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Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7 , 1958 in Minneapolis , Minnesota ) is an American musician. He uses the Stage Name '''Prince''' and is best known by that name or as '''The Artist Formerly Known As Prince''', though the name he has used has varied over the years. His music has spanned myriad styles: from his early material, rooted in R&B , Funk , and Soul , he has constantly expanded his musical palette throughout his career, absorbing many other genres including New Wave , Pop , Rock , Blues , Jazz , and Hip Hop . The distinctive characteristics of the early-to-mid 1980s work which brought him to super-stardom (including sparse and industrial-sounding drum machine arrangements, and the use of synthesizer riffs to serve the role traditionally occupied by horn riffs in earlier R&B, funk and soul music) became known as the "Minneapolis sound," which proved heavily influential. Prince has been a remarkably prolific artist, having released several hundred songs, both under his own name and through other artists. Regarded as a perfectionist, Prince is known for being highly protective of his music. He produces, composes, arranges and performs nearly all of the songs on his albums. Many critics have dubbed him a musical genius due to the quality of his compositions and proficiency at various instruments. BIOGRAPHY Uptown: Early years Prince Rogers Nelson was born in and his mother Italian-American . This has proven to be a myth also, as both his parents are of African-American descent. After the birth of his sister Shanika in 1960, Prince's parents gradually drifted apart. After they formally separated, he had a troubled relationship with his stepfather, causing him to run away from home. He lived briefly with his father, who bought him his first guitar. Later, Prince moved in with a neighborhood family, the Andersons, and became friends with their son, Andre Anderson (later called André Cymone ). Prince and Anderson joined Prince’s cousin Charles Smith in a band called Grand Central, formed in junior high school. Initially his involvement was just part of a mainly instrumental band, that played clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. As time went by and Prince's musical knowledge broadened he found himself dictating the arrangements to the rest of the band. Before long he had become the band's Front Man . By the time Prince had entered high school, Grand Central evolved into Champagne and started playing original music already drawing on a range of influences including Sly Stone , James Brown , Jimmy Page , and Jimi Hendrix . At some point Prince was a student at the Minnesota Dance Theatre .2 In 1976, he started working on a demo tape with producer Chris Moon in a Minneapolis studio. He also had the patronage of Owen Husney, to whom Moon introduced him, allowing him to produce a quality demo. Husney started contacting major labels and ran a campaign promoting Prince as a star of the future, resulting in a bidding war eventually won by Warner Bros. Records . They were the only label to give Prince creative control of his songs and offered him a contract. First steps: 1977–1980 Pepe Willie , husband of Prince's cousin, Shantel, was an influential presence in Prince’s early career. Willie acted as mentor and manager, along with Husney, for Prince in the Grand Central days, and employed Prince in the studio for his own recordings. In 1977, Willie formed 94 East , a band with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry. 94 East comprised a group of singers and musicians which included Andre Cymone and Prince. Prince composed the music for Willie's lyrics and usually played guitar and keyboards in the studio. He wrote numerous songs for the group, including "Just Another Sucker". The band recorded an album entitled, "Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings." Although it was not a solo album and it wasn’t commercially released until many years later, this was Prince’s first professional album. For reasons which have never been disclosed by Prince, he refuses to acknowledge the existence of this album. Even the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame lists his first album as, "For You" -- which was released on April 7, 1978. "For You" was the first album that Prince released on a major record label, Warner Bros. This album had no band on it -- Prince supposedly played all 27 instruments on the album himself. Members of his band, the New Power Generation, however, say that Prince only knows how to play 25 instruments. In 1995, the original recordings with Prince and Cymone were released by Willie as ''94 East featuring Prince, Symbolic Beginning''. The majority of the album was written and performed by Prince, except for the song ''Soft and Wet'' (Music by Prince; Lyrics by Prince and C. Moon). Tommy