Talk:Prince (musician)/Archive 1

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Information about his son--- I believe this entry, found on the Social Security Death Index, may be Prince's infant son: GREGORY N ROGERS, (born) 01 Apr 1996 & (died) 04 Sep 1996, Minnesota. (Minnesota is the state where the death certificate is issued and the time frame fits with the child's birth.) Leaving it here in case a more confident person wants to add it to the article.

Unsure of community feeling on this as I'm so new to wiki I don't even have a username yet, but shouldn't "Many critics regard the quality and versatility of Prince's music as being indicative of musical genius." be reworded to something more factual, i mean, many critics regard MC Hammer as genius but that don't make it so... the sentence just feels a bit lame to me.. 2.28am, 11 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Should we separate out Prince's discography and/or singles into their own article since they are so large? MistaTee 14:15, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

We need more pics. I've put pics up in the Controversy section, anyone else wanna do the rest? M.C. Brown Shoes 05:27, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure his Minneapolis band was "94 East", not "94 West". I've got a 94 East CD with Prince and Andre Cymone on it. Allmusic has an entry for "94 East" that links to Prince, a discography,etc. but not "94 West". Therefore I am updating the page.

"In 2003, Prince's lawyer, Londell Macmillan, confirmed his client had joined the Jehovah's Witnesses and that the star was "very committed" to them."

What the Fk? seriously? i thought the guy liked sex.

Tafkap

FWIW, on TAFKAP as a verbal form (change from initialism to acronym).

• TAFKAP isn't an initialism like FBI or BBC, "an unpronounced string of initial letters", because no one ever refers to him as "T-A-F-K-A-P"
• TAFKAP isn't an acronym, like radar or Interpol, "a word made from the 'high parts' of a phrase", because no one ever calls him "Tafkap" either.

It's the unphonetic "K" that is the stopper, I'd guess.

I'm pretty sure it's really just a joke a few journalists made. The true short form of "the artist formerly known as Prince" was "The Artist". Small matter, and I'm not advocating changing it back or eliminating it.Ortolan88

It probably was a joke started by journalists, but AFAIK so was "the artist formerly known as Prince" , since he himself wished to be known as the symbol. Whether "tafkap" should remain in the article or not, it is an acronym: they're not necessarily phonetic. -- Tarquin

He is now presumably THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE....

• So we should call him Tafkatafkap now?

I always thought it was a shame that TAFKAP never played in FYROM.

I seem to remember the "Tafkap" word originating during his appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell show, and he was very annoyed that she called him that. I never heard it used anywhere else. I say remove it.

It's a bit weird that Prince's life is now reported almost day to day while past years are just short summaries... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.216.244.117 (talk) 23:53, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Headline text

I'm not sure who started "the artist" bit. We should keep looking on that one.

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The very first use of "The Artist" was AFAIK at the "Emancipation Proclamation" concert in Paisley Park in October 1996 that was broadcast by MTV (et al): Prince was introduced backstage to reporters at an improvised "press conference" as "The Artist" by one of his employees.

The first mention of "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" in google groups dates back to early 1994, and was occasionally used in promotional material. I recall that the single for TMBGITW had a sticker featuring these words. Mind you, L. Londell McMillan, Prince's lawyer in 199, didn't seem to really understand it: "Please be advised that I am legal counsel to NPG Records, Paisley Park Enterprises, the Artist formerly known as O(+> (the "Artist")". You can read the text of one of the first emails here: [1]

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However, three unabridged dictionaries, Websters, Random House, and Oxford English Dictionary, all say that an acronym is a word and an initialism is not. Since an acronym is a word, it must be pronounceable. No one ever pronounced AFAIK either, as far as I know, but people aren't necessarily consistent about this. By my rule, TLA isn't an acronym either. As I said, I'm only theoretically interested, and TAFKAP can stay for whatever entertainment value it adds. Ortolan88

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Everything I've read says that Prince's mother was white, but his father was not and that he identifies himself as an African-American. What source for recent change that states his mother was African-American? Ortolan88

Ortolan88, For some reason I had the impression that she was of West Indian origin, possibly ethnically mestiza, but I admittedly can't find any sources to confirm this. Cobra libre 20:08, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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RE: 'the artist' - I recall his discussion of this on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She asked him the original of TAFKAP and he stated that it was pinned on him by the media when he changed his name to the symbol used during his period of rebellion from his record label. He liked it, and when she asked what people call him these days he said "Prince, or The Artist...or Sir. I like "The Artist."

RE: his nationality or racial origin...I changed the text to read "He is an African American" instead of "he idntifies himself as an..." When a person states what their racial origin is, it is very disrespectful to refer to them by anything else. The phrasing seemed to suggest that his choice of identification was in question or in doubt, when it is, by his own public statement, a fact. Minor change with great implications of respect. -EB-

No, racial heritage is a matter of fact, not a matter of opinion. He is not wholly of African origin, and thus to say otherwise is a lie. - Khendon 16:31 Oct 9, 2002 (UTC)

Khendon, you will note that the article (A) does not say that Prince is "wholly of African origin" but (B) mentions a white parent. What more do you want?

The Baptist Church I sometimes attend is mostly black, but some of the parishioners are very light-skinned -- and one fellow is apparently an albino. I daresay even the light-skinned and the albino think of themselves as African-American (if they are race-conscious at all). What is this focus on race about, anyway? Shall I start signing myself, "Ed Poor, who thinks he's white"? Get a grip, y'all.

--Ed Poor

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In Per Nilsen book Prince: The First Decade - Dancemusicsexromance. Discuss interviews band members, producers, friends, formers lovers and associates. There an artical about when he was growning up: He was always shy and very quiet and liked his music a lot, but he had a hard time at school and at home. He was always bullied at school. Every day the bigger kids would wait for him. They used to jeer at him because he was so short and had a Italian background... All the misery made him even more of a loner. He knows what it's like to be hurt.

In an interview dated back 6th June 1981. Three weekly music papers in the UK, New Musical Express, Melody Maker and Sounds, all publish interviews with Prince. It was quite obvious that Prince didn't like being interviewed. Responses to questions about his childhood and musical influences were very guarded, and he wasn't overly expansive about his writing, thoogh he claimed that all his lyrics were drawn from personal experiences. Prince has stated that his family background are from lineage. His father is black part Italian and his mother Italian with other origin.

--Silent hill

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The topic of personal racial identification is a new one, but one that is very imortant in a world of changing social morale. Because we are living in a time when any combination of racial backgrounds is possible, it is important that we allow people to choose their own "personal identification." As such, it is very disrespectful to not allow individuals to make that choice for themself. Feminists believe that when you deny an individual the right to define themself in this nature, you are invalidating their racial history and disrespecting them as a human person. (These ideals also extend into the concept of sexual identity, as people in the gay community struggle to define themself as "queer," "transgendered" or what have you.)

The point of this posting is to clarify why I edited the phrasing of Prince's chosen racial ID. It doesn't matter what it "sounds" like his race is to you, to me, to anyone else. The only thing that matters, in a world of respect for racial difference and integrity, is what he choses to indetify as. That, as we know, is African American. Since it seemed unacceptable to someone for it to simply say "He is an African American," (and because that person consequently changed my change because they apparently don't understand this concept,) I have put the current phrasing in the entry. -EB-

I agree. In fact, unless someone is suggesting that Prince is not African-American -- in other words, that there is a public issue of what his "real" race is -- I think we should revert to simply saying he's African-American. --Ed Poor

Willie Perryman, or Piano Red, and his brother, Rufus Perryman, or Speckled Red, both albinos, both pianists, were both emphatically and unmistakably African American cultural icons, to me at least. Shameful as it may seem, "this focus on race" is an important, nay, key feature of American culture and politics and should not be ignored. This is part of the heritage of the "one drop of black blood" myth. Many Americans, not at all black, or even dark, who could "pass for white" choose not to do so, and voluntarily, proudly, "identify" themselves as African American. I would love someday to meet my black cousins in Mississippi (long kept a secret from me, I was delighted when I was finally told) and find out what they think. They are descendants of my Serbian American great great grandfather.

But then there's Johnny Otis, born Veliotis, of Greek descent, who completely identified with African Americans, and Doug Sahm who was so involved with Mexican Americans and their music that he picked up a Mexican name, Douglas Saldana. I don't know where you'd put them, but they are certainly people I admire whose cultural identifications and choices were reflected in their music. Ortolan88

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Folks, please keep in mind that this dichotomization of BLACK / WHITE is largely a USA phenomenon. Many other countries and past cultures manage(d) just fine without it.

