Leo Tolstoy
92% Profile Match
Photo: Yves Lorson, 1986, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons, 'Prince Brussels 1986 (retouched).jpg' -- photograph by Yves Lorson of Prince in concert at Forest National, Brussels, 1986 (Flickr photo 182644791), a retouched crop of 'Prince Brussels 1986.jpg'; CC BY 2.0. The base Commons file carries a FlickreviewR pass (6 June 2008, cc-by-2.0). Original of the retouched file 3603 x 5629 pixels (15,336,207 bytes, SHA-1 of the downloaded file computed locally: c9214329befbcb2511ee0b9f2838b9b2bc8f7d6f via sha1sum on the original download); the stored file was downscaled only (768 x 1200), never upscaled. Caveats: the retouching is described on Commons only as a cleaned version of a scanned print (uploader history shows the crop and retouched upload); the Flickr page itself could not be rendered by the fetch (HTTP 404 at check time), so the licence rests on the 2008 Flickr review record on Commons. · CC BY 2.0
musician · Contemporary
Prince
1958–2016
Known For
artisticcultural
Not yet included in personality matching — the documented evidence doesn't yet cover enough of the personality model. Everything else on this page is fully available.
Trait Constellation
Key Achievements
With the Revolution he made Purple Rain (1984): the album spent 12 weeks at number one with five top-ten singles, the film won an Academy Award for Best Song Score, and the Library of Congress essay says it launched the Minneapolis Sound. The album entered the National Recording Registry in 2011.
A composer and performer who, in the Rock Hall's words, mastered multiple instruments and styles and blended rock, funk, soul, pop and jazz. He wrote, played and recorded much of his own music, and the Rock Hall inducted him in 2004.
After disbanding the Revolution in October 1986 he completed Sign o' the Times (1987) as a largely solo record. From 1993 he fought Warner Bros. over control of his work, changing his name to a symbol until his contract expired in 2000.
Moments That Reveal Them
Between March 1983 and March 1984 he recorded more than three dozen songs, some for other acts he was producing, and only part of them were meant for Purple Rain.
This is consistent with a very fast, high-volume way of working. Execution Speed
In rehearsals, Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman recalls, the band could play one groove for hours while he walked in and out calling 'Don't stop! Nobody move!'
This is consistent with a demanding, endurance-based rehearsal discipline. Discipline
Turning Points
In 1993, at the peak of his dispute with Warner Bros. over who owned the copyright to his name, he legally changed his name to a symbol and appeared with 'SLAVE' on his face; the contract expired in 2000.
This is consistent with a strong need for control over his own work, accepted even at a cost in sales. Need for Autonomy
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Sources
- Prince (Q7542) -- verified live via the Wikidata API (2026-10-23): English label 'Prince', description 'American musician (1958-2016)', Korean label '프린스', born 7 June 1958, died 21 April 2016, citizenship United States. Orientation only; not used as support for any row.
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 'Prince' inductee biography (rockhall.com): inducted 2004 in the Performer category (inductors Outkast and Alicia Keys); describes him as a composer and performer who mastered multiple instruments and styles, blending rock, funk, soul, pop and jazz; lists the Cloud guitar built for the film Purple Rain; names artists who influenced him (James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Stevie Wonder and others) and artists he influenced; quotations from Alicia Keys and Rob Bowman. CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE SOURCE (with the Library of Congress essay). Hall-of-fame narrative, admiring. Read through a page-extraction tool (not a verbatim reading); its 'Nothing Compares 2 U' dating is inconsistent and was not used.
- Eddie Santiago, 'Purple Rain -- Prince (1984)', guest essay for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry (album added 2011; PDF on loc.gov), read in full: recording sessions March 1983 to March 1984 yielded more than three dozen songs, some for other acts he was producing; the instruments used (Oberheim and Yamaha synthesizers, Linn drum machine, Hohner Telecaster); the Revolution played on five of nine tracks and the basic tracks for three songs came from an August 1983 First Avenue performance, while the essay says he could make a track such as 'When Doves Cry' entirely alone; album 12 weeks at number one, five top-ten singles, nine million US copies by 1985; the film grossed $70 million and won an Academy Award for Best Song Score; he disbanded the Revolution in October 1986 and Sign o' the Times became a solo album; strained relationships with several former associates. CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE SOURCE (with the Rock Hall page). Guest essay by an outside author (the page states the views are not the Library's); admiring and retrospective; its remarks on his religious beliefs, relationships and death were not used.