Vicari was the Executive Producer in ''For You''. Starting with ''For You'', one can read in all of Prince’s albums the now ubiquitous legend: Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince. Prince spent twice his initial advance recording the first album, which sold modestly, making the bottom reaches of the Billboard 200 , while the single “Soft and Wet” performed well on the R&B charts. In the album ''For You'', Prince used ''Prince’s Music Co.'' for publishing his songs. By 1979, Prince had recruited his first backing band with Cymone on bass, Gayle Chapman and '' for publishing his songs, which he would also use for the album ''Dirty Mind''. Prince often attracted attention for the clothes he wore onstage. He wore high-heeled shoes and boots, and when questioned by the press, he remarked he liked the way he looked in them. He also was known to strongly flaunt and express his sexuality while on stage and in his music, which had people questioning his Sexual Orientation early on. This brought him some trouble as an opening act for The Rolling Stones ’ two Los Angeles Coliseum shows in 1981, where he was infamously pelted with garbage whilst wearing bikini briefs, leg warmers, high-heeled boots and a Trench Coat and subsequently booed off the stage. Interestingly, an audio recording of this incident was later sampled and used in the song Pop Life . 1980–1984 In 1980, Prince released '' Dirty Mind '', a solo effort released using the original demos. On stage, Lisa Coleman replaced Chapman in the band, who felt the sexually explicit lyrics and stage antics of Prince’s concerts conflicted with her religious beliefs. ''Dirty Mind'' was particularly notable for its sexually explicit material. Prince opened for '' for publishing his songs, which he would use for his following sixteen records until '' Emancipation '' came out in 1996. In 1981 Prince formed a side project band called The Time . Prince was able to do this due to a clause in his contract with Warner Bros. The Time created four albums between 1981 and 1990 where Prince wrote and performed all instruments and backing vocals throughout. The band's vocals were led by Morris Day . In the coming decade, Prince would also collaborate with Vanity (of Vanity 6 ), Apollonia (of Apollonia 6 ) and Sheila E . He also composed material, using former band-mates as another outlet for his prolific output. He also wrote hits for artists such as Sheena Easton , Celine Dion (As she talked about in an interview with Arsenio Hall in 1993) and The Bangles and his songs would be covered in hit versions by artists as diverse as Chaka Khan , Mariah Carey , Tom Jones with Art Of Noise , and Sinéad O'Connor . O’Connor’s cover of a song Prince initially wrote for The Family , “ Nothing Compares 2 U ,” was a huge commercial success in 1990. Prince was backed in the '80s by The Revolution , and in the '90s by the New Power Generation . He also worked on different occasions with famous jazz and funk musicians, such as Miles Davis , Larry Graham , George Clinton , and Maceo Parker .
Throughout his career, Prince has also recorded with Ani DiFranco , Madonna , Cyndi Lauper , Kate Bush , Rosie Gaines , Carmen Electra , No Doubt , Chuck D , Angie Stone , Chaka Khan , and Sheryl Crow . ]] In 1982 Prince released the '' 1999 '' double-album which proved to be a breakthrough album both in the U.S. and internationally, selling over three million copies. The Title Track was a protest about Nuclear Proliferation and became his first top ten hit internationally. With “ Little Red Corvette ” he joined Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie as part of the first wave of Black artists on MTV and “ Delirious ” also went top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 . The album was placed at number six in The Village Voice ’s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. Stevie Nicks related a story in a television interview that she had come up with her 1983 song “Stand Back” after being inspired by the synthesizer part in “Little Red Corvette.” When it was time to record the song, it happened that Prince was in Los Angeles near her recording studio. She called his people and soon afterwards Prince came by the studio, sat down at the synthesizer, and played the song-opening riff. In the early 80's Prince brought to life the idea of B-Sides (songs that were not previously released on the b-side of a single). Some greats and fan favorites include "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore"; b-side for "1999":, "17 Days"; b-side for "When Doves Cry". To show how great and popular his B-Sides became, the above two were redone by Alicia Keys and Living Colour. Prince had many more B-Sides which not all of them appeared on his 3 Disc set; Hits 1 and 2 and B-Sides. 