American singer Prince has passed away (11 photos). Died American singer Prince (Prince) Singer prince biography

14.06.2019

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Prince (English - Prince Rogers Nelson; born June 7, 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and actor. For most of his career, he has performed under the name Prince, but also used many pseudonyms, among which the symbol that does not have a phonetic equivalent is especially famous. Winner of seven Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe awards. In 2004, Prince's name was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in the same year, Rolling Stone magazine compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Musicians of All Time, in which the musician was ranked 28th. Worldwide sales of Prince's recordings exceed 100 million copies.

Prince Roger Nelson was born on June 7, 1958 into a family of jazz musicians John Nelson and Matty Shaw. Although he later claimed to have been born into a mixed family, both of his parents were black. Growing up in a musical family, Prince became interested in music from childhood - his first guitar was bought for him by his father. His first musical experiments were in high school, where he formed a band with his cousin Charles Smith and neighbor Andre Anderson. At first the group was called Grand Central, then it was renamed Champagne. In 1976, Prince released his first demo tape, and major labels became interested in it. A little later, a contract was signed with Warner Bros. His two first albums, "For You" (1978) and "Prince" (1979), had little hint of great things to come - they were solid, but little outstanding works in the genre of pop-funk. Although one of the singles from the album "For You" - the song "Soft and Wet" - showed itself well in the charts. Prince recorded both of these albums almost alone - it was then that the famous phrase that later adorned all of Prince's albums appeared: "Written, produced, performed and recorded by the Prince."

Prince's first recognized masterpiece was his third LP "Dirty Mind", recorded in 1980 - its unique combination of hard funk, stunning melody, sweet soul ballads, juicy guitar rock sound and unprecedented sexual frankness of the lyrics made a splash. The album "Controversy", which appeared a year later, was just a slightly less successful continuation of the ideas found on "Dirty Mind", but with the next album, "1999", recorded a year later with the participation of the band The Revolution assembled by Prince, Prince confirmed his status as an innovator. The album sold over three million copies, but even that success could not prepare listeners or critics for the flurry of acclaim that hit Prince in 1984 after the release of Purple Rain. Released as the soundtrack for the film of the same name, in which Prince played the title role, "Purple Rain" turned Prince into a superstar - the album held the first place in the US charts for 24 weeks and sold tens of millions. Despite the fact that it was the most commercially oriented album of Prince at the time, he refused to continue in the same spirit and a year later released the album "Around the World in a Day", on which he suddenly moved towards freaky psychedelia. Despite such oddities in the change of style, the album still sold in very decent numbers. The next album, "Parade", was even weirder, but it was accompanied by the brilliant pop single "Kiss", which was so popular that it almost became the pop standard. In 1987, Prince's ambitions continued to grow, and his next album became a double - the massive masterpiece "Sign o 'the Times" was recognized by many critics as a candidate for the best album of the 80s. By the end of the year he was ready to release his next album, the hard funky "The Black Album" with lyrics saturated with eroticism to the limit, but in the end he decided to abandon this idea, considering the album too dark and immoral. Instead, he released the hastily recorded "Lovesexy", which could not repeat the success of the previous album. The shelved "The Black Album" meanwhile began to circulate underground, and by 1994, when Prince finally decided to release it, every fan would have a pirated copy for a long time. The Lovesexy tour also hurt the Prince as he refused commercial sponsorship and tickets weren't selling in the numbers he had hoped for. A year later, along with the Batman soundtrack, Prince returned to the charts, even though he was essentially repeating his old ideas on this album. The following year, he decided to try his hand at acting again and starred in the film Graffiti Bridge, which was a sequel to Purple Rain. A corresponding album was released, but neither the film nor the album even came close to the success that fell to the lot of "Purple Rain".

