Trending Now
Three years ago, Prince, arguably one of the biggest music icons of the past 50 years, passed away at the age of 57. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince started penning lyrics at the age of seven and just kept going from there. He won several awards, achieved numerous number one hits, and changed his name to a symbol. Here are a few other facts you may (or may not) know about “The Purple One.”
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
5. He scored the number one spots in film, single, and album in the same week.
When “Purple Rain” went number 1 at the box office (July 1984) so did his soundtrack and the single “When Doves Cry.” What a rare music hat trick!
4. His symbol had a name.
Was someone speaking of Love Symbol #2? Cause his symbol was called that! And it was copyrighted.
Go figure.
Back in 1993 when Prince found himself in a dispute with his record label, he changed his name to a symbol. Later he was coined “The artist formally known as Prince.” Sure, it was weird at the time but he was on a mission to release albums under the symbol to prove a point.
“It is an unpronounceable symbol whose meaning has not been identified. It’s all about thinking in new ways, tuning in 2 a new free-quency,” Prince said in a statement.
3. Prince and his unique promotional tickets
Prince was known to play “pop up” concerts in small venues around the world. He also gave out his Musicology album for free to all fans who attended that specific tour. But in 2006, he took a number from Willy Wonka. Universal hid 14 purple (of course) tickets inside his albums, both domestically and internationally. If you found one, you were invited to attend a private performance at Prince’s home in LA.
2. Pantone gives Prince his own color.
We know Prince loved the color Purple. Heck, he named his film “Purple Rain”! The global color company Pantone created a royal shade of “prince” purple in honor of his life. They named it Love Symbol #2.
“The color purple was synonymous with who Prince was and will always be,” Troy Carter, an advisor to the singers estate, said. “This is an incredible way for his legacy to live on forever.”
1. His real name was…Prince.
Maybe it was meant to be. Perhaps his parents knew he would be something huge and unique when he got older.
When he was born on June 7, 1958, his parents gave him the name, Prince Rogers Nelson.
So, those are the facts we’ve got! Which of these did you not know?
Drop a comment and tell us!
