http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/07/01/2008-07-01_1999_si
nger_prince_turns_50.html
Prince at 50: A look at his career
By LISA SWAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, July 1st 2008, 4:00 AM
Bucci/Getty
The ageless Prince performing on 'American Idol' last year.
The Artist Formerly (and Currently) Known as Prince is now the Artist
Eligible for AARP Membership.
Prince turned 50 on June 7. It was such a low-key weekend that the musician
was able to walk down Hollywood Boulevard without any security.
As the News' Jim Farber has written, "30 years into his career, Prince can
still keep those little surprises coming."
In an era where celebrities are literally and figuratively overexposed,
Prince Rogers Nelson still has an air of mystery to him. But while his
birthday didn't draw much interest in the media, the artist is hardly
forgotten these days.
He has a book coming out this fall, called "21 Nights," with photos by
Randee St. Nicholas, covering his three sold-out weeks of concerts at
London's O2 Center last summer.
And other media outlets have recently commemorated Prince's prodigious
talents. Entertainment Weekly just named Prince and the Revolution's "Purple
Rain" as the magazine's favorite album of the last 25 years, calling it "a
bona fide diamond - and one of the most artistically out-there achievements
in pop history."
The new issue of Ebony magazine calls Prince one of the 25 coolest brothers
of all time, describing him as "a trendsetter and style maker, a leader who
has no desire, or need to follow."
The artist, who got his start in 1978 with the album "For You," is known for
three themes in both his music and his personal life: sex, religion, and
control.
Prince was never exactly subtle with his music's sexual references - the
titles of two of his early albums - "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" - summed
up much of what the lyrics were about. Yet Tipper Gore was still so shocked
after hearing the song "Darling Nikki" on the "Purple Rain" soundtrack that
she formed the Parents Music Resource Center to campaign against such
lyrics.
But "Purple Rain" also had spiritual references as well as sexual ones, most
notably in the song "I Would Die 4 U." "The Cross" from 1987's "Sign O the
Times" also continued his religious exploration. And after the artist became
a Jehovah's Witness in 2001, he made "The Rainbow Children," an album full
of references to his new religion.
As for control, right from the beginning Prince wrote, produced, arranged,
and played all the musical instruments on all of his early recordings. He
had a legendary feud with Warner Brothers over the way they marketed his
music. And he's recently gone after YouTube for allowing users to post his
copyrighted videos up without his permission.
While Prince had his greatest period of success in the 1980s - he hasn't had
a No. 1 single since 1991's "Cream," or a top 10 song since 1994's The Most
Beautiful Girl in the World - his albums continue to sell well. Prince's
2006's album "3121" topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and 2007's
"Planet Earth," hit No. 3.
But seeing Prince live gives the best representation of what the artist is
all about. He continues to sell out tours. And fans are still buzzing about
his Super Bowl concert last year, considered to be the best halftime show
ever.
Yet despite having performed in front of a billion TV viewers, Prince, the
artist who somebody who once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol,
is still a bit mysterious.
Perhaps the closest he's ever come to explaining himself came in his 2004
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech.
"When I first started out in this music industry I was most concerned with
freedom," he said. "Freedom to produce, freedom to play all the instruments
on my records, freedom to say anything I wanted to."
Prince went on to say, "Without real spiritual mentoring, too much freedom
can lead to the soul's decay." He also warned young musicians of today that
"a real friend and mentor is not on your payroll."
The artist closed his speech by saying, "I wish all of you the best on this
fascinating journey. It ain't over."
No, it isn't.
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