In 1991, Prince formed a new group - The New Power Generation. Their first joint album, Diamonds and Pearls, was another triumphant comeback for the musician. Singles such as "Cream" and "Gett Off" conquered the top of the charts and surfed the waves of radio stations. The next album, released in 1992, was called an obscure curl, representing a kind of combination of masculine and feminine signs; a year later, the Prince suddenly quite officially changed his name to this bizarre symbol. The music press, faced with the need to name him somehow in their publications, came up with the name "The Artist formerly known as Prince" in response. In 1994, between the Artist and his record company Warner Bros. serious disagreements arose; Prince independently released his new single, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", ostensibly to demonstrate what he can do on his own. The song became his most successful hit in years. In the same year, Warner released the album Come, released under the Prince's name; from the album it was quite obvious that Prince was just fulfilling his contractual obligations, not trying to put anything into the album. Despite this, the album enjoyed considerable commercial success, eventually reaching gold status. In November 1994, Prince agreed to release "The Black Album" to fulfill his contractual obligations, and a little later again clashed with the management of the record company, refusing to give them his completed new album "The Gold Experience". This time, Prince went wild, calling himself a slave in all interviews and even appearing on television with the word “slave” written in a felt-tip pen on his cheek; Warner, tired of fighting a corrosive artist, agreed to renegotiate their contract. Under the new arrangement, the company released The Gold Experience, after which their collaboration ended with Prince's next new job. The artist quickly put together the "Chaos and Disorder" album, which freed him from his contract. Prince's next step was to create his own label NPG and release a new album, "Emancipation". Conceived as a massive blockbuster with singles coming out over the next few years, this triple album lasted more than three hours and proved too tough for even its most dedicated fans. Realizing that the record wasn’t the smash hit he had hoped for, Prince did what his fans had been expecting for many years - putting together a collection of rarities and unlabelled songs called the Crystall Ball. In the same 1998 he released another new album "New Power Soul", however, he did not bring success to Prince either. Having suffered a relative defeat in his attempts to release his albums on his own, Prince returned to the ranks of the major labels, signed a contract with Arista and released the album "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" in 2000. Despite the abundance of invited pop stars, the album failed to return the Prince to its former popularity.

A year later, Prince officially became a member of Jehovah's Witnesses and under the influence of this event recorded the album "The Rainbow Children", which featured an "organic" jazz-funky sound with lots of live brass and drums (as opposed to earlier experiments with synthesizers and drum machines). ... The next album, "One Nite Alone", which was only distributed to members of Prince's fan club, was recorded almost entirely with piano accompaniment. This was followed by a concert box "One Nite Alone ... Live!", Consisting of three discs. The following albums were even more experimental: the jazz instrumental Xpectation and the jazz concert C-Note were also distributed through the club system, and his next work NEWS, recorded in Prince's studio in one day and released in 2003, consisted of four lengthy instrumental tracks and plunged some fans into delight, while others into complete bewilderment.

In 2004, Prince returned to his usual fusion of pop-funk, soul and rock music with the release of the comeback album "Musicology", which was unexpectedly very successful. This album not only brought him back to the charts and allowed him to embark on the most ambitious tour in several years, but also earned Prince a Grammy nomination in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal". It was also followed by the highly successful and commercially successful 3121 (2006) and Planet Earth (2007).

THE KING OF THE RHYTHM & BLUES - PRINCE

The talented and mega-popular singer has released hundreds of musical compositions and almost forty studio albums; 100 million copies of his records have been sold worldwide. All this gave him some kind of creative freedom, he could afford unpredictable actions, shocking and eccentricity. And one day he just wanted to change his stage name to a complex graphic symbol. He worked for hours in his home studio, and then, going on stage to his many thousands of fans, he enveloped them in his magic. At first, he drove the audience to a frenzy, after which he made them listen carefully to the lyric song. This was the secret of his popularity and magic, fueled by his incredible capacity for work.

Life for two

This virtuoso guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and outrageous singer was called a real rebel and a true propagandist of freedom. He was born in 1958 in Minneapolis and received the name Prince Rogers Nelson.His mother, European American Matti Della, was a jazz singer. Father, African American John Lewis Nelson, was a pianist and composer.

