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The Purple One, His Royal Badness, the High Priest of Pop–all names have been used to describe Prince throughout his 40-year-long career. During his legacy, he left behind 39 studio albums, four films, and an impact that influenced generations. But despite his fame, he kept much of his personal life under wraps.
Prince’s life could only be described as wild. From a covered-up death to starting parental advisories, his 57 years were filled with twists and turns. Explore the eccentric and fascinating life of Prince Rogers Nelson.
From A Family Of Musicians
In 1958, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His mother, Mattie Della (née Shaw) was a jazz musician. His father, John Lewis Nelson, played with his mother in the Prince Rogers Trio. That is where Prince got his name.
Oddly enough, Prince did not like his name. He told his childhood friends to call him Skipper, which stuck until he entered the limelight. Prince’s father encouraged him and his sister, Tyka, to practice and enjoy music from a young age.
In The Beginning, He Was Homeless And Struggling
When Prince was ten, his parents divorced. He never got along with his stepmom or half-brother, and he repeatedly switched between his parents’ homes. Eventually, his father kicked him out, and Prince lived in his neighbor’s basement.
While he worked toward stardom, Prince fell on hard times. He had so little money that he wandered through the streets of Minneapolis searching for food. Later in life, he recalled standing in front of McDonald’s to smell the food and hopefully quell his hunger.
He Had Two Marriages
Prince had two marriages during his life. His first wife was Mayte Garcia. He met her outside of his tour bus when she was a 16-year-old dancer. Garcia worked as his backup dancer after high school, and the two were married from 1996 and divorced in 2001 after the stress of losing a child.
Prince married his second wife, Manuela Testolini, privately in 2001. Not much is known about the Toronto native, but the two divorced in 2006. Testolini spoke positively about Prince even after they separated.
His Epilepsy Was Supposedly Cured By Angels
During an interview, Prince revealed that he was born an epileptic. He experienced frequent seizures throughout his childhood. “My mother and father didn’t know what to do or how to handle it, but they did the best they could with what little they had,” Prince told talk-show host Tavis Smiley.
At one point, Prince told his mother, “Mom, I’m not going to be sick anymore.” When she asked why, Prince said, “Because an angel told me so.” According to the musician, his seizures stopped after that.
At Age 19, He Recorded His First Album
In 1976, studio proprietor Chris Moon hired Prince to play music for a show. Moon gave Prince the key to the studio, and Prince began working on his demo. Impressed by his music, Moon directed him to advertiser and concert promoter Owen Husney. Prince was a teenager at the time.
With Husney’s help, Prince caught the attention of recording studios Warner Bros. Records, Columbia Records, and A&M Records. At age 19, Prince moved to California to record his first official album, For You.
Prince Never Announced His Son’s Death
In October 1996, Prince and his wife Mayte Garcia-Nelson had their first son. Their child, Amiir Nelson, died one week later. But Prince never told the public about this; in fact, he told the nannies, Arlene and Erlene Mojica, to keep it under wraps. They falsified names and records to hide the death.
Officials determined that Amiir died naturally from a skeletal condition called Pfeiffer’s Syndrome. He was cremated one day after his death with no father listed on his birth certificate. Later, Prince sued the nannies for breaking their privacy agreement.
Thank Prince For The “Parental Advisory” Label
Prince became known for his provocative lyrics, earning him the nickname His Royal Badness. In 1984, Tipper Gore, wife of the former senator Al Gore, picked up a copy of Purple Rain. While listening to it with her 11-year-old daughter, Tipper felt shocked at the lyrics of “Darling Nikki.”
Tipper’s outrage encouraged her to form the Parents Music Resource Center. The group aimed to censor sexual lyrics in pop songs. After a lengthy court case, the Recording Industry Association of America agreed to label CDs with parental advisory warnings.
Prince Had A Feud With Michael Jackson
In the mid-1980s, Michael Jackson and Prince both rose to great fame. Producer Quincy Jones wanted a collaboration of the two singers, but both backed out for different reasons. Jackson said that he “blew Prince out of the water,” while Prince explained that he didn’t want to sing the “Your butt is mine” lyric.
Whatever the reason, a feud began that lasted for decades. Even in 2006, Jackson told will.i.am that “Prince has always been a meanie.” Colleagues of the two stars still debate whether the rivalry was lighthearted or heated.
He Had Plenty Of Celebrity Flings
Prince had many romantic relationships with fellow popstars. His flings included Susanna Hoffs, Kim Basinger, Vanity, Sherilyn Fenn, Sheila E., and Carmen Electra. One of his most well-known celebrity relationships was with the Queen of Pop, Madonna.
Prince contributed some guitar tracks to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” including the distorted guitar solo that plays during the first three seconds. According to reports, Prince also helped Madonna with some home maintenance repairs. This sparked arguments between Madonna and her then-husband, Sean Penn.
He Consulted Many Artists About “Purple Rain”
When Prince created “Purple Rain,” he played the ten-minute musical track first. He then asked Stevie Nicks to write the lyrics for it. However, Nicks felt overwhelmed by the long track. She told him that he couldn’t do it, and Prince wrote the lyrics himself.