Well, bully for you and them. This is an important part of our culture (and therefore your culture too, wherever you may be from, since our culture has exported so very well). Without the black contribution there would hardly be an American culture at all. It is also a part of our politics, deeply embedded, that we have struggled to deal with for centuries. We won't forget about it, no matter how often we are chided by anonymous remarks. Ortolan88

Sorry, that got misunderstood. I didn't mean that there weren't important contributions by people from many regions, nor that this wasn't important in US history and politics, nor to advocate forgetting any of this. I just want to emphasize that these are artificial or constructed categories rather than graven in stone. Have a good one.

At least I left the sarcastic part out. Here is my own motto, Langston Hughes's short poem, "Motto", very African American and also very American:

I stay cool, and dig all jive,

That's the way I stay alive.

My motto, as I live and learn, is

Dig and be dug, in return.

Ortolan88

Amen, brother. :-)

Orto, I think what our unsigned guest meant was that in other cultures, whether someone is black or white wouldn't be seen as crucial information in an article -- the exception would be if it had some bearing on their achievements, eg, say, Nelson Mandela. -- Tarquin

Yes. He left me a nice note, signed "Anonymous", on my talk page. That's why I put the poem in here. On the other hand, and obviously this is not the place to discuss it, there *is* racism in other countries besides ours, and there was (and is) slavery. It's just that I believe what Miles Davis said, "They ought to give every black person a medal for putting up with all that sh*t." Or, as Colin Powell put it, "When you're black, you're black all day." I'll forego my further thoughts except to say that black people have treated America much better than America has treated black people, but most of us, white and black, don't like it that way.Ortolan88

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I don't think this should be in the article but I feel the need to add it somewhere. The show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue once composed the limerick

An artist who was once known as Prince

On the stage he would wiggle and mince

And then, for a giggle,

He changed his name to a squiggle

And nobody's heard of him since

-- User:GWO

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There is nothing wrong with colorful phrasing, particularly in an article about Prince. I'm taking out "very talented" and putting back "crackerjack", defined in Webster's New Collegiate as "a person or thing of particular excellence" and in use in English since 1894. Ortolan88

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Removed "Minneapolis Midget". I searched Google and found 3650 hits under the string "Minneapolis" and or "midget" and not a one included a reference to Prince. The article already gives his height and place of origin. Ortolan88

Perhaps you misspelled one of your search keys, I get distinct hits referring to The Artist when searching for Minneapolis + Midget + Prince or "Minneapolis Midget". branko

Okay, searched again, and found a couple, but don't you think its in bad taste? If you want to leave it in, it should be properly formatted, should be in bold and moved up to the first sentence or other discussion where his name is discussed. It still sets my teeth on edge. Ortolan88

You're probably right, but although I could find evidence that this is a name used for Prince, I could not find any evidence of people finding the name insulting. I can imagine that they do find it insulting, but my imagination does not a Wikipedia article make. If you can rephrase it so that it is still factual, please go ahead. branko

How would you like it if someone said you were from Minneapolis? Perhaps it is affectionate badinage. I will probably reword it a bit. None of the Google hits seemed mean, so maybe I am too sensitive.

Incidentally, speaking of Minneapolis, I have a bet with myself that both Prince and The Replacements could probably come up with a pretty good polka on demand, since all midwestern bands that play out at all have to be able to play a polka, and they must have, in their younger years, had to do so too. That sensitive little guy, Ortolan88 22:37 Oct 29, 2002 (UTC)

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The link to the symbol doesnt work. Should there be a picture of a glyph in the article itself? Logotu 17:49 19 May 2003 (UTC)

why no reference to his genuine nicknames, "the purple one" and "his royal badness"? searching google for "minneapolis midget" + prince, there was virtually nothing -- Jacob B

Hello Jacob,

If you know some facts about the subject, just add them to the article. There is no need to clear it here. :-) branko 16:07, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Portait of the Artist?

Anyone have an uncopyrighted image of Prince that could be used on the article?

List of hits

Is it relevant to include a list of his hits? This list are UK hits, but why UK hits and not US hits, or ...

Black Album?

In 1987 Prince recorded The Black Album, a funky album whose erotically charged lyrics were considered so blatant, Prince decided not to officially release it.

I remember that the black album was withdrawn by Prince because of the car accident at the time, and the fact that he didn't want to be remembered by the hard edged funk and lyrics that this album represented. He therefor withdrew the album and released the spiritual Lovesexy (I haven't read my Per Nil(l)son history book lately :). Anyone else remember this?BFunk 14:12, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

TBA wasn't supposed to be a major Prince release, it was supposed to just arrive in record stores without much info. However, about a week before the release Prince did XTC and had a bad trip that he mistook for a spiritual revelation, and ordered WB to halt the release. Immediately after he started work on Lovesexy. 80.201.62.197 09:31, 14 March 2006 (UTC)Bart

A contributor on 9 August added: "Two English bootleggers were imprisoned in 1990 for trying to release a CD entitled "Mandingo - Songs for Tribes" which was actually a poorly disguised version of The Black Album." What a complete joke -- especially the "mandingo" part -- but it persisted until now. It's not sourced and google finds nothing, so I'm deleting it. It seems amazing that this joke lasted more than 3 months! Cancerward 00:31, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

I have moved the release year of The Black Album to 1994, the year is was officially released. Ronald W. (talk) 20:51, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Edits.

Hey... What happened to a lot of interesting information that was in this article the last time I read it? Specifically a lot more text about the symbol. Sippan

Personal info

I read this article the other night and was surprised to not find much personal info. A lot of the article has to do with Prince's carreer but hardly any about his personal life. Weren't there two women who he was supposedly dating at the same time in some sort of polyamorous relationship? There's nothing about that. I don't know, I just thought that if someone knew something about the man, and not the artist, it would be good to include it. Dismas 03:09, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

There should be some mention of his second home in Toronto, cuz his wife is Canadian I believe. It's well documented that he lives on the Bridal Path and is known to visit a certain downtown nightclub (can't remember the name) on a regular basis. He has his own private room at the club, sometimes he's known to DJ and spin some tracks at this club. It was reported in the Toronto Star in this feature story a year or two ago. --Madchester 21:24, 2005 Jun 7 (UTC)

Also, the fact that he is a Jehovah's Witness who prostelitizes house to house (or has at least once) like the rest of them may be of interest to many readers. ZacharyS 03:46, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

I would like to know about his supposed basketball skills --Sirkeg 04:25, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I was thinking about this as well. The Chappelle's Show skit was supposedly true and even before this episode aired, I was told that Prince was a Minnesota All-State Basketball player. Can anyone confirm this?--Brandon 20:17, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

He has a court in Paisley Park, other than that I can't recall anything in any books saying that. Darrenhusted 09:08, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Here is a link to an article by Sway Calloway regarding an interview he had with Prince a little after Musicology came out - http://www.mtv.com/bands/p/prince/news_feature_040428/ In the interview, Prince says that the Charlie Murphy story is somewhat true in that they did play basketball, but that the they didn't play in their stage clothes. He also added that them whupping Murphy's team is true.

There is no mention of Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson anywhere in this biography. You sure that "Shenika" is the right name. I believe it should be replaced with Tyka Nelson, whom herself had a solo album in 1988, and a hit single "Marc Anthony's Tune" SME

Jehovah's Witness info?

So Prince is a JW--can someone who knows a little bit add this to the article? How did he come to be one? Is he cleaning up his image/concerts because of it, or not? --Locarno 14:00, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

I'm sure I remember hearing that he's no longer a JW, and hasn't been for a few months. I think his JWisation was largely a result of Larry Graham's influence. Has it changed his concerts? You bet it has. They no longer contain swearing, or overtly sexual material. Rather than drop explicit songs from his set, he has committed the gross offence of cleaning them up and changing them - the unfortunate and inevitable result is that he now serves up Prince-Lite at gigs. If his faith has indeed been renounced, then perhaps this may change again.Lianachan 00:50, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

It is hard to believe he ever was a JW. He would not be involved with the music business if that were true. The elders would already have disfellowshiped him! JWs are about analizing why you do things, why would he be involved in something that puts him at risk of sin.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.143.244.238 (talk • contribs) .

