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T h e D ov e s A r e C r y i n g
T h e wo r l d m o u r n s t h e pa s s i n g o f a n o t h e r m u s i c i c o n . P r i n c e wa s a n
Am e r i c a n s i n g e r , s o n g wr i t e r , m u lt i - i n s t r u m e n ta l i s t, r e co r d p r o d u c e r ,
a n d ac to r . H e wa s a m u s i c a l i n n ovat o r a n d wa s k n own f o r h i s e c l e c t i c
wo r k , f l a m b oya n t s tag e p r e s e n c e , e x t r avag a n t d r e s s a n d m a k e u p a n d
a n a m a z i n g w i d e vo c a l r a n g e . H e r e a r e s o m e fac t s a b o u t t h i s m u s i c a l
g e n i u s .
Hi s rea l name was Pr ince. He was
born to two mus i ca l parents on
June 7 , 1958, Pr ince Rogers Nel son
was named af ter hi s father ’ s jazz
combo.
On top of wr i ting severa l hundred
songs for himsel f , Pr ince a l so
composed mus i c for other arti sts ,
inc luding
Mani c Monday
for the
Bangles ,
I Feel For You
for Chaka
Khan and
Nothing Compares 2 U
for
Sinéad O’Connor .
The symbol that he used actua l ly
had a name. Though known as “The
Arti st” or “The Arti st Former ly
Known as Pr ince, ” that wei rd
symbol Pr ince used was actua l ly
known as “Love Symbol #2. ”and
was copyr ighted in 1997 . When hi s
contract wi th Warner Bros expi red
in 1999, Pr ince reverted to us ing hi s
given name.
He pl ayed gui tar on Madonna ’ s
Like
a Prayer
.
Pr ince was a devout Jehovah’ s
Wi tness and even used to go door-
to-door to spread the word.
Pr ince sold over 100 mi l l ion records
wor ldwide, making him one of the
best-sel l ing arti sts of a l l time.
Rol l ing Stone has ranked Pr ince
at number 27 on i ts l i st of the 100
Greatest Arti sts of Al l Time.
He would stay awake for days on
end when he was working in the
studio.
Despi te Pr ince’ s sma l l stature
at just 5’2, he was a ta lented
basketba l l pl ayer and once pl ayed
for one of the best school teams in
the Minnesota state.
Pr ince wrote more songs than The
Beat les , wi th a back cata logue that
boasts of over 600 tracks .
As a kid, he was known as ‘Skipper ’ .