prince who passed away on april 21 famously uttered these words in the 90s when he changed his name to a symbol for a while he was more than a singer or musician prince was a legend1984 was a year of transition for mainstream rock and pop the big rock and funk groups of the 70s had all but split up or run out of steam disco was on its way out but a new kind of sound that somehow combined all three elements was on its way in and princes album purple rain the soundtrack to the movie of the same name placed that sound right in the mainstream although his debut album had been released a few years before it was purple rain that he is still best known for and will continue to be regarded as his crowning achievement 2016 has so far seen many legendary figures from the music industry pass away country legend merle hagga rd beatles producer george martin andy newman and david bowie to name a few but while princes mortal existence came to an end he died aged 57 reportedly in an elevator in his 70000 sq ft paisley park minnesota estate his home itself was a selfcontained playground containing everything to indulge his whims and fancies the stories about this wildly eccentric and creative artiste will no doubt continue to grow in years to comeapart from purple rain a new generation of fans adored him for 1999 and my name is prince but it was his complex childhood multifaceted personality unpredictable lifestyle sexual appetite chequered love life and later his submergence in the jehovahs witness religion which provided the roots of his extremely prolific creative output he released a total of 39 studio albums several hundred songs both under his own name and under pseudonyms and in fact estimates of the actual number of songs written by him reportedly range anywhere from five hundred to well over one thousand the most recent reports also suggest that he has at least a few hundred more tracks that are unreleased a seventime grammy winner multiinstrumentalist and musician extraordinaire his influence on pop culture and the musical map is beyond measureeight songs for your playlisti wanna be your loverstraightup disco this was his first hit released in 1979when you were mineanother early hit of his this one was unusually doleful it recounts a past love of hisronnie talk to russiaprince could do political songs too he often referenced such issues in this case he sang ronnie talk to russia before its too late before they blow up the world ronnie of course being ronald reagan1999 the video of this song saw him debuting his nowcharacteristic look purple suit pop mannerisms and the backing band in uniformwhen doves cryhis first no 1 hit and after mjs billie jean the first song to top the pop black and dance charts simultaneouslydarling nikkiif theres one song that initially exemplified the sexual nature of his songs it