying he was "battling the flu". He rescheduled the show for April 14, even though he still was not feeling well. While flying back to Minneapolis early the next morning, his private jet made an emergency landing at Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois, so that he could seek medical treatment. Representatives stated that he suffered from "bad dehydration" and had been fighting influenza for several weeks. TMZ reported that he was treated for a drug overdose and left the hospital contrary to doctors' recommendation. Prince was seen in public the following evening, when he shopped at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis on Record Store Day, and made a brief appearance at a dance party at his Paisley Park recording studio complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota, stating that he was feeling fine.

He attended a performance by singer Lizz Wright at the Dakota Jazz Club on April 19, 2016.

On April 21, 2016, Prince was found, unresponsive, in an elevator at Paisley Park. A 9-1-1 call was placed at 9:43 a.m; he did not recover with CPR by emergency responders and was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. He was 57 years old.

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed condolences, as did many musicians and cultural figures. To honor Prince's memory, cities across the U.S. held tributes and vigils, and lit buildings, bridges, and other venues in purple light. In the first five hours after the media began reporting his death, "Prince" was the top trending term on Twitter, and Facebook reported there had been 61 million Prince-related interactions.

Artistry

Musical style

Jon Pareles of The New York Times described Prince as "a master architect of funk, rock, R&B and pop," while highlighting his ability to defy genre categories. Critic Simon Reynolds called him a "pop polymath, flitting between funkadelia, acid rock, deep soul, schmaltz—often within the same song," writing that "Prince doesn't so much build bridges between categories as create music that exceeds each category simultaneously." Prince has been compared with jazz great Miles Davis in regard to the artistic changes throughout his career.

Image and musicianship

As a performer, Prince was known for his flamboyant style and showmanship. He came to be regarded as a sex symbol for his androgynous, amorphous persona, play with gender, and defiance of racial stereotypes.

Journalist Nik Cohn described him as "rock's greatest ever natural talent". His singing abilities encompassed a wide range from falsetto to baritone and rapid, seemingly effortless shifts of register. In addition to this, Prince was renowned as a multi-instrumentalist. He was considered a guitar virtuoso and a master of drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, and synthesizer. On his first five albums, he played nearly all the instruments. The precise number of instruments he was capable of playing remains obscure. On his debut album, he was credited with having played 27 instruments, which based on the album credits included various types of bass, keyboard and synthesizer in the total. When asked during a television interview by Dick Clark how many instruments he could play, he responded, "Thousands."

You can see the rest of his story in his wikipedia page: wikipedia

Personal life

Prince resided near Minneapolis at the time of his death.

Over the years Prince was romantically linked with many celebrities, including Kim Basinger, Madonna, Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn Fenn, and Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6. Prince was engaged to Susannah Melvoin in 1985. When he was 37, he married his 22-year-old backup singer and dancer Mayte Garcia on Valentine's Day 1996. They had a son named Boy Gregory on October 16, 1996, who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome and died a week later. Prince and Mayte divorced in 1999. In 2001, Prince married Manuela Testolini in a private ceremony; she filed for divorce in May 2006.

Prince joined the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001, following a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow Jehovah's Witness musician Larry Graham. Prince said that he did not consider it a conversion, but a "realization". "It's like Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix", he explained. He attended meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and occasionally knocked on people's doors to discuss his faith. Prince reportedly needed double hip-replacement surgery since 2005 but would not undergo the operation unless it was a bloodless surgery because Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions. The condition was caused by repeated onstage dancing in high-heeled boots. Towards the end of his life, Prince regularly walked with a cane in public engagements, leading to speculation that he was being disabled by not having his surgery. However, he used canes as part of his outfit from the early 1990s onward.

Prince was a vegetarian. The liner notes for his album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic featured a message about the cruelty involved in wool production.

In 2016, Prince announced that he was writing a memoir, tentatively titled The Beautiful Ones.

Discography

Main articles: Prince albums discography, Prince singles discography, The New Power Generation and Madhouse (band)

Filmography

Main article: Prince videography
Film
Year Film Role Director
1984 Purple Rain The Kid Albert Magnoli
1986 Under the Cherry Moon Christopher Tracy Prince
1987 Sign o' the Times Himself Prince
1990 Graffiti Bridge The Kid Prince
Television
Year Show Role Notes
1997 Muppets Tonight Himself Episode 11
2014 New Girl Himself Episode: "Prince"

Tours


Prince
Prince at Coachella 001.jpg
Prince performing in 2008
Background information
Birth name Prince Rogers Nelson
Also known as
  • Jamie Starr
  • Christopher
  • Alexander Nevermind
  • The Purple One
  • Joey Coco
  • Prince logo.svg
  • The Artist Formerly Known as Prince
Born June 7, 1958
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died April 21, 2016 (aged 57)
Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • multi-instrumentalist
  • record producer
  • actor
  • film director
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • drums
  • keyboards
  • Linn drum
Years active 1976–2016
Labels
Associated acts
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