He supposedly became a JW in the year 2000. He no longer performs his old "sinful" material. matt kane's brain 12:18, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

There are numerous examples of JWs in good standing in the music business. Stanley Lieber 22:12, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

This is why I hardly ever use wikipedia, because any fool can write whatever he or she wants to. This page reads like a rumor mill. For example, I "heard" that Prince slapped Sinead O'Connor across the face because she took a song he wrote to #1 on the charts, the famous, "Nothing Compares to You," while it didn't even crack the top 40 when he recorded the song. It appears he was mad and jealous. She cried. Come on! Do you think I'm gonna write him a piece of "fan" mail, asking him if that was a true story? Much more believable is the following story: The elders talked to him about avoiding the "showiness of display of one's means of life," in other words, he was drawing attention to himself by attending meetings in a limo. So he started driving a car to the local Kingdom Hall but got lost because he never paid attention when his limo driver drove him to the meetings. Ha, ha! Actually, both George Benson and Larry Graham have served as elders, regular pioneers (full time volunteer ministers), and still participate in the music scene, although Mr. Benson is more musically active than Mr. Graham. I personally don't care too much for the type of music Mr. Benson produces or for funk rock such as produced by Sly the the Family Stone but who cares? Both Mr. Benson and Mr. Graham have fine reputations among Jehovah's Witnesses. Prince is a newbie and his spiritual maturity will become manifest as time goes on. I was once a superbozo Jehovah's Witness too. Now, I'm not even a regular bozo Jehovah's Witness! I'm purposely remaining anonymous because I don't want to get "punished" by the elders. You know how "anal retentive" God's people are. Hey, wasn't it the Pharisees that started calling Jesus' disciples "Jesus freaks?" Your guess is as good as mine! By the way, it was Larry Graham that studied the Bible with Prince. The resurrection hope made a big impact on him because he was thinking of seeing his little daughter alive again post Armageddon. (Job 14, Daniel 12, John 5, etc.)

Discography Tables

I've arranged the albums and singles into tables - I hope these prove to be more organized and readable for people. In addition, I discovered that almost all of his singles have their own pages (especially his early ones) and were not included in his discography listing, so I have added them. One thing I would love to see is his US R&B Chart peaks added as a column to the singles table. Prince has an extensive history on the R&B chart, especially with his earlier singles, which (as of now) have a lot of dashes (no Hot 100, Dance Chart or UK Chart activity). I think its important to showcase his early success on the R&B chart. Anyone have that info? I know there is a Joel Whitburn Billboard book for R&B stats... someone out there has to own it, right? -- eo 02:01, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

I have an issue of Billboard magazine where the #1 single was A Whole New World by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle and ranked at #2, was the single 7. As far as I know, Prince reached #2 with one of the shortest titles in Billboard history and Fred Bronson, who did chart beat commented that it was the shortest single to reach #2. 7 peaked at #2 and not #7. I suggest you check the archives again.

You may want to re-check that chart. I don't know what magazine or specific chart you were looking at, but on the single week "A Whole New World" was number one on the Hot 100 (6 March 1993), the number two song was "I Will Always Love You." "7" was at number eleven that week, having dropped from its peak of number seven. -- eo 01:19, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

I went back to the magazine and found that 7 peaked at #2. It peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 Singles chart. I have the actual hot 100 single chart right now and it shows that it peaked at #2.

You may be looking at another chart, like the sales or airplay or r&b chart, but you are absolutely not looking at the Hot 100 Singles chart. "7" peaked at #7 on the Hot 100, not #2.

I didn't find anywhere the Musicology album —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.96.84.249 (talk) 12:12, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Change of lables

The single te amo corazon was released trough universal records not sony -Elpaisa1 by the way is there a reason why prince is not gonna release his next album with sony?

what happen?

SO WHAT HAPPEN TO HIS FIRST MARRIAGE SHE WAS PREGANT AND RUMORED TO BE STILL BORN COULD ANYONE FILL IN. DOES PRINCE HAVE CHILDREN BY EVER WIFES.

Does Prince ever change this page himself?

He's on the web, he HAS to know about Wikipedia.

If he knew about this article, do you think he would leave it as incomplete as it is now without editing it? Street walker 05:44, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Knowing Prince, he'd probably delete the entire thing.

Jehovah's Witness status

Being a Jehovah's Witness myself I have heard rumors that prince is or was one of my religion, however that's all they were, rumors. The article itself makes no mention of the specific religion that Prince is a part of, only that he is somewhat religious and christian. If he is a Jehovah's Witness, there should be a small section added about it. If no information can be found about this, to substantiate the rumor, Prince should be taken out of the Jehovah's Witness category.

Discography

Is it necessary to have a mini discography in this article and a full featured article Prince discography? Shouldn't we remove the discography part here so that only 1 article has to be edited? warpozio 12:52, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Makes sense to me... either just put a wikilink or at the very least get rid of the table and perhaps have a small plain-text/bullet list of some of his big pop hits. -- eo 15:56, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I know for a fact he's attended some meetings and conventions. But I don't think he's really all that devout. Not after the video I just watched on VH1 a few minutes ago.

Gender Identification

The first paragraph states something along the lines of "there are many rumors about Prince's racial and gender identification..." The paragraph then goes on to talk about his ethnicity, but his "gender identification" is never mentioned again. I don't feel comfortable correcting this myself, but shouldn't this reference to gender identification be removed, unless of course, more is added to the paragraph about the issue? madelinerock, 26 March 2006

Wait a minute. The gender identification is much needed because of Prince using symbols resembling that of the transgendered and combining Mars and Venus symbols as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.174.137.132 (talk) 16:58, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

The part about numbers

This section makes no sense and was already removed. What is the meaning behind it? Not only is it an incomplete list of references to numbers but there is no explanation as to why its included. Is it numerology? Does Prince believe in the power of certain numbers? What are his beliefs in the significance of "7" or "17", etc? As is, the section is a complete disconnect to the rest of the article's content. -- eo 18:13, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. The topic should be expanded or left off the article. MistaTee 14:57, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Mayte

How come his marriage to Mayte and his late son from that marriage isn't mentioned in the article, while it is mentioned in the article on Mayte? After all, 'Emancipation' was in good part about Mayte and her and Prince's then unborn child, so it's well worth mentioning, if only in briefly...--217.229.84.197 23:36, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

About the Symbol

I think it should be a bit more consistent. I mean, it one point he is refered exclusivly as the symbol, then he is again called Prince, until he changes the name back. Lordz 12:49, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

I replaced the occurences of Prince with File:Prince symbol.svg during the part of the article which refers to the time when he was named File:Prince symbol.svg. Jonas Viper 02:52, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Frankly -- well, you didn't ask for my frank opinion. But it looks hilarious. Or possibly sad. --Dhartung | Talk 19:20, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

So? It's still correct. His name wasn't Prince it was File:Prince symbol.svg at that time. It looks sad? Who cares? Aeneiden-Rex 07:43, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I also think it looks hilarious. But more importantly, does it bring Wikipedia into disrepute? Perhaps on the grounds of rabid pedantry or mere legibility. --Whophd 04:27, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

If you want guidance think of Muhammad Ali or Yusef Islam, it's the same as referring to them by different names during their careers. Darrenhusted 10:32, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I think we should replace most occurences of the symbol to Prince. Just because someone refers to themself differently doesn't mean that they literally become a different person. Currently the article looks very unprofessional--it's the sort of thing a fansite would do, but not an independent authority on the subject. People will understand that Prince was not referred to as Prince as long as we mention the fact. Looking at that part of the article, it seems that the symbol is used excessively--I believe there are instances where a pronoun would function quite well enough. Also, is it necessary for the symbol to have a black background? It distracts from the text around it. It would be better if the symbol were black on a transparent background or perhaps if we used an ASCII representation in the article with a larger picture on the side of the actual symbol. Theshibboleth 18:09, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

This is ridicules, absolutely ridicules. You guys should just say 'Prince' and that's it. Reading this article, with this silly symbol every 3 words, just makes me say "F**k, I'll never listen to this guy, ever". # Ido50 (talk to me), at 22:39, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Ditto (except for the not listening to his music). Let's change it all to Prince. JCO312 22:54, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Also, his name was never "File:Prince symbol.svg." He may have recorded under that symbol, but his legal name remained Prince Rogers Nelson. JCO312 22:56, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Use the symbol only once or twice as necessary to illustrate that it was used to refer to him, not throughout the article. It detracts from the article's readability and is extremely repetitive. --209.180.252.22 06:07, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I changed the symbol to his name per the views expressed above. Whatever he was releasing his music as, his name was always Prince, and I think it looks a lot better this way. JCO312 13:55, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

That's much better. # Ido50 (talk to me), at 10:57, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Clean-up?

