The Purple One himself, Prince, is 50 years old today.
The pint-sized legend is one of the most influential, recognisable, loved and derided figures in contemporary music.
Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1958 (allegedly Prince came from his parents’ pet dog), it was in the 1980s that he came to redefine pop music.
Over the three decades of his career, the star has released a total of 31 studio albums and has always strove to push forward boundaries with his hyper-eclectic meld of funk, pop and R & B.
Despite a string of classic albums in the shape of ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Sign O’ The Times’ and ‘Diamonds And Pearls’, naturally he has dropped a few clangers in his time, perhaps most notably ‘Love Symbol.’
In 1993 he ditched his name in favour of an unpronounceable symbol, forcing people to refer to him as ‘The Artist Formerly Known As Prince’ or just TAFKAP. Of course, such a move caused many to deride him.
More recently, Prince has threatened legal action against YouTube and eBay because they "appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success."
Just last month Prince ordered YouTube to remove of video of himself covering Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ at Coachella Festival, despite Radiohead themselves wanting the video kept online.
Last year he ordered Prince fan sites to take down unauthorised photographs of himself, a move which caused many critics to slam the star.
But for all his negative traits, it’s his music and his influence on popular culture that shines through the most, with timeless songs like ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Raspberry Beret’, ‘Kiss’, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.’
In 2004 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while in 2007 he held a record 21-date sell-out residency at London’s O2 Arena.
In July 2007, he made the pioneering move of giving away his album ‘Planet Earth’ for free via the Mail of Sunday newspaper in the UK earning it over 1million sales overnight.
One thing's for sure - there's only one Prince.
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