The head of the family led the musical group The Prince Rogers Trio. The band performed at various parties and local concerts. To support his family, John worked in a factory doing hard manual labor, although music was his lifelong dream. grew up watching his father suffer from the inability to devote himself to his beloved work. Then the boy promised himself to live an exciting musical life for the two of them. This desire and the desire of his son to earn paternal love made him hone his singing and performing skills for hours.

Family discord

John did not have an easy character, so the children were even afraid of him. After work, he often came in not in the mood and began to find fault to the offspring for any little thing. The sisters were more agreeable, so they tried their best to please their parent, but on the contrary, they easily got involved in a verbal squabble with their father. One of these family scandals ended sadly. John in his hearts shouted to his son to get out of the house. Of course, this was only an emotional statement by an angry father, but it did not stay. This is how, at the age of 15, he moved to his friends, expecting that his father would cool down and call him home. But the wayward John did not want to be the first to go to make up. I had to earn my living and at the same time make music.

Prince's Creativity - Back On Track

A naturally inquisitive young man constantly contacted bad companies, which were trying to cash in on him. After another quarrel with friends or some kind of revelry, the annoyed young man found an outlet in the Lutheran parishes. He came there not only to communicate with God (a connection with which he felt from early childhood), but also to take care of his beloved roses.

The cousin decided to look after him and take part in the life of a young talent. She added him in 1977 to her husband's group - 94 East. The relative quickly found an approach to the guy and helped channel the bursting creative energy in the right direction. The very next year I prepared the material, recorded and produced the album "For You" myself. Since then, his star has only been gaining brightness.

Minneapolis sound

The first real hit of the young musician "I Wanna Be Your Lover" gave him not only fame, but also brought critical respect. Music reviewers started talking about a special "Minneapolis sound", and later unanimously declared it to be the ancestor. It was he who was able to stylistically combine several directions at the same time: rock, pop, synth-pop, funk and new wave music.

The true take-off in the artist's career happened at the turn of the 1970s and 80s, when he released the album "Prince", which included the famous composition "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" From start to finish, he wrote, arranged and performed everything on the album himself. The number of copies sold all over the world made it platinum.

From one collection to another, the creative image changed, adding even more colors to its extraordinary image. The singer's third album "Dirty Mind" in 1980 was the most provocative due to the presence of frank and even to some extent impudent texts and the image that he chose for himself. From that time on, he began to wear defiant outfits and stiletto heels. Once he acted as an opening act for The Rolling Stones and fans of the band even threw plastic bottles at him. Although the artist was not particularly upset by this, because he never tried to adjust to the audience and please someone. On the contrary, he wanted to show the world what he was, to conquer with his scandalousness. believed that being born in a world of contrasts, where there are black and white colors, good and evil, day and night, men and women, it is simply impermissible to be one thing, because everything should exist in harmony.

Two stars

In the fall of 1982 he released a new album called "1999". This record brought him fame outside the United States. and turned into the most famous musician in the world after the king of pop. By the way, there has always been a spirit of rivalry between these two outstanding personalities. Once, while recording in the studio, he invited Michael to play table tennis. Jackson said he had never played ping-pong before, but he would try. The studio staff abandoned their work and gathered to watch the duel between the two stars. At first he played without pressure, and then the excitement woke up in him. He gave the ball so hard that it hit Jackson more than once. At that time, two celebrities were supposed to record a duet specially created for them song "Bad", but did not like the position of the invited artist, and he refused.

Prince's recipe for success

Since 1984, the name has not left the lips, especially after the release of his most popular album at that time, "Purple Rain" and the film of the same name. In this collection the band The Revolution appeared for the first time. The style of the disc turned out to be more varied than the previous works of the musician. This time he tried to show all the facets of the group's creativity, which has accompanied him since then.

A couple of years later, the music world was blown up by the album "Parade", the unconditional hit of which was the song "Nothing Compares 2 U". The performer dedicated this composition to his beloved girlfriend Suzanne Melvoyn, to whom he was engaged.

