Prince summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 14, 2025

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Prince.

Prince, orig. Prince Rogers Nelson, (born June 7, 1958, Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.—died April 21, 2016, Chanhassen, Minn.), U.S. singer and songwriter. The son of a jazz pianist, he taught himself several instruments and formed his own bands as a teenager. At age 19 he released his first album, on which he played all the instruments. His second album, Prince (1979), was followed by many others, including the best-selling 1999 (1982), the soundtrack of the film Purple Rain (1983), in which he also starred, and Diamonds and Pearls (1991). In 1993 he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and became known as “the artist formerly known as Prince,” but after 1999 he resumed his previous name. Later albums include Musicology (2004), 3121 (2006), and Plectrumelectrum (2014). In 2004 Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. An accidental overdose of fentanyl caused his death.

Grammy Award Summary

Grammy Award, any of a series of awards presented annually in the United States by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS; commonly called the Recording Academy) or the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS; commonly called the Latin Recording Academy) to recognize

Academy Award Summary

Academy Award, any of a number of awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., to recognize achievement in the film industry. The awards were first presented in 1929, and winners receive a gold-plated statuette commonly

soul music Summary

Soul music, term adopted to describe African American popular music in the United States as it evolved from the 1950s to the ’60s and ’70s. Some view soul as merely a new term for rhythm and blues. In fact a new generation of artists profoundly reinterpreted the sounds of the rhythm-and-blues

guitar Summary

Guitar, plucked stringed musical instrument that probably originated in Spain early in the 16th century, deriving from the guitarra latina, a late-medieval instrument with a waisted body and four strings. The early guitar was narrower and deeper than the modern guitar, with a less pronounced waist.