He has won multiple Grammys, has been named PETA’s “World’s Sexiest Vegan,” and has romanced the likes of Kim Basinger and Carmen Electra. But Saturday marks a new lifetime achievement for Prince: turning 50. To celebrate his Royal Purpleness’ initiation into the 5-0 club (insert your own “Party Like It’s 1999” joke here), we look back at some of the greatest (and craziest) moments through the course of his career.
In the beginning
Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson), a then-unknown 20-year-old Minnesota musician, releases his first album, “For You,” on Warner Bros. records in 1979. But it wasn’t until 1982’s “1999” that the artist (more on that word later) found mainstream success thanks to the album’s title track and songs such as “Little Red Corvette.”
Purple reign
1984 was a hell of a year for The Purple One. His album “Purple Rain” spent 24 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard album charts, and the coinciding semi-autobiographical film (in which he starred) earned him an Oscar. Time Magazine and Rolling Stone both ranked “Purple Rain” among their 100 greatest albums of all time. “Graffiti Bridge,” the 1990 sequel to “Purple Rain” bombed at the box office (don’t worry, we didn’t know there was a “Purple Rain” sequel either.)
You got the look
No stranger to over-the-top fashion choices, Prince has sported high heels (although at 5-foot-2, who can blame the guy?), leg-warmers, giant hats and purple everything. But no frock shocked more than the yellow zebra-stripe suit he wore while performing “Gett Off” at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Why was it so shocking? Two words: buttless chaps. And he was rocking the guyliner way before Pete Wentz.
The name game
1992 saw the introduction of Prince’s now infamous, unpronounceable “Love Symbol,” a combination of the astronomical symbols for male and female. Beginning a public battle with Warner Bros., he claimed “Prince” had become a brand owned by the record company used only to make money, thus changing his name to that whatchamacallit. Instead of trying to pronounce it, most people just referred to him as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince … or The Artist … or The Symbol. Luckily for the public, The Artist changed his name back to Prince in May 2000.
Back on top
Prince started his 2004 comeback by opening the Grammys with Beyonce and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a month later. His Musicology tour became the highest grossing tour of the year. He played 21 shows in London last summer (hey, what’s wrong with Chicago?) While seven of the concerts took place at London’s O2 Arena, the musician surprised clubgoers around the city by playing unannounced shows in smaller venues. [SOURCES: ROLLINGSTONE.COM, MTV.COM, ROCKHALL.COM, BILLBOARD.COM, IMDB]