Throughout the 1980s, the developed recipe for success did not change, which consisted of a mix of different musical styles, accompanied by provocative lyrics. This formula was in demand by the then public.

Humility instead of rebelliousness

The eleventh and again incredibly popular was the studio album of the singer "Batdance". In it, he was not afraid of daring experiments with electronic sound. With the release of this disc, he decided to change his image - now he began to appear on stage in black and white suits and more restrained styles. At the same time, he began performing under a new stage name, calling himself the Artist, formerly known as. The eternal rebel is replaced by a humble and meek singer. And in 1993, the performer invented a symbol that meant the union of masculine and feminine principles, and began performing with this image already nameless. The press and fans actively discussed his non-traditional sexual orientation, but in 1996 he married a young dancer and backing vocalist Maite Garcia. The couple had a son. Unfortunately, the boy lived only a week and died due to the fusion of the bones of the skull. The couple could not overcome this tragedy together and separated after three years.

Every year it became more and more closed. The transformations and changes taking place in the world disturbed and wounded him, but his indignation and he could not throw out pain in songs. He found inner harmony in the community of Jehovah's Witnesses. And although the singer wrote a lot of compositions during this time, they were all as if for himself, and not for the audience. And he even refused to sing some of his hits, considering them indecent. The love of the fans did not fade away from this. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he often performed at free concerts, where he collected money for those in need, and also generously donated funds to charitable projects.

Thank God

Received three prestigious music awards "Grammy": for the best R&B track ("I Feel For You"), as the best composer and for the best soundtrack. In the same year, he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the Purple Rain film.

Updated: April 7, 2019 by the author: Elena

Sunny summer morning. In one of the small houses of a woman in the suburb of St. Louis Park, there is a knock on the door. This world famous singer Prince Prince humbly testifies to the people about the Kingdom of God. The woman kindly responded and invited Jehovah's Witnesses to her home. Sitting comfortably in the living room, the well-built man introduced himself as Brother Nelson and willingly began sharing Bible truth with the hostess. The woman listened intently, but something bothered her. After a while, she interrupted:

"Sorry, but has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Prince?" she asked.

The music legend - a faithful Jehovah's Witness - smiled with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I've already been told,” he replied, and went on to talk about what the Bible says about God's Kingdom and the hope for a wonderful future.

Then, at the end of this conversation, the woman asked him for his name, and he said, "Rogers Nelson." It was by this name that Prince was known in everyday life. Rogers Nelson never used his name "Prince" in the field ministry.

In 2003, he volunteered to join the ranks of Jehovah's Witnesses and humbly participate in the preaching of the good news. It so happened that during the service, strangers recognized Brother Nelson as a singer. However, the singer did not seek glory for himself, but returned his listeners to meditation on the spiritual. Often in between performances, fans in love with the singer asked for his autograph. But Nelson didn't like signing autographs. On such occasions, he often gave his devotees a Bible brochure or small booklet.

Rogers Nelson tried to say everywhere that all praise and glory belongs to the true God Jehovah, even in the presence of the entire elite of music and cinema, where even Barack Obama and his wife were present, as can be seen from the video below.
Many of his fans could not believe that their Prince had accepted the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. Somehow Prince even compared his e transformation and conversion to faith with the awakening of Neo from the movie "The Matrix".

It is also noteworthy that Rogers Nelson never used his worldly fame in everyday life. Despite his rather active stage activity, Brother Nelson was modest and laconic. Brothers from the local congregation, Larry Graham and Sly Stone, studied the Bible with Rogers Nelson, Mr. Graham is an elder.

Larry Graham and Sly Stone at a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses,

who studied the Bible with Rogers Nelson

The knowledge of the truth helped Rogers to bring his life into full compliance with the Bible standards and become one of the members of the congregation in the city of St. Louis Park, Minneapolis. This congregation then included less than 40 believers. All of them, including Brother Nelson, greatly appreciated the time allotted to study the Bible and sing songs that praise God.

