11 things you never knew about Prince
When Prince died in 2016, the world lost a musical legend. With such well known songs as When Doves Cry, Kiss, Cream and Little Red Corvette he was a household name (despite changing it more than once).
If you’re keen to learn a little more about the artist, read on. We’ve got 11 fun facts that you might not have known about Prince.
1. Prince was a ghostwriter for other musicians, including Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and the Bangles. Bet you didn’t know he wrote ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinead O’Connor.
2. He didn’t change his name to Prince; he was actually called Prince to start with. Prince Rogers Nelson in fact.
3. The infamous song ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson was supposed to be a duet with Prince. Apparently, Prince didn’t feel comfortable enough to sing the first line of the song (‘Your butt is mine’) and so the duet never eventuated.
4. He was one of the first artists to release alternate versions of songs without bad or inappropriate language and campaigned for albums to have a warning system about their content.
5. ‘When Doves Cry’ was his first American number one single from his album Purple Rain in 1984. In 1996 it hit the charts again when it was covered by Quindon Tarver for the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.
6. Prince’s film ‘Purple Rain’ grossed over $68 million and cost just $7 million to make. His second film, ‘Graffiti Bridge’ was a flop – it was even nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Picture.
7. Prince played guitar on Madonna’s classic hit ‘Like A Prayer’
8. It is reported that Prince died of an accidental overdose on the painkiller fentanyl.
9. He left no will, but his fortune (estimated at $100-$300 million) is expected to be divided up between his siblings.
10. Prince has a huge back catalogue of around 600 unreleased tracks. He is quoted as saying that he didn’t always give the record companies the best song.
11. In 2014 Prince sued 22 fans for filming his concert and uploading it to YouTube.
What was your favourite Prince song? We would love to hear from you in the comments.