I'm no expert on Prince, but this entry reads like fanboy cruft. Many sentences are poorly constructed, there seems to be random formatting strewn throughout, and a large number of claims should definitely have some citation.

The "protegees and associates" sections seems kind of worthless as well. Protegees, I think, would be a valid category as they were a major vehicle for Prince releasing his work, but when it's a list that long and it has Vanity mixed in with Stevie Nicks, it seems to kind of lose any sort of meaning. Atomly 23:26, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you, especially regarding the "protogees and associates" list. It seems every day someone adds a new name to it. -- eo 00:18, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I made a change in part of a sentence in the Chaos and Disorder section: In a press conference stating that he was now free from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he formally reverted to his original name, which helped stem the tide of (not 'open the door to')endless "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" digs,... though it seems he'll never quite outlive that succinctly derogatory moniker.

Am I wrong or didn't reverting his name to the pronounceable 'Prince' begin to STOP rather than open the door to all the digs about 'the Artist Formerly Known as Prince'? Now people could go back to calling him Prince again, no need for the clumsy moniker. AndoDoug 03:40, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

The section on the 94 East recordings seems very POV - for some reason he has never acknowledged it as his first album, it says - perhaps because it's old recordings not released at the time, only much much later when he was famous to cash in? Scatterkeir 16:12, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Prince and the Simpsons

Does this really merit its own section? Prince has never been directly involved with the show, nor has the Simpsons given any special attention to him... at least no more than any other artist whose name pops up in a reference or is used as background music. The section doesn't seem to add anything to this article. Any thoughts? -- eo 16:52, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I would say get rid of it. Kevin143 04:31, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm removing it. Prince is an icon, his name is mentioned all over the place, not just The Simpsons. If enough people revolt then put it back but otherwise the section is completely out of place. -- eo 10:52, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

What about My Name Is Bart? The version of My Name Is Prince done for The Simpsons with a Bart Simpson lead vocal? Lianachan 19:47, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Peace symbol bliss

If your browser does not display the ☮ peace symbols in this article, please read my explanations to a baffled user. All Mac OS X browsers work natively. On Windows XP, Firefox works but may require installing East-Asian fonts. IE6 fails even with proper fonts. Your Linux mileage may vary. -- JFG 04:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

"Associates"?

what exactly is the criteria for this list? REM? Semisonic? Eve (yes, I know she was on Rave)? And Sinead O'Connor may have covered one of his songs but the two are anything but associates. --Jamieli 14:20, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Yep - that section is completely out of control and has been mentioned before (see "clean-up?" section above). -- eo 14:46, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I trimmed it down and put up a note for the section (MistaTee 15:58, 1 May 2006 (UTC))

Child?

I heard a while ago that he had a deformed child Gregory who died shortly after birth. I don't know if this a rumor or what. Does anyone have any information about it?--Carmilla 22:34, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

His infant son did die shortly after birth but I've never heard anything about him being deformed. -- eo 22:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I found this thru a Google search. The death of a child is very significant to anyone's life... this should probably be added into the article somewhere. -- eo 22:47, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was move, consistency. —Nightstallion (?) 09:06, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Proposal  :	Prince (artist) → Prince (musician)
Rationale :	More appropriate disambiguation; "artist" as disambiguation identifies painters etc.
Proposer :	David Kernow 14:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Survey and discussion

Please add * Support or * Oppose followed by a brief explanation, then sign your vote using "76.237.177.169 05:57, 4 September 2007 (UTC)".

• Support as nom. David Kernow 14:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• Weak Oppose. I understand (artist), as he was for a time known as "The Artist", although if we want to be uniform with the way other musicians are listed then (musician) is ok too. (artist) is just a personal preference; ultimately either way is fine. -- eo 15:04, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

  I've counted this as a neutral, okay? —Nightstallion (?) 09:06, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

• Support per nom. This is more accurate, and much more standard practice throughout wikipedia.--Esprit15d 18:45, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• Support per nomination. AjaxSmack 19:07, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• Support. Olessi 20:17, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose Although Prince is best known for his music, he has also acted in many films and produced some of his own too. He has also produced albums for other people - you wouldn't call someone who only produces music a musician. Jonnyrider 13:47, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose Prince is too versatile in his contributions to the art world to be regarded solely as a musician. ViceroyInterus 02:01, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
• I'm suggesting "(musician)" as more appropriate for the purposes of disambiguation – not description – than "(artist)", as "(artist)" appears to be used in Wikipedia to disambiguate painters and the like. Regards, David Kernow 02:31, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Funk Metal

I'm a little uncomfortable with people using the term "funk-metal" to describe Prince; certainly that term didn't really exist until the breakout of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who had much, much more heavy metal in their music than Prince did. Although there were elements of metal in Prince's music, these were in fact mild; they're pretty much limited to his guitar solos, which can recall metal virtuosos like Van Halen and Jimmy Page, but aren't especially prominent in most of his music, good though they are. The closest he came to really being influenced by metal was Purple Rain, and even there there's much more reliance on general pop/rock and funk than there is on metal or any particular fusion of funk and metal. I see "funk-metal" as being a deliberate, obvious fusion of the two--a style that basically just adds slap bass to basic metal and punk songs and is limited to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and their imitators. While you could indeed point to elements of both funk (obviously) and metal (less obviously) in Prince's music, you'd be hard-pressed to find any song or a significant number of songs that could be easily labelled as "funk-metal" in the vein of the RHCP, since Prince's music is much wider-ranging and more innovative than the artists who originally got the "funk-metal" label. In other words, I think it's a simplification and potentially demeaning--any of his songs with funk influences and metal-ish guitars have a lot more going on in them than just a simple genre mash-up, which is basically what funk-metal is. This being said, I'm going to remove that from his list of genres, which I don't think is a particularly controversial move since putting the rather specific "funk-metal" next to "funk" "pop" and "dance" makes it seem even more incongruous and it's not an illuminating or accurate characterization of even a few of his songs.

Mass renaming of Singles by artist into Songs by artist

In a recent mass renaming of categories, we renamed nearly every category of Singles by artist into the appropriate subcategory of Songs by artist. We did not immediately rename the few categories in which there was a large number of both singles and non-singles separated, just to make sure there was no absolutely pressing reason that fans of those few acts (the Beach Boys, the Beatles, David Bowie, Green Day, Nirvana, Oasis, Prince, Radiohead) wanted the singles by artist category kept. So one last chance: Does anyone think that category:Prince singles shouldn't be merged into category:Prince songs, as all the others except the ones listed have?--Mike Selinker 08:54, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Keep

I vote to keep the "singles" category. Prince's list of songs would be huge, and it's nice to separate singles out, especially since there's a nice "singles" infobox available. Also, there's a separate list of Prince B-sides that has potential to become pretty large as well. Why not keep it separate.--MistaTee 21:08, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

• Well, the reason would be that we just deleted the Singles category for 150 other artists. My goal was to find out if there was anything Prince fans felt was special about the Prince categories that makes them more useful than they would be for, say, Elvis Presley.--Mike Selinker 22:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Images

Is there an actual symbol for unicode in that? I don't like the fact that there's an image being used to represent words. Read Talk:'M --FlareNUKE 07:10, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if there is one, but that symbol image has been there for a long time. I'd wait for editor consensus before changing the entire article. -- eo 20:51, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Hip replacement

Has he had the operation yet?

Message from website in return of Prince section

In my opinion, this should not be quoted verbatim in the article. It should be summarized and perhaps a small and pithy quotation should be taken from it. The extensive primary source quotation really interrupts the flow of the text and gives undue weight to the website message. savidan^{(talk) (e@)} 19:23, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Minor review

I initiated a minor review here because I personally am unable to fix a few things that need to be fixed in this article and have persisted for a long time. I hope that one of the perrenial contributors to this page will be able to address them. Peace, savidan^{(talk) (e@)} 19:40, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Genres

Do all those genres really need to be listed in the infobox? WesleyDodds 11:32, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes he's not just a funk artist, if it stands just 'funk' it would be wrong information Aeneiden-Rex 14:06, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Getting Divorced?