Before studying the Bible, singer Prince was able to perform lyrics with some sexual connotations. From the moment Prince began to study the Bible until his baptism, Nelson's moral and moral condition underwent significant changes. Here is one example shared by Jason Terrell Taylor (The Game), famous American rapper and songwriter.

I need this dirty word ...

The Game revealed that one swear word kept Prince from working with him on the song.

Prince refused to collaborate with The Game because the lyrics contained "curses". The Game (Jayceon Terrell Taylor), 36, missed the opportunity to perform at TMZ. The Game was interested in having Prince perform the new composition, and he agreed until he read the lyrics, which included one swear word.

"I wanted him to perform the song and he was willing to work to make the song," said the hip-hop star, adding, "We met at Doug Morris's office at Universal a few years ago." But he heard a song with only one curse, and he was forced to say:

"Hey, I can't do this because there is a swear word in the lyrics."

In the end, the collaboration did not work out on the song How We Do. The rapper believes that this was because Prince became Jehovah's Witness and that the Christian faith considers swearing and blasphemy to be a sin.

Although he was desperate that he could not fully work with the pop legend, The Game was not ready to change his artistic vision for the song and decided not to change the lyrics.

“Changes are taking place in people's lives. You get older, you get wiser. Prince became one of Jehovah's Witnesses and he ruled out all of this, ”he said regarding the refusal to work together.

The Game continued, "So we didn't make the songs because I needed to remove that dirty word." He did refuse to perform, however they later laughed about the disagreement.

Rogers Nelson was known as a humble and humble brother

Backstage on stage, Brother Rogers avoided talking about his work. He made a lot of efforts to continue living in accordance with his faith, despite considerable temptations. With a busy stage life, Brother Rogers did not always have the opportunity to constantly participate in the affairs of the congregation.

However, in his spare time, Brother Nelson was quite active in the house-to-house ministry and attending local congregation meetings. Whenever possible, Prince also made generous voluntary contributions to advance Kingdom work, both in his city and around the world.

George Cook, another of nine elders from a small congregation of 90 that Prince was attending, described him as a humble and very humble man.

"Brother Nelson preached both alone and with a group,Cook said. “And I found satisfaction in sharing Bible beliefs with others.”

In the Kingdom Hall (the name of the worship buildings of Jehovah's Witnesses) there are no photographs of their famous co-religionist hanging on the walls, since for Jehovah's Witnesses this is the glorification of a person. “We are here giving glory to Almighty Jehovah God and his son Jesus Christ,” congregation leader Cook said.

Cook also said that Jehovah's Witnesses are not making trouble due to media reports that Prince regularly took strong opioid drugs. medicines, prescription spelled out e him by doctors, allthis is everyone's personal business. "Someone is interested in homeopathy or other treatment, but nothing can give a 100% guarantee."

And to the members of the congregation, Nelson was known as a calm and humble brother. He was happy to help other members of the congregation, and he himself always accepted even the smallest help. While participating in the Q&A program, the host also referred to Rogers as Brother Nelson. Despite his busy work schedule, Nelson found time to study the Bible and grow in faith. His fame has never been an obstacle for him to tell people about God's kingdom.
See also: Celebrities Who Have Converted to the Faith of Jehovah's Witnesses

All members of the St. Louis Park Congregation fondly remember Brother Nelson Rogers' wonderful qualities. They note that Prince has been able to please others and give fellow believers pleasant compliments. Despite his fame, Prince was an ordinary person who tried to study the Bible and help others to do so.

The fellow believers enjoyed joking with Nelson and singing prayer songs with him during their weekly meetings.

“We heard Nelson Rogers singing as we sang songs of praise to God in our meetings, but his voice never stood out, he just sang with the congregation,” said a fellow believer (sister) from his congregation.

However, in recent years, Nelson has become more likely to skip meetings of his congregation due to touring.

Nelson last attended his congregation meeting on March 23, 2016. On this day, Jehovah's Witnesses around the world celebrated the Memorial of the death of Jesus Christ.

