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On June 7 1958, jazz singer Mattie Della, and her husband pianist and songwriter John Lewis Nelson had a son. They decided to name him after his father’s stage name ‘Prince Rogers Nelson’. Years later, this young Minneapolis music protégé would shorten the spotlight to just Prince. This in time was further abbreviated to
which was dubbed ‘Love Symbol #2’ - a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀).
During a vibrant music career, Prince recored a string of epoque-defining albums, including ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Sign o’ the Times’ and ‘Diamonds and Pearls’. Both musically and visually, he challenged the perception of rock and roll personas, adopting the same shape-shifting abilities of those few rarified artists, many of whom are longer with us.
On April 21, 2016, the man who had sung “I am something that you'll never understand”, and who had converted himself into a sensuously-creative, hybrid being, was found unconscious at his home at Paisley Park. He died moments later.
During a vibrant music career, Prince recored a string of epoque-defining albums, including ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Sign o’ the Times’ and ‘Diamonds and Pearls’. Both musically and visually, he challenged the perception of rock and roll personas, adopting the same shape-shifting abilities of those few rarified artists, many of whom are longer with us.
On April 21, 2016, the man who had sung “I am something that you'll never understand”, and who had converted himself into a sensuously-creative, hybrid being, was found unconscious at his home at Paisley Park. He died moments later.