- Torsten Schmidt, 'Susan Rogers on Working with Prince', Red Bull Music Academy Daily, 7 June 2017 (interview based on Rogers's 2016 lecture): engineer Susan Rogers on joining in 1983; sessions of 16 to 24 hours, overdubbing and mixing as he went, never wanting to return to a song; his saying 'we go fast, we make mistakes'; her view that he was 'not a perfectionist'; an instrument always in his hand; recording the band live in a rehearsal warehouse; preferring few people and recording vocals alone; the hot console setting on 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' that he kept; the long soundchecks on tour. Engineer's own recollection (admiring but candid, one voice); counted as ONE perspective with the two other Rogers pieces. Health and drug remarks were not used. Read through a page-extraction tool.
- Andrea Swensson, 'Susan Rogers on working with Prince in the studio', The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), 20 April 2018: Rogers on his speed (a song a day at times, more in a week than most bands in a month), basic tracks cut with the band at rehearsal and finished at home, working alone when on tour or in Los Angeles because playing every part was faster than directing others, lead vocal first and then building harmonies, innovation arising from speed rather than a hunt for new technology, a consistent set of older tools, and not chasing rap or outside producers. Public-radio feature built on one engineer's testimony; the interview details on his personal preferences were not used. Read through a page-extraction tool.
- Chris Williams, interview with Susan Rogers on Sign o' the Times, Wax Poetics (online 18 April 2021, from issue 67): the album grew out of the shelved projects Camille, Dream Factory and Crystal Ball; Warner Bros. was unwilling to release a three-record set; sessions of 18 to 24 hours between his home studio and Sunset Sound; drums first, then bass, keys and guitar, lead vocals alone in the control room; mixing alongside overdubs; 'U Got the Look' reworked for days, unusual for him; backwards drums on 'Starfish and Coffee'; older vault tracks used to complete the record; Rogers's own critical remarks (she thought 'The Cross' drums were sloppy but he was satisfied). Engineer's account (one voice, with the other Rogers pieces). Read through a page-extraction tool.
- Andy Price, 'Lisa Coleman on how Prince insisted on perfection from his Revolution bandmates', MusicRadar (undated page quoting a 2019 interview), read in full: Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman on rehearsals from about ten in the morning until night, playing one groove for hours while he called 'Don't stop! Nobody move!', hand signals and a handkerchief cue during shows, a setlist that changed nightly, parts handed out at rehearsal on some days and 'groove in E' on others, his turning a preset synth patch brighter, and the Revolution being one of the only times he drew from other people's sound. Bandmate's account (admiring, retrospective); the magazine's own framing of 'relentless practice' is the editor's and was not used as evidence.
- Nicolas Medina Mora, 'How Prince Pioneered The Fight For Independence From Record Labels', BuzzFeed News, 21 April 2016: a contentious relationship with Warner Bros. peaking in 1993; his anger that the label owned the copyright to his name and his legal change of name to a symbol; performing with 'SLAVE' on his face; releasing albums of previously recorded material to leave the contract sooner while Warner argued he was saturating the market; The Gold Experience (1995) selling under 500,000 copies against more than 13 million for Purple Rain; the contract expiring in 2000 and the name reverting. Journalist's piece that largely follows his account, with Warner's market-saturation argument as the only counter-view; masters ownership and NPG Records are not covered. Read through a page-extraction tool.
- Wikimedia Commons file pages 'Prince Brussels 1986 (retouched).jpg' and 'Prince Brussels 1986.jpg' (with the Commons API record and the Flickr source page) -- checked for the portrait: photograph by Yves Lorson, Forest National, Brussels, 1986; CC BY 2.0; the base file carries a Flickr licence-review pass dated 6 June 2008.