On June 7th 1958, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, MN to an artistic family, his mother a jazz singer, his father was an accomplished pianist. In his early years, he was given the childhood nickname of ‘Skipper,’ a name that stuck until his teens. Prince was a musical prodigy, writing his first song at the age of 7 on his dad’s piano called “Funk Machine.” Here are more interesting fun facts about the man who made purple the best color of the rainbow.
You may wonder why Prince was so attracted to the color purple. The answer is simple, as he adopted the colors purple and gold from his favorite sports team, the Minnesota Vikings. Although parodied by Charlie Murphy in countless basketball skits, Prince was actually an excellent basketball player.
Prince went head to head with Michael Jackson in 1982, releasing ‘1999’ the same year as Michael’s ‘Thriller.’ In spite of the rich competition, Prince managed to win seven Grammy Awards as well as many others awards.
Prince signed with Warner Brothers at the age of 18, and eventually changing his name or brand to the ‘artist formally known as Prince,’ due to a legal conflict with the label.
On a personal note, Prince was very generous with his money, yet secretive about his contributions to the many charities he supported. Prince was married twice, becoming a father for a short period of time (the child named Boy Gregory died shortly after birth). Prince was reportedly a devote Jehovah’s Witness. Upon his death, he left a net worth of over $300 million, but no will. We fully expect a lengthy legal battle over his fortunes, including a few ‘children’ to come out of the shadows to make this a juicy story.
Prince was writing his memoir at the time of his death, (working title) ‘The Beautiful Ones.’ Prince has no star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nor statue in his hometown of Minneapolis.
Prince Rogers Nelson was a super nova, a bright light that shined so brightly it could only stay lit for just a few years. Prince would have been 58 on June 7th.
—
Photo credit: Anthony Correia / Shutterstock.com