14 Ways Prince's Life Was Both Mysterious And Amazing
RIP Prince 😢
Prince died in the early morning on April 21st.
It's a devastating loss to the musical world, and people everywhere are mourning the genius pioneer of modern funk, rock, glam and pop. Over the years, the brilliant musician was nominated for 30 grammy awards and won seven, snagged an Oscar for the "Purple Rain" soundtrack (which went thirteen times Platinum) and he's got a shocking amount of overall Platinum-certified albums. Obviously, the man was a great musician and will be very missed.
But everyone already knows that. We're here to share the many facts about Prince the majority of people don't know, and they'll make you love him even more, on a personal level. Enjoy, and RIP Prince.
1. Prince was born Prince Rogers Nelson, but he held a shocking amount of pseudonyms over the course of his life, including The Kid, The Purple Purv, Christopher Tracy and Alexander Nevermind
2. Prince's rider demands required a doctor to always be available with B12 shots at the ready
Apparently, he also dislikes hotels that have stairs.
3. At age 10, Prince danced on stage with James Brown
According to a 1985 MTV interview: "James Brown played a big influence in my style. When I was about 10 years old, my stepdad put me on stage with him, and I danced a little bit until the bodyguard took me off."
4. Prince was only 5 feet 2 inches tall, though people regularly thought he was much taller because of his legendary, mythical status
5. Prince was a vegan
He loved to serve hearty vegan meals to people at his home.
6. He collaborated with Madonna on her 1989 album "Like a Prayer"
And was allegedly linked to Madonna romantically at one point.
7. Prince was almost featured in Michael Jackson's "Bad"
8. He made a cameo on "New Girl" because he directly emailed Zooey Deschanel, requesting the part—he was a huge fan of the show
9. Prince once recorded (but never released) an album under the name Camille, his female alter-ego
The album was titled "Camille," and hopefully we'll be able to hear it someday. Supposedly, the cover is a stick figure with Xs for eyes.
10. Prince originally asked Stevie Nicks to write the lyrics to "Purple Rain"
With the 12" album version of the song clocking in at 8:41, though, Nicks found the project to be overwhelming. "I just got scared," she said. "It's too much for me."
11. He was actually a decent basketball player
Apparently, though he didn't start, he was the "sixth or seventh man" at one of Minnesota's most competitive high schools. So there is some truth to the infamous "Chappelle's Show" sketch after all. He also played baseball and football.
12. Prince performed at George Lucas' wedding
It's unknown if this is because Prince is a huge Star Wars fan, but we'd like to think so.
13. Prince is basically responsible for the "Parental Advisory" label
Tipper Gore, the founder of Parents Music Resource Center, was unhappy her daughter listened to "Darling Nikki" by Prince, which references masturbation. Gore added the song to a list of others with unsuitable content, and the RIAA created an early version of the Parental Advisory label.
14. Prince wrote Sinead O'Connor's biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U"