This is apparently not just a rumor, Prince might just be getting divorced, according to this column in the Mpls Star-Tribune:

[2] --Lovelinelistener 00:41, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Purple Reign?

Did the "Purple Reign" really last from 1982-1993??? Shouldn't that section be divided in at least two sections?? Didn't the Purple Reign start first in 1984?? Aeneiden-Rex 14:10, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree. We should have new sections: 1978-1983; 1984-1988; 1989-1993. --Jsl83 13:13, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I changed the sections, is it ok now? Aeneiden-Rex 09:41, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Legally Blind?

This article says that "It is a well kept secret that Prince has been legally blind since birth, but due to a highly accute sense of hearing, Prince is able to see the world through a sort of radar that he developed at the Minneapolis school for the blind."

this just sounds like a crock. is there ANY source on this?

I have seen him wear glasses, and you can be labelled "blind" even if you can see but your vision is badly impaired. But seeing how I'm not his optician I don't think it should be on there. Darrenhusted 09:07, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

That does sound kind of strange, like the part where it make him sound like a super hero. unless someone can find a source it should be removed.Anthraxrulz 09:53, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

It's been removed now anyway so this discussion is moot. Darrenhusted 16:45, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, I wouldn't be abject to refering to Prince as a superhero. But hearsay isnt for the wiki, so out with the blind stuff, and the hero stuff.

Prince's Italian Ancestry: Noted

"Prince: The Secret Life of America's Sexiest One-Man Band" by, Debby Miller, . Rolling Stone (April 28, 1983): 18-23+.

Full Article

His father, John Nelson, was a musician himself -- a piano player in a jazz band by night, a worker at Honeywell, the electronics company, by day. Nelson is black and Italian; his ex-wife, says Prince of his mother, "is a mixture of a bunch of things." Onstage, the father was called Prince Rogers, and that is what he named his son, Prince Rogers Nelson.

Which would, subsequently, make him Afro-Italian. Relir 15:08, 16 September 2006 (EST)

No, an Afro-Italian would be an Italian of African descent (or possibly an African of Italian descent). It's unlikely that any of Prince's black ancestors ever set foot in Italy, or his Italian ones in Africa, so Afro-Italian is a ludicrous term to use here.--MartinUK (talk) 15:45, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Super Bowl XLI

Does anyone know the circumstances behind Prince being chosen for Super Bowl XLI? No, i dont. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.75.180.31 (talk) 19:17, 26 January 2007 (UTC).

I have included all the NFL info on their choice in the article now.--Wowaconia 00:30, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Page protected

Due to the number of anonymous IPs vandalising this article and generally messing around, I've protected this page from non-registered users editing until further notice. It may be necessary to revert back to earlier in the day, so if any legitimate edits are removed in the process, apologies in advance. 23skidoo 01:20, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Sigh. Since the anons can't play with the article anymore, they've started to target this talk page. This, too, is now protected however I'd like to only protect this page temporarily. I only protected it because the vandalism was racist in nature and I didn't want to see it spiral out of control. 23skidoo 01:24, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, it's been a few days, so what say you, should the article page (and this talk page) be unprotected, or should we leave it on for awhile longer? 23skidoo 01:21, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

This article should be protected, Stevie Wonder's is, people come with bad intention and erase Prince's qualities, they removed the part where it said Prince is considered a music genius. --Gonzalo Priale 05:47, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

How does Dancing skill imply "Musical Genius"?

In the first paragraph, we have

Many critics have dubbed him a musical genius because of his versatility, dancing, singing skills, and ability to play various instruments.

While "musical genius" is a subjective term to begin with, and I for one would label Prince one, Dancing is not a musical skill. Dancing is a dancing skill. Suggest striking the word "Dancing". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Derekderek (talk • contribs) 18:50, 19 February 2007 (UTC).

I hear he is a great cook. What a musical genius! - eo 19:08, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

The article should mention Prince is a musical genius, you asked for the "dancing" part to be removed, but they removed the whole genius thing! It should be mentioned somewhere that he has been declared a genius by numerous artists and music critics because of his talents, considered one of the world's greatest guitarists, being able to play 27 instruments, singing, and his talents as songwriter, composer, arranger, producer. Also his showmanship. http://princetext.tripod.com/v_come.html

"Prince is a reincarnation of all the best in music. Just what the world needs now...a very controversial figure and an absolute musical genius." - Eric Clapton - Desert Island Discs/1988

"Prince is possibly the most gifted artist of the decade." - Robert Christgau - Music Critic, Village Voice/1987

--Gonzalo Priale 03:36, 15 September 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gonzalo1979 (talk • contribs)

Why so many "rumors" on this page?

If you search for the word "rumor", it comes up numerous times. Do we really need rumors about who Prince has dated, as well as other rumors, many of which are certainly not true? Isn't Wikipeida supposed to be a factual source of information? Why not just stick to commonly accepted facts instead of tabloid rumors??? Ecnirpnaf99 06:39, 12 March 2007 (UTC) what is commonly accepted is not always fact

over 1000 songs?

"having released over a thousand songs both under his own name and through other artists". Has Prince really released over 1000 songs? I doubt it...that is an average of about 33 songs a year over his entire career. Ecnirpnaf99 06:38, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

It's certainly possible. Consider in 1984, he released the album Purple Rain (9 songs). Four of the singles from the album included an unreleased B-side (4 songs). Also The Time's Ice Cream Castle was released (6 songs plus 1 B-side), Apollonia 6's album (7 songs) and Sheila E's album (6 songs). 9 + 4 + 6 + 1 + 6 + 7 + 6 = 39 in 1984 alone, and I'm probably forgetting something. In 1996 he released the Girl 6 album (3 new songs), Chaos and Disorder (10 songs) and Emancipation (36 songs) = 49. 1998 yielded Crystal Ball (30 songs), The Truth (12 songs), Kamasutra, (11 songs), Newpower Soul (11 songs) and several songs on albums by Larry Graham and Chaka Khan (probably at least 8-10 songs) = well over 70 songs. So in 3 random years he released about 160 songs. If you consider his entire career of almost 30 years, 1000+ songs is very probable.--MistaTee 01:44, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The average is what is important. Your "random" years just happen to be three of his most prolific. If you take a different three years: 1979, 1999, and 2005, you'd probably end up with 10-15 songs a year or something like that. I still doubt he has averaged 33 released songs per year since 1978. Ecnirpnaf99 14:10, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't have time to research it right now, but see the various publications by Uptown Magazine (www.uptown.se). They go into great detail about every known song with Prince involvement, both released and unreleased. If I have time over the weekend, I'll look at what I have at home and see if I can give a better number.--MistaTee 14:19, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes Uptown magazine is a great resource and maybe somewhere there is a list of all Prince's released songs that would be easy to count up. I never said categorically that there was less than 1000, but I think that is the case. I'm only interested in the truth though, so if someone wants to prove there is 1000+, that is fine with me. Ecnirpnaf99 03:40, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Would it be that hard to actually count all the songs he's released? There are the songs that appear on one of his official albums. There are some 40 of those, several of them multi-CD packs with more than 20 songs. Must be 500 songs right there. He's released several boxes of outtakes and (apparently) seven albums worth of internet-only songs. He's released some 80 singles. Then, there are B-sides and obscure promos, compilation appearances and other homeless songs. Then, there are songs for other artists, pseudonymous songs and similar obscurities. There were a lot of those in the early eighties, when Prince was hot. He's written songs for six different performers under the "Paisley Park" pseudonym alone. 1000 seems a reasonable guess. If no one can be bothered to do a proper count (oh, how the mighty have fallen, I'm old enough to remember a time when Prince had fans who actually liked him and his music and would have ENJOYED this task!), perhaps we should say "probably" more than 1000? Juryen 19:44, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Even if you take an unremarkable year like 1978, when Prince released a whole 9 songs on For You, and a major year like 1998 (70+ songs), 70 + 9 = 79 / 2 = at least 39.5 half songs on average. Using just that two year average, he's release around 1145 songs since 1978. It's not impossible to release over 1000 songs, guys. --209.146.241.90 15:21, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

He has certainly composed over 1000 songs, released? I don't think so —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cnotexpectation (talk • contribs) 10:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC).

