Prince Biography

Fast Facts

• Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004
• Beyoncé Knowles inducted him into the UK Music Hall of Fame
• His song 'Purple Rain' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
• After being teased at school he tried to compensate by being as flashy and noisy as he could
• Wrote his first song on his father's piano when he was seven years old
• Warner Brothers Records signed him as a teenager
• Quote: "'I'm a musician․ That's what I do․ And I also am music․'"
• Quote: "'When I was 16, I was broke and needed to go get a job and I got the Yellow Pages and couldn't find one thing that I wanted to do․ So I decided I was going to push as hard as I could to be a musician and went at it․'"
• An eccentric pop icon, known for his high voice, his odd guitars, provacative lyrics and flamboyant costumes, which ncluded a lot of color and high heels
• Had a reputation for bending genres, pushing musical boundaries, he wrote, produced and composed his own music and playied most of the instruments on his recordings
• Helped a fan break up with his girlfriend on an episode of 'The Arsenio Hall Show․'
• Stated that he hated cell phone ringtones
• Annoyed with Warner Bros․ label insisting the release of fewer CDs, and unable to end his contract, changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol until the contract expired
• As the first major artist to release an Internet album he won a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for his digital pioneering, but refused to include his music in digital download services
• Is rumored to have played every instrument on his first album "For You․"
• His father named him after the Prince Rogers Trio, a jazz band he performed with as a pianist