50 facts about Prince: Prince's childhood nickname was Skipper

Prince's music combines rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop. Learn 50 facts about musician Prince.

1. Prince Roger Nelson known by his mononym Prince, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor.

2. A major figure in popular music for over three decades, Prince is renowned as an innovator and is widely-known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence and wide vocal range.

3. Widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound, Prince's music combines rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop.

4. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince developed an interest in music at an early age, writing his first song at age seven.

5. After recording songs with his cousin's band 94 East, 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album, For You, in 1978 under the guidance of Manager Owen Husney.

6. His 1979 album, Prince, went platinum due to the success of the singles "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover".

7. His next three records, Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982), continued his success, showcasing Prince's trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance and rock music.

8. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as the Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name.

9. After releasing the albums Around the World in a Day (1985) and Parade (1986), The Revolution disbanded and Prince released the critically acclaimed double album Sign "O" the Times (1987) as a solo artist.

10. He released three more solo albums before debuting The New Power Generation band in 1991.

11. After changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol (Prince logo.svg), also known as the "Love Symbol", in 1993, he began releasing new albums at a faster pace to remove himself from contractual obligations to Warner Bros; he released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with Arista Records in 1998.

12. In 2000, he began referring to himself as "Prince" once again. He has released fourteen albums since then, including his latest, Art Official Age, released on September 30, 2014.

13. Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.

14. He has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award.

15. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year of his eligibility.

16. Rolling Stone has ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

17. Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Mattie Della (Shaw) and John Lewis Nelson. His parents were both African-American and his family ancestry is centered in Louisiana, with all four of his grandparents hailing from the state.

18. Prince's father was a pianist and songwriter.

19. His mother was a jazz singer.

20. Prince was named after his father, whose stage name was Prince Rogers, and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio.

21. In a 1991 interview with A Current Affair, Prince's father said that "I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do".

22. Prince's childhood nickname was Skipper.

23. In a PBS interview, Prince told Tavis Smiley that he was "born epileptic" and "used to have seizures" when he was young. During the interview, he also said: "My mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, 'Mom, I'm not going to be sick anymore,' and she said, 'Why?' and I said, 'Because an angel told me so'."

24. Prince's sister Tika Evene (usually called Tyka) was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father.

25. Prince wrote his first tune, "Funk Machine", on his father's piano when he was seven.

26. When Prince was ten years old, his parents separated. Following the separation, Prince constantly switched homes, sometimes living with his father, and sometimes with his mother and stepfather.

27. Finally he moved into the home of neighbors, the Andersons, and befriended their son, Andre Anderson, who later became known as André Cymone.

28. Prince and Anderson joined Prince's cousin, Charles Smith, in a band called Grand Central while they were attending Minneapolis's Central High School.

29. Prince played piano and guitar for the band which performed at clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area.

30. Grand Central later changed its name to Champagne and started playing original music influenced by Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Miles Davis, Parliament-Funkadelic, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Todd Rundgren.

31. Prince also played basketball in high school.

32. Prince resides near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

33. Over the years Prince has been romantically linked with many celebrities, including Kim Basinger, Madonna, Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn Fenn, and Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6.

34. Prince was engaged to Susannah Melvoin in 1985.

35. He married his backup singer and dancer, Mayte Garcia, on Valentine's Day, 1996.

36. They had a son, Boy Gregory (born October 16, 1996), who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome and died a week after birth.

37. Prince and Mayte divorced in 1999.

38. In 2001, Prince married Manuela Testolini in a private ceremony. Testolini filed for divorce in May 2006.

39. He also had a short-term relationship with protégée Bria Valente in 2007.

40. Prince became a member of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 following a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow Jehovah's Witness, musician Larry Graham. Prince said he didn't consider it a conversion, but a "realization"; "It's like Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix," he explained. He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and occasionally knocks on people's doors to discuss his faith.

41. Prince is vegan.

42. The liner notes for his album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic featured a message about the cruelty involved in wool production.

43. In addition to his singing abilities (which encompass a wide range from falsetto to baritone and rapid, flamboyant shifts of register, as well as diverse characterisation) Prince is one of pop music's most prominent multi-instrumentalists.

44. The precise number of instruments he is capable of playing remains obscure, partly due to the active mythologizing of his abilities and working practices (such as the claim that he had played "all 27 instruments" on his debut album, which appears to have included various different kinds of guitar, keyboard and synthesizer in the total).

45. As a live performer he tends to focus on guitar, piano, lead vocals and occasional harmonica.

46. On recordings he has also played assorted keyboards and synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, various percussion instruments and saxophone, as well as mastering both drum and synthesizer programming.

47. Prince has mentioned learning and performing simple parts on particular instruments that he does not otherwise play (such as concert harp) in order to serve song arrangements on albums.

48. Certified Platinum by the RIAA, Emancipation is the first record featuring covers by Prince of songs of other artists: Joan Osborne's top ten hit song of 1995 "One of Us"; "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and Linda Creed); "I Can't Make You Love Me" (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid); and "La-La (Means I Love You)" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart).

49. In 2002, Prince released his first live album, One Nite Alone... Live!, which features performances from the One Nite Alone...Tour.

50. On February 8, 2004, Prince appeared at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles. In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Knowles performed a medley of "Purple Rain", "Let's Go Crazy", "Baby I'm a Star", and Knowles' "Crazy in Love".

Source: Wikipedia.org