Sign 'O' The Times special character

I tried both Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla Firefox and both won't display the symbol that is being used as the 'O' (I assume a peace sign) in Sign 'O' The Times at several points in the Prince article. Internet Explorer 7 shows it as a "square" and Firefox shows it as a "question mark". Both browswers have no problem with the symbol that is Prince's old name though (the glyph one). I wonder if others are having this problem as well? Ecnirpnaf99 07:01, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

The peace sign shows up fine here under Safari on Mac OS X 10.4 but I can confirm it simply appears as a question mark under Firefox 2.0 / Windows XP. I wasn't aware until now that this was a wide-spread issue for people. If 90% of the visitors to this article can't properly view that character then it should be either changed to a simple "O'" or replaced with a graphic image as used for the Prince glyph, imo. --John T. Folden 23:28, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Why the peace sign is being used at all, I don't know. It was only a stylistic choice for the album and the single. All subsequent releases that include this song do not use the peace sign for the 'O'.

1980-1984 section is a mess

There seems to be a good deal of information this section that does not pertain at all to that time period. Just read it and you will see what I mean. I will try to clean it up and move some of the information elsewhere in the article if no one has any objections or wishes to do it first. Ecnirpnaf99 07:04, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Why did the "gnome bot" remove the O(+> symbol here on the discussion page?

If it is a copyrighted image/symbol, then will the bot probably remove it from the main article eventually? That will make a mess. Oh well, I suppose we can use O(+> or something better, although that won't work very well. It is just something to consider in case the bot comes back. Ecnirpnaf99 13:14, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

It appears the bot only removes non-free images from Talk/user pages. This is not a biggie in this particular case but should it malfunction and sweep the main article, there are ways to block it. --John T. Folden 16:43, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Discrepancies in teh Article

Check out the section with 1992-4. The first part says he changed his name in 1993, below that, in the Name Change section, it says 1994. Can someone figure out which is correct and make it as such? 67.175.168.17 23:52, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

de tagging

i took some old-ish tags off because they make the article look less readable / accessible - it would probably work better for people to make their points here - or replace the tags here rather than on the actual article page - thanks! - Petesmiles 04:10, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

opening paragraph

"though his name and identity have varied for strong personal reasons over the years" should be changed. How about "...have varied in order to reflect strongly held personal convictions..." (or some such). "Strong personal reasons" is too vague, it could mean many things. It could mean hemorrhoids. I'd make the change but that would mean my getting too involved. - Electric Larry

Cross-dressing

Is it known if Prince ever cross-dresses any more? 74.243.134.131 05:30, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Nope [unsigned]

It's not known, or he doesn't do it? --Tyrfing (talk) 03:47, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Penelope Cruz

Prince is NOT dating penelope cruz. It isn't possible as JW only date JW. Also, the penelope cruz article states that she is dating lenny cravitz.82.5.123.226 22:13, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Prince in Ireland in 2007

this never happened. The picture is from 1988, so why does it keep being readded to the 2005-present section of the main page? [unsigned]

You are not allowed to delete photos. If the description is not good, it will be modified, but don't delete this photo. Code-Binaire 18:11, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

The Lovesexy tour didn't go to Ireland. He did play at the Pairc U Chaoimh on the 7th of July 1990, though, on the Nude Tour. That photo is definately one from that tour - if it was taken in Ireland, then that was when it was taken. Lianachan 20:22, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Opening sentence

I removed "award-winning" from the opening sentence. The opening sentence should simply state who or what the subject of the article is. Winning awards is something Prince has done, but it's not who he is. A common response to this is "but it's true he's won awards". Well yes, but it's trying to cast him in a "positive light" and this kind of phrasing is something you expect from a press release, magazine article, or fansite. "Award winning" in the opening sentence is a piece of verbal fluff that has no place in an encylopedia. The awards can of course be put later in the lead, but not the opening sentence. Slayer, a recent front page FA had a hidden message in the first sentence saying "Do not add Grammy winning here". And if you look at the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Neutral point of view#POV in first sentence?, consensus shows that it is bias to put awards in opening sentence (unless it's groundbreaking in some way). Spellcast 10:58, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Prince's race

In the article, it says that Prince started a 'myth' about his father being black and his mother being white. Then it goes on to say the 'reality' is that Prince's father is African-American and his mother is Italian-American. So then how is it a myth that Prince has a black father and a white mother? Am I missing something here? [unsigned]

I was about to make a comment to exactly that effect, but the above Anonymous has beaten me to it. Anyway, I shall simplify accordingly - Rothorpe 22:08, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Italian American

Why he isn't categorized as an Italian-American? Kowalmistrz 12:05, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't know. Why don't you fix it? ~MDD4696 22:44, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

...as long as it's verifiable. --90.206.36.157 18:06, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Prince's mother is a light complexioned, rather portly, black woman. Moreover, his middle name is Roger, not Rogers. You can easily verify those facts, as both pictures of his birth certificate and his mother have been online for years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.131.1.225 (talk) 00:34, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Prince World

Very surprised to see that there is no mention of how Kevin Smith worked with Prince on a project. Then in turn how Kevin found out how self-centered and childish Prince can sometimes be. White_Bishop 02:19, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I, too, was surprised to not see this information here. I actually came to this page looking for information about Kevin Smith's comments about Prince and decided to check out the discussion page to see if maybe Smith's comments may have been objected to by some Prince fan boys. 71.199.114.181 (talk) 09:30, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Guitar name

Does Prince's purple Image:prince symbol.svg-shaped guitar have a name? I'm running an image search for it and it'd be nice to know if it does. -12.207.11.224 22:47, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Isn't it called Habibi? (He composed a song to it's honour) ˜˜˜˜ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Warpozio (talk • contribs) 10:21, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Trivia 'issue'

Nobody cares. In fact, people like trivia and the fact that it's set out in an easy-to-access format. An encyclopaedia provides information, and so does this section. Of course there should be controls - Wikipedia has plenty of them though, without this anti-trivia tag. --90.206.36.157 18:02, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Very true. The "Trivia" tag is a lame attempt to elevate the cache of Wikipedia. Proxy User (talk) 23:59, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia may aspire to having "cachet", but perhaps it is better kept "cache", out of sight. JGC1010 (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 03:03, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Prince doing Blues and Classical???

Is it me, or has anyone seen him do a PROPER Blues song. The closest i saw him come was the cover of "All along the Watchtower" at the Superbowl earlier this year, but hes never made a Blues song. I mean, Jazz is a stretch, but I know Jazz is still firmly in his "vocabulary", so to speak.

And Classical?? I mean an artist may do a song or too because they are fond of that style, but if thats the case here with Blues or Classical, it shouldn't be here. Sting made an album full of Medieval Classical last year or something, but we don't call him a "Medieval Classical" artist do we? Even so, with Sting it was a full album, not just a song or two. I find it difficult to call him New Wave just because he did it in the early 80's, when it was popular, or Hip Hop either, he only did that ALOT in the late 90's to my knowledge, but I can accept them I guess. I may be pushing it here now, but unless hes singing his heart out, is Soul in his genres list that necessary, I mean he doesn't have a "soulful" voice like Sam Cooke or Terence Trent D'Arby, or the melisma technique like Stevie Wonder and many Soul Divas use for example, if a good voice at all in my opinion, nor does he do MUCH of that exact style.

I think Ive made my point, and feel many people have got it into their heads that he does everything, and i mean EVERYTHING, when to me, i don't see it too much. New Wave, Hip Hop and Soul I'll accept, but Blues and Classical...needs to go!TomKing1980 (talk) 21:52, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I've seen him do proper blues songs. He IS Soulful. He has influenced Neo-Soul artists like D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq and Terence Trent D'Arby. A clear distinction between R&B and Soul doesn't exist. Look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grammy_Award_categories look at Genre-specific awards, you'll see there's no Soul award, just R&B. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Music_Award_for_Favorite_Soul/R%26B_Male_Artist At the AMA there's an R&B/Soul Award Category, not 2 separate award categories, because R&b and Soul are not clearly distinct.

Prince is in the list of Soul musicians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_soul_musicians —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gonzalo1979 (talk • contribs) 04:15, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

THe Genres list means he's done a blend of those genres, or is influenced by those, it doesn't mean he's done a pure pop song or a pure rock song, some of his songs are a blend of jazz/blues/R&b. The genre Rap should be added he done some rap/hip-hop songs, he has rapped himself (he rapped in the Love Symbol album from 1992 and in the song Pope from the Hits/The B/sides (1993), and in the Gold Experience album (1995). Emancipation album).