Rogers Nelson Princedied with hope

Rogers Nelson died on Thursday, April 21, 2016 of an unknown illness, the symptoms of which were very similar to the common flu. After a four-hour autopsy by the Minnesota Medical Commission in Ramsey, tPrince's tree was returned to the family... The acclaimed singer Prince was cremated on Friday.
One of the elders of the local congregation, James Lundstrom, was appointed to speak at the mourning ceremony. In his speech, the elder, ready to cry, referred to him as a dear brother and admitted that the members of the congregation were deeply saddened by the news of his passing.
had a good reputation in our congregation. He was an active publisher, participating in the monthly ministry. He was a spiritual man and very deeply believed in the Bible promises preached by Jehovah's Witnesses. He believed that the true God is Jehovah, and he knew that when a person dies, he is dead and asleep, and the resurrection is the hope, that is why Jesus died. ”The singer Prince (Rogers Nelson) did not believe in an afterlife and an immortal soul. but he believed and hoped that he would be resurrected when the resurrection began on the paradise earth.

Singer Prince, cause of death

After Prince's death, those close to him said that he could easily have died from the influenza virus, which could have been fatal to him, as his immune system could have been destroyed by AIDS. According to media reports, the diagnosis is HIV was staged to the singer in the mid-90s.

Also, information that the singer was killed by AIDS was provided by the National Enquirer tabloid, but so far the official autopsy results have not been published.

Some media outlets have also speculated that Prince may have committed suicide. While an autopsy report of Prince's death could be provided within weeks, medical center staff have already reported that there were no signs of suicide.

Lawyer L. Macmillan, who had known the prince for 25 years and was once his manager, also denies suicide, since the singer had no inclination to do so.Macmillan said that Prince's death shocked everyone who knew him, because Prince led a "clean and healthy life."

Nelson Rogers kept his hope of a resurrection in Paradise on earth. He looked forward to the time, like all Jehovah's Witnesses, when the Bible's promise will be fulfilled:

"The last enemy to be done away with is death"

(1 Corinthians 15:26).

Some more interesting details about Prince in the article:
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At the 58th year of life, the legendary American musician and songwriter Prince, a small and successful rhythm and blues performer, seven-time Grammy winner and an Oscar winner, has passed away. The circumstances of the singer's death are partly similar to the circumstances of the passing away of the king of pop music Michael Jackson, who died seven years ago in his home.

On Thursday, April 21, police in the American city of Shanhassen (a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota) received a call to the Paisley Park residence, where Prince Rogers Nelson, better known by his stage name Prince, lived. The police immediately reported the death, but that the owner of the house had died, it became known later. The cause of Prince's death has not yet been announced, the police have just begun an investigation.

According to Western media reports, Prince had had the flu for several weeks, and exactly a week ago, on April 15, his private plane was forced to make an emergency landing during the singer's flight between concerts. The musician required medical attention, but he spent only three hours in the hospital, after which he returned to his home in Minnesota. In addition to the flu, Prince had serious problems with his hip joints - doctors recommended getting a prosthesis, but he refused because of his religious beliefs.

One of the reasons for the problems with his feet, he himself called his passion for high-soled shoes, which were part of his stage image.

Prince was born in 1958 and was interested in music as a child. It happened thanks to his parents: his father was a pianist, and his mother was a jazz singer. He played in school bands, then joined a group that his relative gathered, but soon began a solo career - he signed a contract with Warner Bros. and already in 1978 released his debut album "For You", for which he himself wrote all the songs and recorded all the musical parts, playing 27 instruments. Almost immediately followed by a second album called "Prince", in 1980 he released "Dirty Mind", and in 1981 - a double "1999", which sold 3 million copies. The title track from this album was his first single to hit the charts outside of the United States. In general, five years after the beginning of his career, he was already famous - in any case, only two songs by black musicians, Michael Jackson's Billie Jean and Prince's Little Red Corvette, got into the rotation of the newly formed MTV channel. Even outwardly, the musicians were somewhat similar.

