Prince, hugely inventive, influential musician, dead at 57
The dazzlingly talented and charismatic singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist who died Thursday at his home drew upon the history of modern popular music and created a gender- and genre-defying blend of rock, funk and soul.
With hits including 1999, ''Purple Rain and Little Red Corvette, Prince's records sold more than 100 million copies and earned him Grammys and an Academy Award.
The Minneapolis native stood just 5 feet, 2 inches, yet made a powerful visual impact at the dawn of the MTV era, proving to be the Little Richard for the '80s, from his wispy moustache and tall pompadour to his colorful and suggestive outfits — the counterpart to the openly erotic lyrics that made him one of the most sexually daring artists of the era.
[...] his greatest legacy was as a musician, summoning original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that drew on Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto, or turning out album after album of stunningly innovative material.
Even President Barack Obama — for whom Prince was a White House guest last year — released a statement, saying he and his wife "joined millions of fans from around the world" in mourning Prince's sudden death.
The title song from "1999," his funky and flippant anthem about an oncoming nuclear holocaust, includes one of the most quoted refrains of popular culture: "Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."
The album received mixed reviews, but his second album — called "Prince" — sold more than a million copies and launched his run of hit albums and singles over the next few years.
Horrified by the song's reference to masturbation, she helped launch an organization dedicated to a labeling system for explicit content, the Parents Music Resource Center.
A nationwide debate about censorship soon followed, including congressional testimony from Frank Zappa among others, and the refusal by some record sellers to offer releases deemed in need of advisories.
A press release about the memoir said Prince would "take readers on an unconventional and poetic journey through his life and creative work," and include stories about his music, family and the "people, places and ideas that fired his creative imagination."
About 200 fans had gathered by Thursday afternoon outside Paisley Park, Prince's home and music studio, where his gold records are on the walls and the purple motorcycle he rode in his 1984 breakout movie, "Purple Rain," is on display.