Afterward, Prince worried that the song sounded too similar to Journey’s “Faithfully.” Before presenting it, Prince approached the “Faithfully” composer, Jonathan Cain. Cain said that, although the songs sounded similar, Prince should launch it. He knew that “Purple Rain” would become a hit.
He Withdrew An Album Because It Was “Evil”
In 1994, Prince released his 16th studio album. The vinyl sleeve was all black with only Prince’s name, giving it the nickname The Black Album. But shortly after Warner Bros. released it, Prince asked to withdraw it, claiming that it was “evil.”
According to Prince, he had a spiritual epiphany and discovered that the album was immoral. He blamed it on a demonic alter-ego induced by his earlier unreleased album, Camille. Some believe that his decision arose after a bad experience with MDMA. Either way, The Black Album was abandoned and is now a rarity.
His Early Influence Was Joni Mitchell
Prince was so fascinated with music that he wrote his first song, “Funk Machine,” when he was seven years old. Later in life, he admitted that one of his early influences was Joni Mitchell. As a teenager, he sent her fan mail and attended her concerts.
Like Joni Mitchell, Prince was almost entirely self-taught. While recording his first album, For You, Prince played all the tracks, similar to his musical idol. By the end of his life, he could play 27 different instruments.
He Formed Side Bands
After his first album released in 1978, Prince worked to form a band. But Warner Bros. decided that the band needed more time to develop music, so Prince returned to his solo career. He created the album Prince, which went platinum.
In 1981, Prince formed another side band called The Time. Over nine years, The Time released four albums. Prince played many of the instruments and provided backup vocals; the main vocals were sung by Morris Day. During his golden age in the 1980s, Prince referred to his main band as The Revolution.
A Secret Philanthropist
Prince did not speak publicly about his philanthropy. But after his death in 2016, his ex-wife Manuela Testolini revealed some of his secret donations. For instance, Prince anonymously paid the medical bills of his drummer, Clyde Stubblefield, as he was undergoing cancer treatment.
In 2001, the popstar anonymously sent $12,000 to the Louisville Public Library. At the time, the Western Branch Library–the first full-service library for African Americans–was scheduled to close. Prince’s donation kept this historic library section up and running.
Prince’s Battle With Warner Bros.
Although Warner Bros. published every Prince album through the ’70s and ’80s, the artist and company frequently fought. Warner Bros. worried that Prince was over-saturating the market with new material because he released a new album every year since For You.
Although Prince produced many classics, many of his songs received indifferent reactions. His constant output strained Warner Bros., and to Prince, they were stifling his creativity. Prince rebelled by performing with the word “slave” written on his face and changing his name to a symbol.
How He Died
After a 40-year-long career, Prince passed away at age 57 on April 21st, 2016. He was found dead in his Minnesota home and recording studio, Paisley Park. After an autopsy, officials determined that his death was caused by an accidental opioid fentanyl overdose.
Prince had left behind 39 studio albums and even more posthumous works. After his death, fans mourned by holding massive memorials and ceremonies. According to former US president Barack Obama, “Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly, or touched quite so many people with their talent.”
He Gave Away A Free Album
In 2007, Prince launched his 32nd album, Planet Earth. Before selling it, he gave it away for free. He paired millions of copies of Planet Earth with The Mail, a newspaper in the United Kingdom. Many music stores disapproved of this, so the UK label cut ties with many of these companies.
Despite the backlash, Prince pulled through and gave away three million free copies of Planet Earth. Afterward, it sold 96,000 copies in the first week. The album landed on number three on the US Billboard 200 chart.
He Acted And Directed, Too
Although Prince didn’t make many on-screen appearances, he directed and acted in some movies and TV shows. In 1984, he played the Kid in his famous semi-autobiographical movie, Purple Rain. Two years later, he both acted in and directed Under the Cherry Moon.
Prince played himself in two movies, Sign ‘o the Times in 1987 and 3 Chains ‘o Gold in 1994. He also made a sequel to Purple Rain called Graffiti Bridge in 1990. And on TV, he appeared on New Girl and Muppets Tonight.
Either Vegan Or Vegetarian
When Prince married Mayte Garcia in 1996, she introduced him to vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. For decades afterward, he ate both vegetarian and vegan. Prince also advocated for animal rights and worked closely with PETA, being named their “Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity” in 2006.
Although Prince asserted that he was a vegan, his personal chefs, Ray and Juell Roberts, said that he ate vegetarian. He also refused most cheeses and tried the raw food diet for a month before giving it up. Plus, he loved sweets.
He Was A Jehovah’s Witness
Prince was raised as a Seventh Day Adventist, but he didn’t keep this faith. In 2001, bassist Larry Graham introduced Prince to Jehovah’s Witnesses. The congregation’s secretary, Bruce McFarland, knew him as an “exceptionally shy” man who knocked on doors whenever he could.
In 2005, a rumor spread that Prince refused a hip replacement surgery due to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ refusal of blood transfusions. But Graham argued that Prince didn’t need the surgery for his hip injury and that he recovered without it.