1984–1987 '' Purple Rain '' (in conjunction with the Film Of The Same Name ) sold more than thirteen million copies in the U.S. and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. The film grossed more than $80 million in the United States alone, and would prove to be Prince’s biggest cinematic success. Two songs from ''Purple Rain'', “''. When Tipper Gore overheard her twelve-year-old daughter, Karenna , playing “ Darling Nikki ,” she founded the Parents Music Resource Center , which has spurred the use of “explicit lyric” stickers and imprints on album covers. In 1985, after the U.S. ''Purple Rain'' Tour, which was a smash hit in the U.S. and Canada, Prince announced he was giving up live performances and making videos on the release of '' Around The World In A Day '', which went to the top of the U.S. album charts for three weeks. Prince’s ban on videos ended as the album stalled in the charts with a video for “ Raspberry Beret ” which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1986, Prince released the album '' Parade ''. The album went to number three on the Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the R&B album charts. The first single, “ Kiss ,” would top the Billboard Hot 100. At the same time, “ Manic Monday ” by The Bangles reached number two on the Hot 100, which Prince had written under the Pseudonym “Christopher.” '' Parade '' served as a soundtrack to Prince's second film, a romantic comedy, '' Under The Cherry Moon '' in which Prince starred and directed. Following the film and album, Prince returned to touring with a stripped-down show. After a few isolated dates (dubbed "the Hit and Run Tour") in the United States, he embarked on his first full scale European Tour in the summer of 1986. He ended the tour with his first live performances in Japan in September of that year. 1987–1991 '''', which declared it was the best album of the 1980s. Following the album, Prince launched the ''Sign “☮” the Times'' Tour in Europe . At the end of the last tour Prince disbanded his long-time performance band, known since the release of the movie and album ''Purple Rain'' as The Revolution (although 'The Revolution' is mentioned on the album "1999"), and parted ways with Wendy Melvoin , Lisa Coleman , Bobby "Z" Rivkin , and Mark Brown ( Brown Mark ). His follow-up live performance band retained Matt Fink on keyboards, and added Boni Boyer on keyboards, Sheila E on drums, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass, and Miko Weaver on guitar. 1987 saw the potential for two of pop’s biggest stars coming together to perform a duet. Michael Jackson talked with Prince about performing a duet together for the title track of his new album '' Bad ''. However, Jackson and Prince ended up having creative differences, and Jackson ended up cutting the title track for the album on his own. http://michaeljackson.com/lofi/history-main-1980s.html Also in 1987, Prince planned to release '' The Black Album '', a funk-oriented album whose erotically-charged lyrics and club-focused beats were perceived by many as his attempt to woo back the black audience he was supposed to have lost with his mid-80s forays into 'white' rock, pop and psychedelia. In reality, it was a collection of random tracks recorded during the previous few years, some of which had initially been created for Sheila E's birthday party in 1986. 3 Retrieved on May 15, 2007 The album's release was suddenly cancelled at Prince's behest mere days before its intended release. While many manufactured copies were meant to be destroyed, several escaped and became the source for numerous bootleg editions. The album circulated through the Bootleg Underground Music world until it was finally given an official release in 1994. Prince later attributed his eleventh-hour request that the album be pulled from release to a spiritual epiphany, but rumors still abound that this epiphany was in fact the product of a bad experience with the drug Ecstasy . The 1988 album '' Lovesexy '' was Prince’s spiritual answer to the dark message of ''The Black Album''. ''Lovesexy'' was a disappointment in its chart performance, only reaching number eleven on the Billboard 200, but reaching number one in the UK. (One track from ''The Black Album,'' "When 2 R in Love," also appeared on ''Lovesexy.'') The Lovesexy World Tour 's portion in the U.S. also proved to be commercial disappointment. Prince lost money as dates failed to sell out. Prince recouped his losses with the European and Japanese legs of the tour. In 1989, Prince would record the soundtrack for '' Batman '', which would return him to the top of the U.S. album charts at number one, with the single and worldwide hit “ Batdance ” reaching number one of the Billboard Hot 100, while another track, "Partyman" which featured the vocals of his then girlfriend " Anna Garcia " 4 Retrieved on August 15, 2007 would be the most remembered song from the film. Prince next released the film sequel to ''Purple Rain'', titled '' Graffiti Bridge '', which performed poorly at the box office. The soundtrack to "Graffiti Bridge" featured Prince and other artists such as Tevin Campbell , Mavis Staples of The Staple Singers , and Morris Day and The Time. It would reach a chart peak of number six in the U.S. and number one in the UK . He also collaborated with Madonna on her Like A Prayer album for the song entitled "Love Song". 