Prince Rogers Charles was one of a kind, a true artist through and through. He never compromised and always stayed true to his funky self.
Prince was active from the late 1970s until his death in 2016. During that time he released 39 studio albums — an incredible feat! Prince traversed a musical landscape that most artists can only dream of. He took on funk, pop, dance, electronic, rock — the list goes on and on.
April 21 marks the 10th anniversary of Prince’s death, and in honor of his life, work and influence upon us all, Studio One has taken on the herculean task of selecting five of his most iconic moments to share with you.
Prince as a kid picketing for teacher’s higher wages
Very little is known about Prince’s childhood. In fact, this is the only footage of him as a kid that has been shared. This clip shows that even as a young child Prince was on the right side of history.
This footage comes from a documentary that surfaced not long after his death, where he's asked why he’s picketing for higher wages for teachers. The little Prince answers “They should be making more money because they are working more hours for us.”
Well said little Prince!
When Prince turned himself into a symbol
In 1993 Prince changed his name to a symbol. He became “the artist formerly known as Prince.”
Prince did this due to what he called "cultural enslavement” from Warner Bros. Records. Prince was a leading force in the fight for musicians to have the rights to their music, long before the age of file sharing and streaming.
During this time Prince often performed with the word "slave" drawn on his face. He was quoted saying that he didn't even want to be known as "the artist formerly known as Prince, but the media had to call me something."
Watch the above interview for a very insightful opinion on the music industry from Prince.
Prince’s 2007 Super Bowl performance
Remember that one time the Super Bowl opened for Prince?
This is arguably one of the most iconic musical moments ever and is easily the best Super Bowl performance of all time. Not only did Prince give a hit-loaded show, he also performed "Purple Rain" — in the rain.
It doesn’t get much more epic than that!
The whole performance is legendary, and Prince sounds incredible. When he asks, “can I play this guitar?” who would say no??
Knocking over the mic stand at the end is just the cherry on top of this delightful purple sundae.
The Greatest guitar solo in history?
This performance is from 2004, when George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The producers of the program asked a star-studded lineup to pay homage to Harrison with a performance of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” — the classic Beatles White Album tune. Tom Petty and Harrison’s son Dhani were on deck. Prince just so happened to be inducted that night as well, and was a last-minute addition to the tribute lineup.
The performance is not very memorable until Prince emerges from the shadows. Both Petty and Harrison just look on in awe at what they're witnessing — pure artistic expression in its most raw form. If you ever doubted whether Prince was one of the best guitarists of all time, this will change your mind.
To end the performance, Prince throws the guitar into the air.
Where did it go? Nobody knows.
Purple Rain — the film and the album
In the summer of 1984 Prince released the album Purple Rain and changed the face of modern pop music forever. Not only is the album a testament to Prince's musical powers, it’s one of the best records of all time, delivering hit after hit. It propelled Prince to superstar status, and was one of the defining records of the 1980s.
Now, not only was there an album, but Prince was such an overachiever that he decided to make a film as well. This was a relatively lightly used concept. You may remember The Beatles' Help or any of Elvis Presley's films as early, campy attempts to cross music into film. Of course, there was also Pink Floyd with The Wall, but they didn’t star in the film, whereas Prince combined more plot with his music, and starred in Purple Rain.
The film is an '80s nostalgia blast and full of a bunch of moments that are iconic, though it does still more or less play like one long music video. Some of my favorites from the movie are the “When Doves Cry” bathtub scene, the ending where Prince unifies all of First Ave with his “Purple Rain” performance, and my absolute favorite, when he takes his love interest Appolonia to Lake Minnetonka and convinces her to “Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka” — where she gets completely naked and jumps in the lake only for Prince to say “that ain’t Lake Minnetonka” and speed off on his purple motorcycle.
So cheesy, yet so fun.
BONUS: The “cheeky” 1991 VMAs performance
This one is just funny, and gets included as an honorary sixth video epitomizing Prince.
At the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards Prince performed his very suggestive track “Gett Off.” This song is so full of sexual innuendo, it’s almost ridiculous. In Prince fashion he took the performance way over the top. Dancers barely wearing any clothes, simulated sex, pyrotechnics, and if that wasn’t enough the most talked about moment of the night was Prince's “assless” pants!
This was long before the classic Janet Jackson Superbowl wardrobe malfunction and years ahead of the Madonna/Brittney kiss.
The yellow outfit Prince wore turned out to not even really be “assless.” It was an illusion created using two hand-dyed panels of lace.
Prince was a master of fashion, and he always knew how to make a statement.
