Prince

Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958), known as from 1993–2000, is a popular and influential singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His music has spanned myriad styles including funk, pop

Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958), known as from 1993–2000, is a popular and influential singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His music has spanned myriad styles including funk, pop, rock, R&B/soul, and hip hop, and is regarded as the definition of "The Minneapolis Sound". Many critics regard the quality and versatility of Prince's music as being indicative of musical genius.

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Mount Sinai Hospital to John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw. John L. Nelson played in a jazz trio The Prince Rogers Trio, hence Prince's birth name. There are a number of myths regarding Prince's ethnicity and gender, some spread by Prince himself. The most pervasive is that he is the child of a black father and white mother, a myth later bolstered by the cult film Purple Rain starring Prince, Morris Day of The Time, and pop singer Apollonia. However, Prince's parents are African-American and Jewish, and, like many Americans, their lineage is an amalgam of ethnicities.