1991–1994 The '' Diamonds And Pearls '' album in 1991 gave Prince his fifth U.S. number one single with the song “ Cream ”. ''Diamonds and Pearls'' also marked the debut of Prince's new band, the New Power Generation featuring rapper Tony M , Rosie Gaines on vocals, Michael Bland on drums, Levi Seacer on guitar, Sonny T on bass, and Tommy Barbarella on keyboards. After thanking Kate Bush in the credits of his Diamonds and Pearls album, Prince worked on Bush’s 1993 album, '' The Red Shoes ''. Collaborating chiefly on the song “Why Should I Love You,” Prince added bass, guitar, keyboards, his vocals and other arrangements to the mix. This would be the final “Prince” credit, until 2000. Kate Bush reciprocated in 1996 and is featured on background vocals on the '' Emancipation '' track, “My Computer.” Prince’s twelfth album was titled “,” dubbed by some as '' The Love Symbol Album ''. It reached the top ten of the U.S. album charts. In 1993, he would change his name to . The symbol is said to be a melding of the Symbols for male (♂) and female (♀). Because was unpronounceable, he was often referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince,” or simply “The Artist.” Some called him "TAFKaP." In 1993, at the request of Warner Bros., Prince released a 3-CD Greatest Hits compilation entitled '' The Hits/The B-Sides ''. The first two discs were also sold separately as '' The Hits 1 '' and '' The Hits 2 ''. In addition to featuring the majority of Prince's hit singles (with the exception of “ Batdance ,” which was omitted), ''The Hits'' includes an array of previously hard-to-find recordings, notably B-sides spanning the majority of Prince’s career, as well as a handful of previously unreleased tracks, such as the Revolution-recorded “Power Fantastic.” A new song, “ Peach ,” was chosen as a promotional single to accompany the album. Unfortunately, neither the album nor single performed as well on the charts as Prince and Warner Bros. would have hoped. To this day, however, ''The Hits'' remains the closest thing to a definitive overview of Prince's musical output from 1978 to 1993. Name change In 1993, during negotiations regarding the release of Prince's album '' The Gold Experience '', a battle between Warner Bros. and Prince ensued, struggling over the artistic and financial control of Prince’s output. During that time, Prince only appeared in public with the word “SLAVE” written on his cheek. Prince explained his name change as follows: The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to . Prince is the name that my Mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros.… Prince’s strategy behind the name change seems to have been to reinvent himself, going back to a smaller audience to redevelop his style. One commentator noted: Prince started his career as a big R&B star with limited mainstream success. At that point, he left the middle of the road and headed for the ditch. In 1980, it was risky to record new wave songs with lusty lyrics that assured no radio airplay (the classic ''Dirty Mind''), but it paid off. Critics took notice and he became an underground favorite. This paved the way for his huge success with ''1999'' and ''Purple Rain''. Certainly that was the pinnacle of his career, as far as worldwide earnings and universal adulation are concerned. But by heading for the ditch again, by changing his name and experimenting with his style, by lowering his stock value and escaping his record contract, Prince has become an underground artist again. In late 1996, the first collection of Prince music since his break with Warner Bros. appeared in record stores, a sprawling three-hour extravaganza integrating great dance grooves and slow-burning ballads. Critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, and sales have been brisk despite the high price of a 3-CD set. It's no coincidence that he titled this album ''Emancipation''. Comment on namechange 1994–2000 In 1994, Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting he release albums on a more sporadic basis. He also blamed it for the poor commercial performance of his latest work (namely the album), claiming it had failed to market the album effectively. Out of this state of affairs a proposal came about to subject the aborted '' Black Album '' to an official release, approximately seven years after its initial creation. This new release, which was already in wide circulation as Bootleg s, also sold relatively poorly. Following that disappointing