The pinnacle of Prince's creative success and his loyalty to rhythm and blues is considered the 1984 album "Purple Rain".

Songs from this disc became the soundtrack for the film of the same name (the rock musical "Purple Rain"), in which Prince played the main role and which won him an Oscar for Best Original Music. Also for "Purple Rain" he received two Grammy awards, losing, however, the main one - "best album". But in general, music awards loved him. Prince has 32 Grammy nominations, seven statuettes, and two of his albums (1999 and Purple Rain) are inducted into the Hall of Fame. He has also been nominated for MTV Video Awards 12 times - and has won the prize four times.

He had a completely unforgettable image - small, only 157 centimeters tall, he went on stage in shiny and bright clothes, high heels. And he created a real show, which the audience went to - however, there were failures, like the very first, back in the late 70s, opening act for the Rolling Stones, which fans of British rockers simply did not appreciate.

By the end of the 80s, Prince had achieved almost everything he could dream of. And he began to experiment.

He became more and more extravagant - he could cancel the release of an already planned album, take a pseudonym in the form of an unpronounceable symbol, or demand from the press to be called "The singer formerly known as Prince". Everything seemed to be forgiven him. At the same time, he continued to release records - there are thirty-nine of them in his discography, and the last two ("HITnRUN Phase One" and "HITnRUN Phase Two") were released in 2015. Prince was in great demand and sought to convey his creativity to the public - over 37 years of active career, he spent 28 rounds. The last one, the Hit and Run Tour, took a year and a half and included 39 concerts in Europe and North America. And one of the musician's main awards was his inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 - Prince was finally recognized as one of those who created modern rhythm and blues.

ps according to the expert opinion

We remember, we grieve. The Prince's creativity was and will be with us.

Prince's first recognized masterpiece was his third LP "Dirty Mind", recorded in 1980 - its unique combination of hard funk, stunning melody, sweet soul ballads, juicy guitar rock sound and unprecedented sexual frankness of the lyrics made a splash. The album "Controversy", which appeared a year later, was just a slightly less successful continuation of the ideas found on "Dirty Mind", but with the next album, "1999", recorded a year later with the participation of the band The Revolution assembled by Prince, Prince confirmed his status as an innovator. The album sold over three million copies, but even that success could not prepare listeners or critics for the flurry of acclaim that hit Prince in 1984 after the release of Purple Rain. Released as the soundtrack for the film of the same name, in which Prince played the title role, "Purple Rain" turned Prince into a superstar - the album held the first place in the US charts for 24 weeks and sold tens of millions. Despite the fact that it was the most commercially oriented album of Prince at the time, he refused to continue in the same vein and a year later released the album "Around the World in a Day", which suddenly went towards freaky psychedelia. Despite such oddities in the change of style, the album still sold in very decent numbers. The next album, "Parade", was even weirder, but it was accompanied by the brilliant pop single "Kiss", which was so popular that it almost became the pop standard. In 1987, Prince's ambitions continued to grow, and his next album became a double - the massive masterpiece "Sign o 'the Times" was recognized by many critics as a candidate for the best album of the 80s. By the end of the year he was ready to release his next album, the hard funky "The Black Album" with lyrics saturated with eroticism to the limit, but in the end he decided to abandon this idea, considering the album too dark and immoral. Instead, he released the hastily recorded "Lovesexy", which could not repeat the success of the previous album. The shelved "The Black Album" meanwhile began to circulate underground, and by 1994, when Prince finally decided to release it, every fan would have a pirated copy for a long time. The Lovesexy tour also hurt the Prince as he refused commercial sponsorship and tickets weren't selling in the numbers he had hoped for. A year later, along with the Batman soundtrack, Prince returned to the charts, even though he was essentially repeating his old ideas on this album. The following year, he decided to try his hand at acting again and starred in the film Graffiti Bridge, which was a sequel to Purple Rain. A corresponding album was released, but neither the film nor the album even came close to the success that fell to the lot of "Purple Rain".