Prince

In 1958, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis. At 19, he secured a recording contract with Warner Records before releasing his debut album, ‘For You’, in 1978. The following year, the release was followed up with a self-titled sophomore LP.

Prince’s first two albums were largely ignored, but 1980’s ‘Dirty Mind’ received wide critical acclaim, which put Prince on the map. Over the decade, he became one of the world’s most defining musical talents, thanks to his masterpieces 1999, ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Sign O’ The Times’. Notably, Prince also adoptedly an androgynous persona, which made him stand out from other performers and influence popular culture.

1984’s ‘Purple Rain’ was integral to his legacy and marked his first album with his backing band, The Revolution. The album’s success also led to a live-concert film of the same name, which won the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Score’. The LP spent six months at the top of the Billboard Chart in the United States.

In the 1990s, Prince’s career was thwarted by a legal dispute with Warner Records, which led to him briefly releasing music as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, before reverting to his original stage name in 2000.
In 2016, Prince died, aged 57, after overdosing on fentanyl. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and sold over 100 million records worldwide. During his career, ‘The Purple One’ was also the recipient of seven Grammys.