When you think of the late music icon Prince, you think of the color Purple. From “Purple Rain” to the color purple dominating his wardrobe and branding, we have a simple question; how and when did Prince become so infatuated with the color purple?
As the story goes, a young struggling artist by the name of Price Rogers Nelson living in Minnesota was hoping to sign his first record deal. He loved sports, and being a big Minnesota Vikings, the star became fascinated with the NFL Vikings colors purple and gold. Prince researched the color purple, discovering the color was a symbol of sexual freedom. He then realized that his first name ‘Prince’ was rooted in royalty, so he combined the two thoughts. He would change his name to simply ‘Prince,’ adopting the color purple in his all his attire and on stage persona.
How did we get to ‘The artist formerly known as Prince?’ In the early 1990s Prince became embroiled in a legal dispute with his label Warner Brothers. As an outward action sign of contempt of that label, Prince chose the famous symbol we recognize today, promoting his albums as ‘the artist formerly known as Prince.’ Album sales skyrocketed.
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