venture, Warner Bros. succumbed to Prince's wishes to release an album of new material, to be entitled '' Come ''. The label had refused to grant the album a release in the past, believing the music on it to be dreadfully mediocre and lacking a potential hit single. When ''Come'' was eventually released, it confirmed all of Warner's worst fears. It became Prince's poorest-selling album to date, struggling to even shift 500,000 copies. Even more frustrating was the fact that Prince insisted on crediting the album to "Prince 1958–1993". Prince pushed to have his next album '' The Gold Experience '' released simultaneously as “” material. As a test case, Warner Bros. allowed the single " The Most Beautiful Girl In The World " to be released via a small, independent distributor, Bellmark Records , in February 1994. The release was successful, reaching #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in many other countries, but this was not to be a forerunner of what was to come. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing ''The Gold Experience'', fearing poor sales and citing " Market Saturation " as a defense. When eventually released in September 1995, ''The Gold Experience'' failed to sell well, although it reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 initially, and many reviewed it as Prince's best effort since '' Sign “☮” The Times ''. The album is now out-of-print. The ''" (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid) BMI credits for "I Can't Make You Love Me" and "La-La Means I Love You" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart). BMI credits for "La-La Means I Love You" Prince released '' Crystal Ball '', a 4-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was shambolic, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventually shipped to them, and months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The '' Newpower Soul '' album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts. In 1999, Prince once again teamed up with a major record label, this time '', released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original ''1999''. Both critics and fans panned ''The New Master'', declaring it unimaginative. A pay-per-view concert, '' Rave Un2 The Year 2000 '', was held on December 31, 1999 of concerts taped on December 17 and 18 and had appearances by many guest stars such as Lenny Kravitz , George Clinton and The Time . It was released to home video the following year. Also, a remix album, '' Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic '', was released exclusively through Prince's NPG Music Club in April 2000. 2000–2005 On May 16 2000 , Prince ceased using the "" moniker and returned to using "Prince" again, after his publishing contract with Warner-Chappell expired. In a press conference stating that he was now free from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he formally reverted to his original name. Prince still occasionally uses the symbol as a logo and on album artwork and continues to play a -shaped guitar. (While using the name "", he was generally referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince". After he resumed the name "Prince", he was sporadically referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince".) For several years, after the release of "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic", Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription service, NPGOnlineLtd.com (later NPGMusicClub.com ). However, two albums which showcased the substantial influence of jazz music on Prince did surface at record stores for the general public: '', The Time, Erykah Badu , Nikka Costa , George Clinton, Norah Jones and others). On February 8 , 2004 , Prince appeared at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles . In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Beyoncé performed a medley of classic "Purple Rain", “Let's Go Crazy”, “Baby I'm a Star” and Beyoncé's “ Crazy In Love ”, to rave reviews. The following month, Prince was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame . The award was presented to him by Alicia Keys , along with Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast . As well as performing a trio of his own hits during the ceremony, Prince also participated in a tribute to fellow inductee George Harrison in a rendition of the deceased artist’s “ While My Guitar Gently Weeps ”, playing a long guitar solo that ended the song. In April 2004, Prince released '''', partly due to a radical scheme devised on his part which enabled copies of the album presented to those who purchased tickets on the ''Musicology'' tour to be included in the album’s overall sales as compiled by '' Billboard ''. In 2004, 's readers named the best male performer and most welcome comeback even though he says he never went anywhere. During that same month, Prince was named number five on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart.http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-p/prince_main.htm In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with En Vogue singing backing vocals) on Stevie Wonder ’s first new single in six years, “So What The Fuss.