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Background[]
The late Prince ( b. 7 July 1958 - d. 21 April 2016 ) was an American actor, director, producer, and activist but was particularly famous, highly acclaimed, and highly respected for his primary career as a musician, singer and songwriter. Prince appeared in numerous music videos and video albums; along with live action television and cinematic roles.
Prince is widely considered to be one of the greatest musical talents of his generation; winning numerous accolades, awards, and commendations. He sold over 150 million records in his lifetime which made him one of the most successful and best selling artists of all time with a number of top rated and iconic songs including "I Wanna Be Your Lover"; "Raspberry Beret"; "Let's Go Crazy"; "Little Red Corvette"; "1999"; "Cream"; "Sign 'O' the Times"; and "Purple Rain".
Further, he was an incredibly prolific songwriter who had recorded a vast amount of unreleased songs, videos, and other works that is still being posthumously released by his estate. He was well known for his wide range of music styles and genres from pop, funk, new wave, R & B, soul, synth-pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop among others. He is also credited with pioneering his own subgenre known as Minneapolis sound. Prince won seven Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards; an Academy Award; and a Golden Globe and was inducted into Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in 2004; the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006; and the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2016.
Prince was famous for his flamboyant and androgynous persona which made him a sex symbol along with his incredible vocal range from a natural tenor to a high-pitched falsetto.
He was also a multi-instrumental polymath and preferred to if possible, play all of the instrumentals in his music recordings. Prince was said to highly proficient in over 27 different instruments ranging from piano, guitar, cymbals, drums, among others and insanely enough, he apparently self-taught himself how to use most of them.
Prince was also renowned for his eccentricity, even at one point of his career to have "forsaken" his name and legally replacing it with an unpronounceable symbol O(+>. During this period, he was frequently referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" or "TAFKAP" or more simply as "The Artist". He was also a philanthropist and activist who championed various causes such as animal rights, social equality, and environmental issues.
Biography[]
Personal Life[]
Filmography[]
Actor[]
- The Midnight Special (1980) 1 episode
- Saturday Night Live (1981-14) 3 episodes
- Soul Train (1983) 1 episode
- Purple Rain (1984)
- Prince and the Revolution LIVE! (1985)
- Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
- Sign 'o' the Times (1987)
- Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary (1989)
- Graffiti Bridge (1990)
- Prince: The Hits Collection (1993)
- 3 Chains o' Gold (1994)
- The History of Rock 'n' Roll (1995) 2 episodes
- Top of the Pops (1995-06) 4 episodes
- Muppets Tonight (1997) 1 episode
- Emancipation Celebration (1997)
- Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas (2003)
- Prince: The Art of Musicology (2004)
- Prince: The Reign of the Prince of Ages (2005)
- American Idol (2006) 1 episode
- New Girl (2014) 1 episode
Soundtrack[]
- Saturday Night Live (1981-14) 3 episodes
- Summer Lovers (1982)
- Fame (1982-85) 3 episodes
- Still Smokin (1983)
- Risky Business (1983)
- Hot Dog... The Movie (1984)
- Purple Rain (1984)
- The Wild Life (1984)
- Knight Rider (1984) 3 episodes
- The Slugger's Wife (1985)
- Krush Groove (1985)
- Band of the Hand (1986)
- Fire with Fire (1986)
- Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
- Women in Rock (1986)
- Rage (1987) 1 episode
- Sign 'o' the Times (1987)
- Crash Course (1988)
- Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
- My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)
- Derrick (1989) 1 episode
- Batman (1989)
- Forsthaus Falkenau (1989-92) 2 episodes
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-97) 4 episodes
- Pretty Woman (1990)
- Without You I'm Nothing (1990)
- Bangles Greatest Hits (1990)
- Graffiti Bridge (1990)
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) 1 episode
- Stars in Their Eyes (1990-98) 4 episodes
- Top of the Pops (1990-99) 2 episodes
- Only Fools and Horses.... (1991) 1 episode
- Delirious (1991)
- The Last Boy Scout (1991)
- Amnesty International's Big 30 (1991)
- Gett Off (1991)
- Innocent Blood (1992)
- Tiny Toon Adventures (1992) 1 episode
- Poetic Justice (1993)
- McKaraoke (1993)
- Beavis and Butt-Head (1993-95) 4 episodes
- PCU (1994)
- Blankman (1994)
- 3 Chains o' Gold (1994)
- Showgirls (1995)
- Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
- Waiting to Exhale (1995)
- MTV Star Trax (1996) 1 episode
- Sounds of the Eighties (1996) 1 episode
- Girl 6 (1996)
- Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996)
- Striptease (1996)
- Romeo + Juliet (1996)
- Eine unmogliche Hochzeit (1996)
- Muppets Tonight (1997) 1 episode
- Scream 2 (1997)
- Down in the Delta (1998)
- Flava (1999) 1 episode
- An Audience with Tom Jones (1999)
- Bamboozled (2000)
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
- Stella Shorts 1998-2002 (2002)
- Head of State (2003)
- The Simpsons (2003) 1 episode
- Idols! (2003-04) 4 episodes
- Australian Idol (2003-05) 2 episodes
- The Worst Week of My Life (2004) 1 episode
- New Zealand Idol (2004) 3 episodes
- Indonesian Idol (2004) 1 episode
- I Love the '90s (2004) 1 episode
- Gilmore Girls (2004) 1 episode
- Are We There Yet? (2005)
- Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story (2005)
- Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
- Clare Fischer: Keep It in the Family (2005)
- The Eight (2006) 2 episodes
- Happy Feet (2006)
- Jericho (2006-07) 2 episodes
- 20 to 1 (2006-10) 4 episodes
- American Idol (2007) 1 episode
- Las Vegas (2007) 1 episode
- Her Best Move (2007)
- Young@Heart (2007)
- License to Wed (2007)
- Rush Hour 3 (2007)
- Dan in Real Life (2007)
- The Singing Bee (2007) 1 episode
- P.S. I Love You (2007)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
- Sputnik (2008) 1 episode
- Dancing with the Stars (2009-14) 5 episodes
- Atop the Fourth Wall (2010) 1 episode
- One Night Stand 2010) 2 episodes
- Gulliver's Travels (2010)
- EastEnders (2010-14) 4 episodes
- Shameless (2011) 1 episode
- Immigrants' Children Will Always Break Their Parents Hearts (2011)
- Glee (2011) 1 episode
- Doctor Who Confidential (2011) 1 episode
- Fresh Meat (2011) 2 episodes
- White Heat (2012) 1 episode
- The X Factor Philippines (2012) 1 episode
- The Voice UK (2012-14) 2 episodes
- One Hit Wonderland (2012-14) 2 episodes
- The Voice (2012-15) 3 episodes
- American Dad! (2013) 1 episode
- The Big Dirty List Show: 50 Years of Sex and Music (2013)
- Born to Be Wild: The Golden Age of American Rock (2014) 1 episode
- Dancing on Ice (2014) 3 episodes
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow (2014)
- The Equalizer (2014)
- Amor & Sexo (2014) 1 episode
- Guapas (2014) 2 episodes
Trivia[]
- Personally wrote, produced, and composed all of his own music and also played all the instruments himself on his albums except for brass instruments and during concerts where he had a backing band. Is credited with writing over 600 tracks of music and is regarded as one of the most prolific music writers of all time.
- Also wrote a number of musical hits for other artists including Chaka Khan, Sinéad O'Connor and Jordan Knight.
Quotes[]
- "A strong spirit transcends rules."
- "There are people who are unhappy with everything."
- "Too much freedom can lead to the soul's decay."
- "Music is music, ultimately. If it makes you feel good, cool."