Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Purple Rain spent six consecutive months atop the Billboard 200. His sixth album, Purple Rain (1984), was recorded with his backup band the Revolution, and was the soundtrack to his film acting debut of the same name. He went on to achieve critical success with the innovative albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982). Records at age nineteen, releasing the albums For You (1978) and Prince (1979). īorn and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. He often played most or all instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, synth-pop, pop, jazz, and hip hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound. Widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation, he was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona and wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams. Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