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina , which devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29 , 2005 , Prince offered a personal response by recording two new songs, “ S.S.T. ” and the instrumental “Brand New Orleans,” at Paisley Park Studios in the early hours of September 2. The artist, in a typical moment of inspiration, played all instrumental and vocal parts without collaboration. These recordings were quickly dispersed to the public via Prince’s NPG Music Club, and “S.S.T.” was later picked up by ITunes , where it reached number one on the R&B chart. On October 25 , Sony Records released a version of the single on CD. 2005–present In late 2005 Prince struck a deal with Universal Records to release his next album, '' 3121 '', on March 21 , 2006 (3/21). The debut single from the album was the Latin-tinged “ Te Amo Corazón ,” the video for which was directed by actress Salma Hayek . The piece was filmed in Marrakesh , and showed Prince accompanied on-screen by Mía Maestro . The song was covered by Viktoria Tolstoy on her new album ''Pictures of Me'', along with another Prince cover, "Strollin'". The video for the second single, “ Black Sweat ”, was nominated in the MTV VMAs for Best Cinematography. Prince achieved his first career number-one debut on the Billboard 200 with the album. To promote the new album, Prince was the musical guest on '' Saturday Night Live '' on February 4 , 2006 , sixteen and a half years after his last ''SNL'' appearance. He performed two songs from the album, “ Fury ” and “Beautiful, Loved & Blessed,” with Támar . Prince also held a contest to win a trip to see a 'Purple Ticket Concert' at his private residence in Hollywood , California . Seven winning tickets were placed inside ''3121'' CD packages in the US, and other tickets were given away in various contests on the Internet and around the world. On May 6 , 2006 , Twenty-four prize winners with one guest each attended a star-studded private party and performance at Prince's home. The "Purple Ticket Concert" marked the end of a long run of private performances for the Hollywood elite that began in 2005. Much to the dismay of his fans (and only weeks after winning a , 2006 . It had been in existence for over five years. The NPGMC sent out an email, claiming that "in its current 4m there is a feeling that the NPGMC gone as far as it can go. In a world without limitations and infinite possibilities, has the time come 2 once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These r ?s we in the NPG need 2 answer. In doing so, we have decided 2 put the club on hiatus until further notice." Incidentally, the club was shut down on the same day that an opposition to the NPG trademark was filed against it by the British company HM Publishing (owners of the Nature Publishing Group, also NPG). Despite these events occurring on the same day, Prince's attorney reports that it was purely coincidental and that the site did not close due to the trademark dispute.http://www.prince.org/msg/13/194742/NPGMC-shut-down-during-trademark-fight-that-s-the-truth Prince appeared at multiple award ceremonies in 2006. On , 2006, Prince appeared at the BET awards. He was awarded Best Male R&B artist. In addition to receiving this award, Prince performed a medley of Chaka Kahn songs in honor of the BET Lifetime award. Prince has previously written and performed several songs with the singer. On November 14 , 2006 , Prince was inducted into the UK Music Hall Of Fame , appearing to collect his award but not performing. Also in November 2006, Prince opened a nightclub named 3121 in Las Vegas at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino . He performed weekly, on Friday and Saturday nights, through April 2007. On August 22 , 2006 , the album '' Ultimate '' was released. The double disc set consists of one CD of hits, while the second disc contains extended versions and mixes that, for the most part, were previously unavailable on CD. Prince wrote and performed a song for the hit 2006 animated film '' Happy Feet ''. The song, entitled " Song Of The Heart ," appears on the film's soundtrack, which also features a rendition of Prince's classic song "Kiss," sung by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman . In January 2007, "Song of the Heart" won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Prince arrived late because of traffic and thus was unable to make an acceptance speech, though Hugh Grant asked him later in the awards to take a bow. On ", " Anotherloverholenyohead " from '' Parade '' and "Get On the Boat" from '' 3121 ''. Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on February 4 , 2007 . The performance consisted of three ''Purple Rain'' tracks (" Let's Go Crazy ", "Baby, I'm a Star" and the Title Track ), along with cover versions of " All Along The Watchtower "," Best Of You " and " Proud Mary ". Coincidentally, Miami had rain on the day of the Super Bowl, which was lit purple during the performance of "Purple Rain". He played on a large stage shaped as his famous symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television viewers, the largest audience of his life.6 Retrieved on Feb. 5, 2007 On May 8 , 2007 , it was announced that Prince is to play 21 concerts in London over the summer. The "Earth Tour" will include 21 nights at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena . Tickets for the O2 arena were priced at £31.21 (including a free copy of Prince’s latest album), in order to make the concerts "affordable for everybody".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9K-lIi7DeQ. The residency at the O2 arena was increased to 15 nights after all 140,000 tickets for the original seven sold out in just 20 minuteshttp://www.nme.com/news/prince/28295 and then further extended to 21 nightshttp://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/070611/340/h9t0h.html&e=l_news_dm. On May 10 2007 Prince performed a 'secret' gig at London 's Koko in front of a small crowd (between) fans and celebrities. Tickets went on sale that morning on a first-come-first-served basis (again at £31.21). A prelude to the forthcoming summer gigs in London, Prince played a relaxed set of classic hits (" Kiss ", changing the lyric from 'You don't have to watch '' Dynasty '' to '' Desperate Housewives ''; " Girls & Boys "; and " Nothing Compares 2 U ") alongside more recent tracks, plus a well-received cover version of Gnarls Barkley 's " Crazy ". There was controversy as one of the fans brought up on stage by Prince to dance later kissed him only to be ejected by one of his bouncers. Although it appeared it may have been an overreaction as Prince seemed to take the kiss in good humour. On 5 June , 2007, Prince made an appearance at the 2007 ALMA Awards, performing with Sheila E. On decided to stock the paper on release day due to the giveaway. On July 7 , 2007 Prince played three concerts in his hometown of Minneapolis. Beginning at the Macy's Downtown store, he delighted a small group of fans and VIP's with a set on the 8th floor auditorium featuring his band with special guest Shiela E. This concert coincided with the launch of his new perfume, 3121. Prince delighted the gathering with "3121," "Girls & Boys," "A Love Bizarre," and "Guitar." Sheila E. sang "The Glamorous Life" with him and Shelby kicked out her rendition of "Crazy." Prince then performed a concert at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis and ended his night with an aftershow at the famous First Avenue (where Purple Rain was filmed). MUSIC SAMPLES DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Prince discography FILMOGRAPHY Prince's music has been featured in many films over the years. This list includes films and videos releases which Prince has either acted/performed in, or has contributed songs specifically for the film. Films that simply use pre-existing Prince music are not listed.
PERSONAL LIFE In the 1980s and early 1990s Prince was romantically linked to many celebrities, including , 2007 . Kirstie Alley , Whitney Houston , Apollonia Kotero , Kim Basinger , Sheena Easton , Troy Beyer , Susanna Hoffs , and Nona Gaye . He married his backup singer and dancer, Mayte Garcia on Valentine's Day, 1996. They had one son, Gregory, who was born with Pfeiffer Syndrome and died shortly after birth. They were divorced in 2000. Prince became a Jehovah's Witness in 2001. He married Manuela Testolini in 2001 but she filed for divorce in May 2006. PROTéGéS AND ASSOCIATES See Also: Prince Associates Aside from countless minor collaborations, Prince has contributed significant input to the work of numerous bands, musicians and performers over his career. The range of such collaborations have varied between certain artists, such as Maceo Parker , making repeated appearances on Prince's albums, to absolute control over protégé projects, such as The Time and Vanity 6 , giving Prince the opportunity to release music under alternative monikers. MONIKERS Prince often uses Pseudonym s and Moniker s to separate himself from the music (either his own or that of others) he has had input in; he has said that he was tired of seeing his name everywhere, and that only egotistical people take credit for everything they do.http://www.princelyrics.co.uk/viewarticle.asp?article=35 He has also given himself alternate names for his film characters, the most recognizable of which is The Kid.
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