Prince
A funk genius whose guitar could out-burn any rock hero
Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis in 1958, the son of a jazz pianist and a singer. He taught himself piano, guitar and drums as a child and was playing in local bands as a teenager. Signed to Warner Bros. while still a teenager, he produced and played almost everything on his 1978 debut For You, a remarkable degree of control for a new artist. Albums such as Dirty Mind and 1999 then established a lean, synth-driven funk style that critics called the Minneapolis sound.
Purple Rain (1984), the soundtrack to his semi-autobiographical film, made him a superstar. Credited to Prince and the Revolution, the album topped the charts alongside the film and the single When Doves Cry, and its closing trio, including the title track, was drawn from a 1983 concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The guitar work, from the frenzied climax of Let's Go Crazy to the slow, soaring finale of Purple Rain, reminded the world that he was a formidable guitarist as well as a songwriter.
The rest of the 1980s brought Around the World in a Day, Parade and the sprawling Sign o' the Times. In the 1990s he formed the New Power Generation, clashed publicly with Warner Bros. over control of his music and changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. He released albums independently, including the triple set Emancipation, and wrote hits for others such as Nothing Compares 2 U. His output was enormous, and much of it remained unreleased in his vault.
Prince entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and at that ceremony he stole the show with a blistering solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. In 2007 he played a Super Bowl halftime show in pouring rain that is still ranked as the best ever. Later he formed the guitar-heavy trio 3rdeyegirl and kept touring intensively until his sudden death at his Paisley Park home in April 2016, at the age of 57.
The 10 greatest Prince solos
- 1Prince · solo by Prince · 2004
- 2Prince · solo by Prince · 1984
- 3Prince and the Revolution · solo by Prince · 1984
- 4Prince and the Revolution · solo by Prince · 1984
- 5Prince · solo by Prince · 1996
- 6Prince · solo by Prince · 1990
- 7Prince · solo by Prince · 1979
- 8Prince and the Revolution · solo by Prince · 1984
- 9Prince · solo by Prince · 2009
- 10Prince · solo by Prince · 1995
The sound
Prince's guitar playing drew equally on Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and the rhythmic precision of funk. His rhythm work is tight, choppy and syncopated, locking with the drums on clean, trebly single-coil tones. When he stepped out as a soloist he became a different player: long, singing bends, screaming high-register lines and huge, sustained notes soaked in distortion and flanger. He had a showman's instinct for drama, often saving the most explosive lead for a song's final minutes, and his phrasing reflects a multi-instrumentalist's ear for arrangement.
- Hohner H.S. Anderson 'Mad Cat' (guitar) A Telecaster-style guitar with a leopard-print pickguard, his most-used instrument from the late 1970s onward.
- Cloud guitar (guitar) The ornate white custom guitar built by Dave Rusan for the Purple Rain era.
- Love Symbol guitar (guitar) A custom instrument shaped like the symbol he adopted as his name in the 1990s.
- Mesa/Boogie amplifiers (amp) Tube amps behind many of his sustaining lead tones.
- Boss DS-1 Distortion (effect) A simple drive pedal that fed his screaming solo sound.
Covers
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps, originally by The Beatles He waited in the shadows before taking over the song with an unforgettable solo.
- All Along the Watchtower, originally by Bob Dylan A nod to Hendrix's version in the middle of his rain-soaked medley.
- Proud Mary, originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival A high-energy rock-and-soul turn in the halftime set.
- Best of You, originally by Foo Fighters He reframed a modern rock anthem as a gospel-tinged singalong.
- Betcha by Golly, Wow, originally by The Stylistics A tender, falsetto-led tribute to Philadelphia soul.
- One of Us, originally by Joan Osborne He added a searing guitar coda to the recent pop hit.
- Creep, originally by Radiohead A slow-burning version crowned by a long, piercing solo.
Timeline
- 1958 Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1978 Releases debut album For You on Warner Bros.
- 1982 1999 becomes his commercial breakthrough
- 1983 Records Purple Rain live at First Avenue
- 1984 Purple Rain album and film make him a superstar
- 1987 Releases Sign o' the Times
- 1993 Changes his name to an unpronounceable symbol
- 2004 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 2007 Performs the Super Bowl XLI halftime show
- 2016 Dies at Paisley Park, aged 57
Facts
- In 1984 he held the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
- He produced and played almost every instrument on his debut album.
- His father, a jazz pianist, performed under the stage name Prince Rogers.
- Purple Rain began life as a country-flavoured song before the band rearranged it.
- The First Avenue concert of August 1983 was guitarist Wendy Melvoin's first show with the band.
- He wrote Nothing Compares 2 U, later a huge hit for Sinéad O'Connor.
- He won an Academy Award for the Purple Rain score.
- His 2007 Super Bowl halftime show was played in heavy rain.
- He sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
- His most famous guitar, the Mad Cat, was a Hohner copy of a Telecaster rather than a Fender.