The song "The Ride" is a blues song, you are ignorant about his music, seems you are not familiar with his music, have you listened to any of his music besides 1999 or little red corvette? Also you have to consider the songs he has performed live at his concerts, not just the music that is in his officially released albums, he also has a lot of unreleased songs. He plays blues in the vhs video "The Undertaker" it's a live performance, and also "the sacrifice of victor" vhs. He has a song called "Blues in C" he played it during the Lovesexy Tour in 1988, it's not on any album.

This is crazy, why has the genre Funk been removed? look at the following articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_soul http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_funk_musicians

Prince is OBVIOUSLY in the list of Funk musicians and mentioned in the Funk article. Also look at Stevie Wonder, if his article says he does "Psychedelic Soul" and "Funk" obviously Prince has done "Psychedelic Soul"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_soul Prince has used recordings played backwards, wah-wah guitar effects, all the guitar effects mentioned, everything mentioned under Typical Instruments. He was heavily influenced by Sly and the Family Stone.

"Typical instruments Electric guitar (usually with guitar effects such as fuzz (distortion), wah-wah, phaser, reverb etc.) - Bass guitar - Drums - Electronic organ - Vocals - studio sound effects (e.g. recordings played backwards) • horns - percussion: congas, bongos " --Gonzalo Priale 23:15, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

PRINCE and 9/11

Why do people keep on removing this part:

"For promotion of the album Newpower Soul Prince visited The Netherlands in December 1998. During his consert in Utrecht Prince predicted 9/11. In the number, 2001: Also Sprach Zarathustra, he sang: "Osama Bin Laden get ready to bomb" and "Better watch out America, 2001 is here!". "

???? It is an interesting item abouth Prince. He predicted 9/11 in a song 3 years before it happend...... The song can be found on the internet when you google it!!! --145.102.113.82 (talk) 15:22, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

>>> Wow. If it's been written on the Internet then it *MUST* be true. (you people amaze me) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.67.104.4 (talk) 19:21, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

In response to the above, the reason why that part keeps getting removed is that the sources cited are considered to be unacceptable by Wikipedia. The first link is to a blog, while the second and third links are to non-English websites which, too, appear to be of the blog variety. In order for a comment like this to be acceptable, it needs to be accompanied by at least one source that is allowed under Wikipedia, such as a newspaper/magazine/journal or reputable, well-sourced news website, or a book/official website (and even then official websites are sometimes called into question). If there's an interview out there in which Prince has made note of this, then that's fair game, too (again, if sourced). And the sources should be in English as this is an English-language resource. That's not always possible, and yes it is American/English-centric, but there are plenty of sister Wikipedia sites out there for non-English language resources. I know how frustrating it can be to have a piece of cool information but be unable to add it to Wikipedia because you can't provide a source. I've lost count how many times that's happened to me. However when something falls under the purview of WP:BLP then I feel going the extra mile is fully justified -- in part because the well-stated sarcasm of the IP above makes a good point. 23skidoo (talk) 20:42, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

First off the 2001 refers to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Second, this is right after there had been bombings in Africa done by Bin Laden's group. The US would likely be a target for these individuals. Third, his words make it sound like it is going to happen in the next couple of days, not in 3 years.--69.214.19.13 (talk) 02:40, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

Prince of Pop (disputed)

As for the part where critics dispute whether he or Justin is the prince of pop--if you're going to refer to the "critic", let's see a reference for those who need one, eh? 72.68.198.37 (talk) 16:37, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

That "Prince of Pop" should be removed, it's just mentioned by some Michael Jackson fan who hates Prince and wants to state that Michael Jackson is the king while Prince is just the prince. Also Prince doesn't do pop, he does a blend of Soul/R&B/Funk/Jazz. Since the year 2001, jazz has been predominant in his albums. Funk is what's most characteristic of Prince's music. He doesn't do pop, he's an R&b musician not a pop musician, Mj is more pop than R&B. Anyway, MJ himself came up with the "king of pop" because there'a musical genius called Prince, "ok so i'm gonna make the media call me king".

Nobody calls Prince the "prince of pop" (it's offensive) that would only be said to COMPARE HIM TO MJ imply he's less than MJ. MJ shouldn't be mentioned at all in this article. MJ fans keep vandalizing this article and this has to stop by making the article Protected.--Gonzalo Priale 18:46, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

The British tabloid press definately refered to Prince as "the Prince of Pop" in 1980's, I remember it well. It has nothing to do with Michael Jackson, it was just because his name is Prince - simple as that. Back in those days, Prince tended to be thought of by the general public as a pop star - his versatility and ability wasn't that widely known to non-fans. Lianachan (talk) 19:24, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

what other names?

The second sentence of the article says Prince has been known by "various" names, but the only one I see mention of is the Love Symbol (though I haven't read the article thoroughly). Are the other names in there somewhere? --Allen (talk) 22:56, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Left Handed

A friend of mine told me that prince was in fact Lef-Handed but played right handed guitars, however I have never been able to ifnd anything that verifys this, can someone tell me If he is correct or not, and if so this may be worth adding to the article. --Volanaro (talk) 06:00, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Personal life

"In the 1980s and early 1990s, Prince was romantically linked with many celebrities, including Vanity (also known as Denise Matthews), Madonna, Anna Fantastic, Henry VIII of England..." <- what the feck? - My.life.is.muzik... (talk) 11:26, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

• Vandalism. I'll take it out if you haven't already done so. Good catch. 23skidoo (talk) 12:03, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

reference to non-existent site princebio.com

Quoter from the article:

There are a number of myths regarding Prince's ethnicity, some spread by Prince himself.[4] In fact, he was "born to a black mother and a black father."'

Ref [4] links to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)#cite_note-3 which links to a non-existent princebio.com (the domain isn't even registered). I suggest removing the "some spread by Prince himself.[4]" part. Prog Nathous (talk) 21:46, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Done. Carl.bunderson (talk) 02:24, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

WHY REMOVE THE PIECE WRITTEN ABOUT THE 21 NIGHTS AT THE 02 IN 2007??

i was at many of the shows and the final after-show when amy winehouse sang 'love is a loosing game' will stay in the memory forever. what i wrote was an accurate account. discuss.

Mark C Flanagan. UK —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.189.150 (talk) 19:25, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

• Under Wikipedia rules including WP:NOR and WP:VERIFY, personal accounts are prohibited. You need to provide a link to a newspaper or website account of the event - but it has to be professionally published. Current Wikipedia rules (and I agree they are outdated) forbid the use of most blogs or fansites for this sort of thing. If you cannot provide such information, then it will not be allowed, simple as that. And no it's not fair - I've had a number of similar edits reverted including some involving information given to me directly from the subject of the article - but another policy, WP:BLP is absolutely strict and Wikipedia would rather not have the information than have information that cannot be verified by a third party; the motto fo WP:VERIFY is "verifiability, not truth". 23skidoo (talk) 14:38, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm assuming you're talking about this edit. 23skidoo has covered it. No refs then no dice. Darrenhusted (talk) 15:03, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Ok I get the personal stuff - but to have no ref of the 21 nights at the 02 seems strange. I am sure there was a little bit of media coverage of these events happening???? - I will search for a review of the aftershows. .. Mark F UK —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.142.22.41 (talk) 22:55, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

This article is too long and reads like a fan site.

This article is too long and reads like a fan site. For example-

1) He is Minneapolis' most prized possesion and has been, for 28 straight years. Not only is this a biased statement,"possesion" is spelled wrong. Its spelled possession.

2) There are a number of myths regarding Prince's ethnicity. In fact, both his parents were African-American.Prince, like many African-Americans is an amalgam of different ethnicities. How do we know that both of Princes parents were black? Does he say this in a interview? Where are the sources for this?

3) Prince has been certified gold status; the single "I Wanna Be Your Lover" reached #1 on the R&B charts, also hitting #11 on the Billboard Top 100 American pop charts. This became known as one of his greatest hits. Who says this is one of his greatest hits?

4) under the section 1980-1984 we have this- In February of 1981, Prince performed "Partyup" on the now-infamous season six episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Charlene Tilton that brought Jean Doumanian's lackluster tenure as executive producer down when cast member Charles Rocket uttered the word "fuck" at the end of the program. This is just too in depth. And why are we talking about Jean Doumanian's "lackluster" tenure? and Charles Rocket saying the word fuck? Can't we just say he appeared on SNL and performed the song Partyup?

5) Some greats and fan favorites include "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore," b-side for "1999"; "Erotic City," b-side for "Let's Go Crazy"; and "17 Days," b-side for "When Doves Cry." This sounds like it was written by a fan,especially with the words "greats and fan favorites" used in the sentence.

6) In 1985, after the U.S. Purple Rain Tour, which was a smash hit in the US and Canada. Isn't "smash hit" stretching it a little? I think using the word success sounds more encyclopedic than "smash hit".

7) Christopher Tracy was the name of Prince's character in the movie "Under The Cherry Moon," for which Parade served as a soundtrack. Prince both directed and starred in the movie, and it also featured Kristen Scott Thomas as Mary Sharon in her first movie role. She would go on to star in such films as "The English Patient." Okay,saying Christopher Tracy was a pseudonym is fine and saying Kristen Scott Thomas as Mary Sharon is fine,but do we really need this-in her first movie role. She would go on to star in such films as "The English Patient."? It makes it too long.

8) Prince later attributed his eleventh-hour request for the album to be pulled from release to "a spiritual epiphany," but there are rumors that this epiphany was actually the result of a bad experience with the drug Ecstasy. Rumors? Does a encyclopedia really want to say that someone uses Ecstasy? Isn't that statement slander?

These are a few examples. I don't have time to list them all. --70.157.42.133 (talk) 17:32, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

• At Wikipedia we have a little rule of thumb called WP:BOLD. Don't wait for others to make changes - if you see something that needs improving, go ahead and make the improvements (just make sure you have sources for new information and are aware of WP:BLP policy). 23skidoo (talk) 17:49, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

It is true, this article is a) too long and b) reads like a fan site. Especially the "current work" section just reads like a list of checkmarks, and a very selective one at that. Headlining shows at a festival or appearances on Jay Leno's show - but completely ignores things like Prince cancelling concerts at short notice without giving any reason for cancellation (e.g. in Dublin). The problem with this article and WP:BOLD is that this article is just soooo long and sooooo full of fan writing, it's hard to know where to start when editing it, plus you'd be looking at a lot of time and effort. So much, you'd almost have to be a Prince fan to begin with to make it appear worth your while... --afromme (talk) 14:09, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

I Want 2 Help

I am brand-new to Wikipedia...just feeling my way around, but I would love to help improve this and other Prince-related articles. Give me a shout if you want to. I think I will try to write the "Indigo Nights" article in Sandbox and see how it turns out! --MPLS.purple7 (talk) 10:40, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Was he named after his father or a jazz trio?

The linked article about Prince's father, John Nelson, says that Nelson's stage name was "Prince Rogers" and his trio was called the "Prince Rogers Trio". Doesn't it follow that Prince was named after his father's stage name? Bizarrely, and without citation, this article claims that Prince was named after the trio that was named after the father. I don't have a citation, but surely he was named (like so many kids) after his father. The least I can bear to do is to add a "citation needed". Can anybody confirm or dispute that Prince was not named after his father? (How would the father have the ego to name his band after himself, then name his son after a collaboration in which he participated? It makes zero sense.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.123.89.65 (talk) 14:49, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Also, the article about his father, stub though it is, says that Prince was named after his father. So I changed it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.152.244.19 (talk) 02:43, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

I think it's false, his father, John L. Nelson ever had a stage name, I've never read such thing and i've read these 3 books about Prince, Purple Reign by Liz Jones, Prince (cd-sized book) by Jon Ewing, and Prince An Illustrated Biography by John Duffy. His father had a band, a trio called The Prince Rogers Band (not Prince Rogers Trio) and then he met Mattie Shaw and she became the 4th member of the band, the singer, so it makes no sense it would be called The Prince Rogers Trio. In none of those books it says that his stage name was Prince Rogers, just that his band was called The Prince Rogers Band, some people on the internet have wrongly assumed John L. Nelson called himself Prince Rogers. I don't think he had a stage name. In those books it says that Prince's father WITH Prince's mother, together, they named the first child they had together, Prince Rogers, to remember where/how (the band) they met and fell in love. Also I've read that Prince was named Prince Roger (without the s) Nelson in his birth certificate, but later, as an adult, Prince himself added the s to his middle name Roger, making it Rogers.

The following could be wrong: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/prince/biography Under the name "Prince Rogers," Prince's father John Nelson was the leader of a Minneapolis-area jazz band, in which his mother was the vocalist.

--Gonzalo Priale 05:35, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Joffrey

Has anyone inserted refs about Billboards, the Joffrey ballet that features his music? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.119.106.245 (talk) 00:25, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Anthony

Have references and sources for the additions and an put them in. What controversial stuff did i write that need references, especially when most of the stuff written is said, with references, in articles elsewhere on the site. if i put them in is it alright to put edits in. Antpooh (talk) 19:38, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

It would be more than welcomed. :) Pyrrhus16 19:40, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

So long as the sources are reliable, and the info is relevant, yes. — R² 19:40, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

All info must be sourced regardless of whether it is controversial material. — R² 19:59, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Okay, i rewrote the 1987-1991 entry, added sources for stuff that I think needed them that u might have deemed controversial, not sure u didn't say what u had problem with that needed sources. and u delete it again saying largely unsourced. furthermore, there is nothing written in the section i wrote that is not written in articles elsewhere on wikipedia. within the Prince article there is missing section covering the 1987-1991 years, however all the information i wrote in there is abbreviated info that is available in articles written on the site. so how is that information written there no approved for this section when its readily available to read elsewhere on the site and i included appropriate sources. I re-read what I wrote and the largely unsourced stuff are album charting and sales, tour info with line-up and where he toured, releasing of albums and band line-up change. please tell me what i have written that u have problem with that needs sourcing so i can make the appropriate ref notations. Antpooh (talk) 21:02, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Article improvement

February/March 2009 discussion from User talk:Realist2/Prince

[begin blockquote]

• OK, firstly, the book you are using as a reference. You need to give the ISBN number of the book, and you need to give the relevant page numbers. If you give me these pieces of information, I can sort it for you. — R² 20:28, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
• Replace fact tags with citations, using reliable sources.
  • Once this is done, we can add it to the article. Any parts we cannot find sources for don't go in the article. — R² 20:45, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

All of the charting information used in this article were taken from the album and songs articles pages on wikipedia which gave that information. should I put that citation areas? ISBN is 978-1-906002-18-3

As far as page numbers go, I really do not want to go through the book again to find the pages. Is that really neccassary, especially when other ref. made in the article do not have pages listed.

Antpooh (talk) 00:34, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

You can't use other Wikipedia articles as sources. Yes, page numbers are needed. I wan't to take the article to WP:GA (page numbers will be needed) in the coming months and don't know the page numbers myself. I'd have to remove your content (or source it with something else) before it could pass GA. — R² 00:58, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Put in ref. sources for the billboard charting. Antpooh (talk) 04:42, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Cool, it's starting to look better. — R² 14:22, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

After fixing the references, it became apparent that you are using two books, one published by Jawbone, the other book by billboard. For which book does the ISBN number 978-1-906002-18-3 apply? — R² 14:39, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

the isbn i gave was for the prince: life & times book. The billboard charting is from their website, one.Antpooh (talk) 16:35, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

And the Billboard book doesn't have a ISBN? — R² 16:59, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

ISBN for the billboard book is 0-8230-7749-7 Antpooh (talk) 17:24, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, once you've finished adding page numbers and finished the fact tag's, I'll fix the formatting of the references and we can copy and paste it to the article. — R² 17:25, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Done Antpooh (talk) 17:40, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, there are quite a few things I have to fix, which I'd do tonight. We can send it over to the main article tomorrow though. Thanks :) — R² 18:04, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Is there any update with the posting of this? Antpooh (talk) 20:50, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm about to do it now, sorry I have been busy. Give me an hour. — R² 21:29, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

You forgot a page number for one billboard book source (see the bold text), can you give me the page number for that and I'll slot it in. :) — R² 22:08, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

page 118 Antpooh (talk) 23:33, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Cheers, I'll do some more work on it tonight. The text is looking really good now :) — R² 19:18, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

OK, feel free to copy any paste it over to the main article. The references will work when you send it. — R² 00:23, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

[end blockquote]

[blockquoted above by Athaenara ✉ 18:20, 17 May 2009 (UTC)]

Untitled

That picture so ain't PRINCE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.225.77.99 (talk) 19:13, 11 February 2010 (UTC)